The title captured my attention, and the review pulled me in.  A little over a year ago, Until I Say Good-bye found a place in my Kindle library.  Since then, underlying messages from the memoir by Susan Spencer-Wendel have pervaded my perspective on life and pain, disability and death. 

Diagnosed with ALS (Lou Gherig's disease) at the age of 44, the young reporter and mother of three took on the project of documenting and sharing her experience with others.  The story of preparing to say goodbye could be maudlin.  It could be gut-wrenching.  It could pass over reality to paint a happy face on a sad scene.  But it does not.

The subtitle of Spencer-Wendel's book completes the sentence: My Year of Living with Joy. As she types the memoir with one thumb on her iPhone, the author takes us on a remarkable journey from Florida to Budapest to Greece, from adulthood to infancy and back, from denial to acceptance and beyond to the celebration of life, however long or short it may be.

I am terrified of pain.  I am terrified of losing the ability to function in any number of ways.  While I fear the unknown of dying as well, the prospect of living with challenges like those described in this book tempts me to view death a better option. The author's love of life, however, forces me to turn that  fearful perspective upside-down.

This week, Susan Spencer-Wendel said good-bye, and people around the world felt the loss. She lives on in the  lives she has touched.  I encourage you to find her book and read it.  In the meantime, this link takes you to an inspiring obituary written by her best friend and published in the hometown newspaper where she worked as a reporter for many years.  

What helps you deal with the prospect of illness, pain, and disability?  Do the experiences of others bolster the belief that you, too, can live fully when reality doesn't go your way?