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"Poetry is the evidence of life. If your life is burning well, poetry is just the ash." Leonard Cohen

Thursday, October 9, 2014

KUDOS FOR MEMOIR:CANCER, CAREGIVING, CONTENTIOUS LOVE



As I read an excerpt from Linda Goin's candid, heartfelt memoir, "Cancer, Caregiving, Contentious Love" - again and again it struck to me that I wish I had had access to it before my own mother died in 2012.


Goin's ability to come to terms with her fractious relationship with her mother impressed me greatly. The fact that she was able to drop everything in her life and dedicate every day and night to seeing to her mother's needs, to be with her in what proved to be the last days of her life...was literally awe-inspiring.

As Goin hears her personal soundtrack playing in a pretty much continuous loop-- Beck's "Going Round the Bend" (how appropriate) -- she details the frustration accompanying a sudden diagnosis of a rare cancer, and the difficulties surrounding treatments and care.

For me, some of the most poignant thoughts are those recorded about breath - both her mother's and her own -- right after her mother's death, Goin wrote, "for lack of oxygen...my body would deflate like an unplugged raft..." The visual is heart-breaking and immediate.

I have only read a small slice of this book; I can't wait to read the rest.

1 comment:

  1. Thank you, S.E., for your thoughts on my memoir excerpt. For the first time in my life, I'm writing from the heart. I think it shows. I'm grateful for you validation. <3

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