This is the second book Roger
Rosenblatt has written in his effort to deal with his grief over the death of
his daughter. There are references to philosophy
and literature and bits and pieces of what the author gleans from his solitude
when he is kayaking.
Throughout the book the author
addresses his dead daughter as “you”, retelling moments of her life and
describing her personality. He has a conversation throughout the book with his
therapist, and those bits are always in quotation form. She says to him “Grief comes to you all at
once, so you think it will be over all at once.
But it is your guest for a lifetime.”
Rosenblatt is diagnosed with an
autoimmune disease during the writing of the book. The symptoms include “anxiety, irritability
and anger. No wonder they couldn’t tell
I was ill” he says.
Reading how other people cope with
grief has helped me deal with grief in my own life. This book does a lot more than that and I will
remember it for a long time. Toward the
end of the book Rosenblatt says “Be kind, for everyone you meet is carrying a
great burden.” Words to live by.
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