Review of My Living Will
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Ivy Mokote
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Review of My Living Will
[Following is a volunteer review of "My Living Will" by John Trautwein.]
My Living Will
What does it feel like to lose a loved one? Especially when that loved one is your child? How do you tell your other children that their brother/ sister has taken their own lives? How do you begin to explain that to your friends and family? Does it make you a bad parent when you thought your child was a blissful, carefree teenager and then wake up to them having hung themselves in their closet? How could you have missed the signs? How do you move on after that? Surely, your world will never be the same again.
All these are questions that John Trautwein had to grapple with. He said goodnight to his son Will one night and watched him go up the stairs to his bedroom. Will seemed happy and content according to John. So you can imagine the shock he experienced when he woke up to his wife screaming bloody murder and upon getting to the source of the scream, found his 15-year-old teenager white as a sheet, dead and lifeless and cold. He was a good father, in fact, according to his parents, friends, and in-laws, he was the best father anyone could ever have. But being the best father was not enough to stop his firstborn child from taking their own lives.
No parent should ever get to bury their child. This much is true. It is heart-wrenching and soul gutting. And it guts you to the depths of your soul. This book is a reminder that we constantly need to treat each other kindly as we have no idea the battles people are fighting in their private lives. This book shows how John, his wife, and three children picked up the pieces after the death of their son and brother.
I enjoyed reading this book as it served as such an eye-opener to me as to what battles people are fighting. John talks about how difficult it was at first for them to pass by Wills room, how when making dinner reservations, they booked a table of five instead of their usual table of six, how difficult it was to explain why they were canceling Wills phone service but getting it instead for Michael, how he constantly would wake up at 3;30 am every night, which is the estimated time Will took his last breath.
A significant chunk of this book is about loss, but the other part is about healing and finding the strength to move on. Realizing that there is life beyond your grief, that it is not fair to expect the sun not to shine because someone you love is gone. That even though the memories of the ones we love may fade slowly in our lives, we can find things to remind us of them and that even if they are gone, they will not be forgotten.
With suicide, John also shows how important it is not to blame ourselves for the loss. That it was in no way anyone's fault and that the decision to take away their life was theirs and theirs alone.
I would happily recommend this book to everyone. At some point in all our lives, we will experience loss if we haven't already. It is important to know that while we think in the initial stages that we cannot go on, we are stronger than that and that we always will find the strength to move on. Time heals all wounds.
I happily rate this book a four out of four stars. It was simply a divine read. Loss is staggering and having the courage to share your loss with the world is brave.l appreciate the insight into the private lives and thoughts of those who have been separated from those they love and how they cope with that loss daily. And I think it is something we should all know of.
******
My Living Will
View: on Bookshelves | on Amazon
My Living Will
What does it feel like to lose a loved one? Especially when that loved one is your child? How do you tell your other children that their brother/ sister has taken their own lives? How do you begin to explain that to your friends and family? Does it make you a bad parent when you thought your child was a blissful, carefree teenager and then wake up to them having hung themselves in their closet? How could you have missed the signs? How do you move on after that? Surely, your world will never be the same again.
All these are questions that John Trautwein had to grapple with. He said goodnight to his son Will one night and watched him go up the stairs to his bedroom. Will seemed happy and content according to John. So you can imagine the shock he experienced when he woke up to his wife screaming bloody murder and upon getting to the source of the scream, found his 15-year-old teenager white as a sheet, dead and lifeless and cold. He was a good father, in fact, according to his parents, friends, and in-laws, he was the best father anyone could ever have. But being the best father was not enough to stop his firstborn child from taking their own lives.
No parent should ever get to bury their child. This much is true. It is heart-wrenching and soul gutting. And it guts you to the depths of your soul. This book is a reminder that we constantly need to treat each other kindly as we have no idea the battles people are fighting in their private lives. This book shows how John, his wife, and three children picked up the pieces after the death of their son and brother.
I enjoyed reading this book as it served as such an eye-opener to me as to what battles people are fighting. John talks about how difficult it was at first for them to pass by Wills room, how when making dinner reservations, they booked a table of five instead of their usual table of six, how difficult it was to explain why they were canceling Wills phone service but getting it instead for Michael, how he constantly would wake up at 3;30 am every night, which is the estimated time Will took his last breath.
A significant chunk of this book is about loss, but the other part is about healing and finding the strength to move on. Realizing that there is life beyond your grief, that it is not fair to expect the sun not to shine because someone you love is gone. That even though the memories of the ones we love may fade slowly in our lives, we can find things to remind us of them and that even if they are gone, they will not be forgotten.
With suicide, John also shows how important it is not to blame ourselves for the loss. That it was in no way anyone's fault and that the decision to take away their life was theirs and theirs alone.
I would happily recommend this book to everyone. At some point in all our lives, we will experience loss if we haven't already. It is important to know that while we think in the initial stages that we cannot go on, we are stronger than that and that we always will find the strength to move on. Time heals all wounds.
I happily rate this book a four out of four stars. It was simply a divine read. Loss is staggering and having the courage to share your loss with the world is brave.l appreciate the insight into the private lives and thoughts of those who have been separated from those they love and how they cope with that loss daily. And I think it is something we should all know of.
******
My Living Will
View: on Bookshelves | on Amazon
Latest Review: Beneath the Muscle by Lauren Powers
