When Linda Hachey looked back at the worst time of her life, she thought about one thing – how could she help other people?
For decades, the South Philly native and 1981 graduate of Saint Maria Goretti High School carried the weight of her father’s tragic death and the anguish of a painful divorce. A few years ago, she found herself on a beach in Florida with a pen in her hand. It was time to put it all on paper.
“I always had this feeling that I wanted to write a book,” Hachey said. “I was about to leave my job, and like any calling, the time was now that I was going to write this book. I left my job and I sat by the canal on the west coast of Florida and started writing.”
Hachey left her job as an executive assistant job for a general contractor and decided she would live off savings and pursue a passion project that outlined her life of overcoming heartbreak with the help of her faith. Not knowing where to begin or exactly how to write her first book, Hachey turned to God.
“I truly didn’t know where to begin, I knew it was going to be about faith and my journey but I had no idea where I was going to begin,” she said. “I sat on the beach with a piece of looseleaf paper and a pen and I prayed and asked where to start.”
Not long after, she completed the book called “Fight for Your Faith to Fly: The Transition that Sets You Free” and then decided to pick up a job as a server on the beach in Fort Myers. Having fulfilled a promise to herself, she thought maybe it was time to come home. Then a natural catastrophe forced her hand.
“When the book was done, Hurricane Ian came,” Hachey said. “It flattened out the whole restaurant and a lot of Fort Myers Beach. I got to see the aftermath of it. It was just devastating. Obviously I’m alive and nothing happened to where I was living, but it was such a switch and I knew it was time to go back. And that’s how I ended up back in Philadelphia the last three and a half years.”
Hachey believed it was a sign from God as the storm brought her home where she could look after her mother and be near the birth of her first granddaughter. Her relationship with God had become the primary focus in her book on how she navigated the tough times in her life.
“Everything I went through in my life drew me closer to God in my 20s,” she said. “Through that journey of building a relationship with God, I just kind of had to fight for my faith and stay faithful through tragedies and the ups and downs of life. And it was God that stayed faithful to me.”
Hachey’s father committed suicide in the ’80s and her divorce left her as a single mother raising two young children on her own.
“In my early 20s, my father committed suicide in our home,” she said. “He struggled with mental illness his whole life and unfortunately it ended with a tragedy. I was searching for God before that, and after that, I moved to California. Later in life, I went through a really painful divorce and became a single mom when my kids were 3 and 7. A lot of it had to do with faith and a lot of different things.”
Hachey’s book is deeply personal but incredibly uplifting and it allows the reader to view her vulnerability through 95 pages. She shows how her faith rescued her during her most trying times. It’s the reason she decided to write the book in Florida instead of her hometown of South Philly.
“I knew I could have never written the book here with how personal it is,” she said. “It was very, very vulnerable and I’m not one to be that vulnerable and open. But it was on my heart. Being away from everybody and everything, it was easier to write. God knew what I needed to get this book out there.”
Hachey’s book was published in 2024 but she never promoted it outside of a few church talks and book signings at her local congregations. She was also still realizing the effect it had on her completing the final chapter. That’s why she wants to share the story of her struggles in the hopes it may help someone in a similar situation.
“At the end, you really see what you fought for,” Hachey said. “And if I can help one person here in my hometown that is struggling with depression or doesn’t know where to turn and they can turn to God and see his word is true, you can really find healing and purpose and hope. It’s all the things that money can’t buy.”
Hachey’s book can be purchased below:
Although the process was mentally and emotionally taxing, Hachey is proud of her work and wants to share her experiences in the hopes of being a lifeline for someone else.
“I really wrote it to help other people. It was really to share my faith,” Hachey said. “That’s really what it is. Writing the feelings out was very difficult. Nobody wants to go back. My father died when I was 23. You don’t want to go back to that day with those feelings. It was difficult to do. I think by the end, it felt cathartic.”
Hachey said she hopes to write again in the form of a children’s book. It’s a promise she made to herself and to God.
“I just want it to be inspiring and spiritual,” Hachey said. “It will be dedicated to my granddaughter. It will be dedicated to my Cecelia.” ••
