Author and clinical social worker Maureen Callahan Smith shares the story of her sister’s struggle with cancer, from the first out-of-the-blue diagnosis of non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma through the ups and downs of treatment. The realities of illness and medical care and their impact on family ties are explored in hospital corridors and around the family dinner table.

Callahan Smith describes the big and small moments that make up a life, both inside and outside the treatment room-a son’s prom night, a beautiful wedding, a family beach day-with heartfelt candor interwoven with humor and fierce family loyalty. Although the story didn’t end the way they had hoped, they found the gifts of love and the spiritual resources they discovered provided grounding and nourishment for all they were facing.

The author draws on her training as a therapist and her multifaceted spiritual life to provide insight and solace in difficult moments, and to show us that the effort to keep our hearts open, even while facing life at its worst, can yield an experience of love and depth of connection that offers a glimpse of life at its most meaningful.

From Grace Street:

Things that look like walls can turn out to be windows that we fly through because we must, becoming on the way a different person… . Heartbroken as I was, I felt a deep and completely unanticipated knowing that accompanying Kathy in whatever way I had was something my life had been meant for. And I could recognize, lucky me.