4 out of 4 stars
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‘Titanic’ was one of my favorite movies back in the days. I fell in love with the movie and its theme song. But after having to listen to the same song everywhere I go, on endless repeat, I began hating the Celine Dion hit. However, after reading Paint Your Hair Blue, I now have a newfound love for and a different meaning I can associate with the song 'My Heart Will Go On.'
Paint Your Hair Blue is a memoir written by Sue Matthews with the help of her younger sister Andrea Cohane. The book recounts the struggles of the Matthews family when Sue’s second child, Taylor, was diagnosed with cancer. Taylor was only eleven then and never showed any signs of sickness prior to her diagnosis. During a family trip to London, Taylor asked her parents if she could dye her hair. Sue gave her daughter a dismissive ‘Absolutely not’ in response. Unbeknownst to Sue, months after that trip, her daughter would be battling cancer and would eventually lose her hair. Sue then wished they had died Taylor’s hair blue, Taylor’s favorite color.
The book discusses the Matthews’ entire journey, from Taylor’s initial diagnosis until her death five years after. This memoir was written by Sue Matthews in memory of her dear daughter and also as a means to promote their family’s advocacy. A percentage of the profit made from the sales of this book will be donated to the Taylor Matthews Foundation, a foundation that helps in raising awareness and funding studies on pediatric cancer. Paint Your Heart Blue is not for the lighthearted. There will definitely be a lot of tear-jerking moments, and if you can’t handle these, I suggest you avoid reading the book.
However, please note that the book does not only focus on the struggles and the difficult times. The book also highlights the triumphs of Taylor and her family. The Matthews braved through all the challenges together. Taylor also proved to be one amazing young lady, achieving the impossible over and over, and even shocking her doctors. As the author mentioned in the Introduction of the book, Taylor may have died; nonetheless, Taylor led a successful journey. Despite her condition, Taylor lived her life to the fullest and showed love to a lot of people. There are no other better words to describe Taylor than this line written by her own mother:
The book was professionally edited; thus, there’s really nothing negative I can comment regarding the writing. However, I did find the picture of Taylor’s open letter a bit difficult to read. Perhaps the author could replace the picture with one with a higher resolution, or maybe encode the letter like she did with Taylor’s other letter and poems. The author also explained a lot of medical procedures, and at the end, she even provided tips to anyone who requires medical assistance—not just cancer patients. I do commend this effort to help her readers. I am just not sure about the author mentioning the names of doctors in the narrative—full names at that—including those doctors they had issues with during Taylor’s medication. I am fine with the doctors being named, but I fear other readers may find this off-putting.We don’t measure Taylor’s life in sunrises; we measure her life in love.
Though I have some concerns—very negligible concerns, I must stress—I give Paint Your Hair Blue 4 out of 4 stars. I admire the author’s bravery in retelling the heartbreaking moments as she witnessed her daughter suffer from cancer. But more than this, I admire the author for finding the strength to move forward after a tragic loss. I recommend this book to anyone who wants to know more about pediatric cancer. As much as it is heartrending, Paint Your Hair Blue is also very inspirational, and any person could use a dose of inspiration any time.
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Paint Your Hair Blue
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