Resilience: Reflections on the Burdens and Gifts of Facing Life's Adversities

My spouse of 45 years died very suddenly 20 months ago, - 8 weeks after a terminal diagnosis of "unidentifiable Cancer". If I had listened to the press surrounding the release of this book, I may not have purchased it. Anyone who inferred that this was a juicy story about a politician husband having an affair DID NOT READ THIS BOOK. This book is Elizabeth's journey - and it's REAL! I went back thru the book and underlined thoughts that jumped off the page related to moving forward after ANY STORM that life presents. How do I embrace my new reality?? How do I create a new normal? ....one moment at a time... I'm doing that now after losing my husband. Elizabeth Edwards is an Incredible Inspiration to me - she affirmed MY journey without ever knowing me. I'm a breast cancer survivor - Elizabeth isn't so fortunate, but her RESILIENCE will live on far beyond the day that she leaves us. Sharon Sprunger, Las Vegas, NV

I am a great admirer of Elizabeth Edwards. It takes enormous courage to write about such personal and painful subjects as your own cancer, the death of your father, the death of your son and your husband's affair. She is certainly resilient, a quality one needs when faced with the kind of betrayal she has faced--both from her own body, and from her husband. As the author of a book about older women and divorce, He's History, You're Not: Surviving Divorce After 40I am nowhere near as resilient as Edwards--I became clinically depressed when my husband left me for another woman. Eventually I moved on but it took a long time and a lot of therapy. It was touch and go for a while which was scary. However, I did run across many divorcees who went through worse experiences than mine, who were remarkably resilient and bounced back from incredible adversity. Resilience is both our genes and our upbringing. If we're lucky enough to have a sunny disposition to begin with, and the kind of parenting which sets us up to feel secure and capable in the world, we can rescue ourselves when we need to. If we didn't have that kind of parenting, we can still overcome obstacles, but it's a hell of a lot harder. Edwards is a role model for women who face tragedy and who need inspiration and the reassurance that it is possible to survive just about anything. Erica Manfred author He's History, You're Not: Surviving Divorce After 40

I found Elizabeth Edwards' opening chapter on her Dad compelling, empowering, and inspiring. Two weeks ago, I flew home to care for Mom. She wanted to get better, but her digestive system had inexplicably shut down. She was recovering from surgery and unable to eat more than a few bites per meal. The food at the 24-hour nursing facility was terrible. I cleaned by night and cooked by day...brought in alternate lunches and dinners...waterboarded her with food. Sometimes she would eat just once bite out of a whole entree. But Mom did not give up on herself, and I did not give up on Mom. "Do NOT go gentle unto that good night." The breakthrough was my finding a drug side-effect that had been stanching her appetite among her dozen drugs. Now she's eating full meals and slowly regaining strength. Don't trust the "experts" to know what they are doing. Mom says I had won her trust. Priceless. The one thing that made me wrinkle my brow was that Elizabeth felt diminished by what her husband did. I don't think she should. Women often try to be all things to all people, and that is humanly impossible. Regarding the chapter on Toshiko...who put on a resolute face despite her physical and emotional scars from the first atomic bomb. Geishas are trained to not show negative or strong emotion because that leads to wrinkles, which limits one's career. Emotional botox. It is a pleasure reading Edwards for her wisdom and thought processes. My lessons from this book...keep a steady hand on the tiller and don't give up...do the hard work of working through adversity.

I have so much respect for Elizabeth Edwards. She has written a beautiful and heartbreakingly honest book - I have read all her books and have found all of them to be inspiring. This most recent book however, is the best. She is brutally honest about her cancer, the loss of her son and especially about the infidelity of her husband. I don't know why her husband chose to be unfaithful, but I hope he can live with himself. Elizabeth is a tremendous lady. I am grateful she has chosen to share her experiences with us - I draw strength from her wisdom.

... is something that Elizabeth Edwards knows a lot about. Grieving mother, cancer patient and a wife scorned could all fit her very well, but the label she wears most proudly is survivor, to the nth degree. Edwards new book, which she muses about the nature of resiliency, is a powerhouse of endurance, self-help, and perseverance. I can imagine that many people who are going to pick up this book are looking for the lurid details of the latest news in Elizabeth Edwards' life, mainly, the affair her husband Democratic Vice Presidential candidate John Edwards had with a videographer on his campaign. As Edwards says herself, those details will not be found in the book. What is there, which she talks about in her second to last chapter, is her reactions to the affair, and her thought process she went through as she dealt with the betrayal of vows. But oh, the book is so much more than that. Sometimes, "celebrity" writers are choppy and rambling in their books, even if "ghost written" by someone else. Not so Edwards. Her writing is evocative, personal, and incredibly engaging. Much of the book she wanders through the myraid of feelings she had as her sixteen year old son Wade died in a freak of nature car accident. Edwards as a grieving mother is beautiful and heartbreaking. The chapter she devotes exclusively to Wade cannot be read with a dry eye. Her writing evokes her personal journey in a way that has to be experienced. But this is not a book of sadness; no, this is a book of continuing on. In the first chapter, she talks about her father's massive stroke and how, after she was told he was brain dead, he continued to live on, almost eighteen years. That lesson gave Edwards the stamina and courage to face whatever obstacles she would encounter in her own life. As she so beautifully put it, you have to "adjust the sails". I am planning on keeping this book for my lifetime. When time offers trials to me, and I feel like I cannot endure, Edwards' words will give me a renewed sense of comfort. This book would also be an excellent gift to anyone grieving the loss of a relationship, a child, a parent; while each of our journeys is personal, the wisdom shared from that path, as Edwards remarkably does in this slim yet powerful book, can enlighten the road for all of us.