Illness, in the larger sense of mortality, Don Hardy writes, is an inescapable shared trait among all living creatures, and we humans know about it, whether or not we want to talk about it.

Because I’d Hate to Just Disappear is a portrait of a husband and wife, Don and Heather Hardy, thrown into the physical and emotional machinery of Don being diagnosed with leukemia and going through chemotherapy and treatment over a period of close to two years.

In this thoughtful and exquisite account, Don and Heather narrate Don’s struggle in real-time. Disarmingly honest, they recount each intimate stage of a couple living through cancer together, the mental and physical struggles, the humor and visceral emotion to reveal how two very different personalities shape-and are shaped by-the experience of cancer and its treatment. Through these moments emerge a constant flow of human kindness and discovery that lifts them each day.