This book is beautifully written, with a difficult topic. If you have ever witnessed someone you care slip toward death, this book will hit the spots in your heart that will forever be raw. You will question every thing you did or did not do to make the journey easier, and wonder how the feelings expressed in the book were so similar to those you felt?
While I cried throughout the story, it was because I wanted to crawl into the scenes and hold both Edi and Ash close. Their emotions are front and center, and in my opinion, really the whole purpose of the book. It is a study of friendship, devotion, despair and acceptance. You go through all the stages of grief, watching from the sidelines, but knowing exactly what they are feeling. When the inevitable happens, everyone gathers, deals with things the only way they know how, and find themselves looking at those around them with not new eyes, but grateful ones. They are better able to see those that would walk through this journey with you, both holding you up and letting you go.
While the subject matter is very sad, the book ends on a note of resilience. You take the pain you experienced and it becomes part of who you are. It determines your future. The person you lose remains an influence in your life by what you witnessed and what you lost. They are forever near, continuing to guide and support you.
This story will linger with me, not just as sad, but as an acknowledgement that you can survive, and the love remains.
