Lifes That Way: A Memoir

ISBN: 0399155643

Author: Beaver, Jim

Condition: New

Im no Job - though I think we went to the same school....So says Jim Beaver in this memoir.In August 2003, Jim and his wife, Cecily, received what they thought was the worst news possible - their daughter, Maddie, was autistic. Then, six weeks later, the roof fell in - Cecily was diagnosed with Stage IV lung cancer.Jim immediately began writing a nightly e-mail as a way to keep 125 family and friends up-to-date about Cecilys condition. Soon four thousand people around the world were reading it. Initially a cathartic exercise for Jim, the prose turned into an unforgettable journey for his readers. Lifes That Way is a compilation of those e-mails; yet what started out as nightly missives makes for a unique and compelling, wholly original reading experience.Lifes That Way is not an author looking back on his experience with the advantage of hindsight - there is an immediacy to this book that is singular. While highly personal, Beavers experience is at the same time universal for anybody who has lost a loved one.But Lifes That Way is not solely about loss. It is a day-by-day account of what its like to discover the joy of a child, to be on the receiving end of unthinkable kindness, and to navigate life anew. As Beaver says, these are hard-won blessings. Then again, lifes that way.