by Ruthe Rosen (also available on Kindle).The book was inspired by the family's 14-year-old, Karla, who was diagnosed with an inoperable brain tumor. During her final year, she had a number of amazing experiences given to her by supporters, including private guitar lessons with James Valentine of Maroon 5. She really just wanted to be "normal" during her last year - doing things any other early teenager would do, even if they weren't sick. This desire led her parents to start the Let It Be Foundation, a non-profit organization that tries to help families maintain some sense of normalcy during a life-threatening pediatric illness being suffered by one of their kids. The foundation helps with things like play dates, housekeeping, lawn care, and more, to provide some relief - and enjoyable activities - for the family. It's also a great way for other students to volunteer. They have a Youth Leadership Program that allows student volunteers to connect with kids that have a life-threatening illness, taking them to community events, giving them encouraging cards and gifts, and so on.
The foundation is a great cause, and the book is a very good read - especially if you know someone who has been touched by major illness. Her experience as a mother losing her child also relates to other similar situations - the subtitle of the book is "How to Find Hope and Purpose in Adversity" and so it does have many nuggets of wisdom for other tough circumstances as well.
I enjoyed reading the book. It really made me wish something like that never happens to my children (no parent wishes for things like that to happen) but does make me feel like it is something I could endure if it happened. It was inspiring to read how she dealt with things.
The author, Ruthe Rosen, besides being CEO of the foundation, is also a public speaker, sharing her words of wisdom with healthcare professionals and families facing illness.
Disclosure: I received a complimentary copy of "Never Give Up" to facilitate this review.
No comments:
Post a Comment