Authentic Hope provides living encouragement to those who have experienced or are currently experiencing difficult times and events. We have learned that God's presence is often best seen when life appears to have handed us the toughest of circumstances. A relationship with Him encourages and lifts us up when we are at our lowest, unable to encourage each other on our own. To meet my goal of being an encouragement to you, the reader, I chose to share two of my significant life experiences: 1. Living with a family member who battles a drug addiction2. Receiving a cancer diagnosis which has no known cure ¿¿¿As I began formulating what I wanted to write, the simple concept of a "footnote" came to mind. Google has many footnote examples in the definition of a footnote. What caught my eye was "... additional information that would disrupt the flow of the main text ..." If you, as the reader, are going through circumstances which may cause your life to have a footnote, this book is for you. My life is not unique because of my footnotes. Most people live out life with one or more footnotes which impact their life in either positive or negative ways. Moreover, I think the type of footnote(s) or severity of them are not what makes the difference in how one journeys through life successfully. I believe the defining difference for me was this: my life has been, currently is, and will continue to be focused on Authentic Hope as my living foundation as I journey through the challenges and experiences with my two footnotes. God's positive involvement with us can best be seen when we have to deal with some of the profound negatives that life can dish out. Authentic Hope has been the thread which has been shown to be the silver lining in some very dark clouds. Authentic Hope looks closely at these two significant life-changing events: a family member with a drug addiction and being diagnosed with cancer. The book invites the reader to experience with the author both tragedy and triumph.