Title: Learning to Float
Author: Allan Ament
Genre: Memoir
Rating: 4 stars
Purchase: Amazon
Review copy provided by Enchanted Book Promotions in exchange for an honest review.
Allan and Deloris Ament’s lives take a dramatic turn when Deloris suffers a debilitating stroke. No longer an equal partner in marriage, Allan becomes Deloris’s primary caregiver, responsible for maintaining their household and her well-being. Learning to Float describes Allan’s transformation from a criminal defense attorney to a compassionate, emotionally vulnerable caregiver. Drawing on contemporaneously written emails and private journal entries, Ament unflinchingly exposes his emotional, mental, and physical ups and downs, consistently focusing on the love, humor, and opportunities for personal and spiritual growth he experiences on this journey. Anyone with the possibility of becoming a caregiver for a loved one, now or in the future, will benefit from the insights Ament shares. Everyone will be buoyed by the love Allan and Deloris experience as they face their new normal.
Learning to Float is a memoir that focuses on the lives of Allan and Deloris Ament. Allan used to be a criminal defense attorney, but after his wife Deloris suffers from a stroke, he becomes her primary caregiver. Next to the household chores, he also needs to take care of Deloris. In his memoir, he tells of how his wife’s illness changed his life and hers, their spiritual growth, the ups and downs, how it brought them even closer, and more.
Sometimes, the book is hard to read. It touches upon tough subjects, like illness, taking care of others and having others depend on you. At some point, Allan describes his anger at his wife’s illness – which is an understandable emotion, but it also shows how much pain he was in at the moment, and it’s emotional reading. There are a lot of emotional scenes throughout the books, and if you keep your eyes dry throughout, well, good luck with that. I certainly couldn’t.
Yet at the same time, the book offers humor and hope, and shows that even in dire situations, people can learn to adapt and change, and make the best of it. Truly inspiring.
Speak Your Mind