Perhaps a bit too personal to share, but I am going to share anyway.  After 3.5 years since my father has passed on from ALS, I finally mustered up the strength to read his book.  It was….

Inspiring, educational, and emotionally challenging. I do have mixed feelings about a section he wrote of me that feels quite personal (even though the purpose of it was written out of love and growth on his part). It is in regards to my “emotional disabilities.” I am quite aware that my emotions and sensitivities go deep, but I don’t consider them to be “disabilities,” nor am I a person who needs saving. In fact, I find these qualities to be quite beautiful as they have helped me build strength, compassion, and character and are simply just a part of my wiring. I personally think it takes a lot of emotional strength to lay next to a terminally ill parent and stay connected with them through the pain and struggle when there is nothing else that can be done.  And regardless of my anxieties or how I handled my emotional state at the time, I hope he saw my strength in those moments too. Regardless, it certainly does shed some perspective… on how he saw me then in my struggle to cope, verses the woman I have grown into since he’s been gone. That’s not to say he didn’t see certain strengths or was not completely and utterly proud of me. He was my biggest advocate and his family was his world.

That being said, I am grateful he created something so special. I am glad I finally convinced myself to read it. I hope this book will get the recognition it deserves and shed light, insight, and hope on anyone who seeks out the wisdom and bravery he left behind.