Synopses & Reviews
Synopsis
"Myra Sack's memoir is a deeply personal look at her family's resilience in the face of the unimaginable. Fifty-seven Fridays will help so many others find strength." --Sheryl Sandberg, former COO, FacebookSack is a 30-year-old new mom, married to the love of her life, Matt Goldstein, who is a doctor. They live in Boston because Matt's residency in internal medicine took them there. She has just finished her MBA. They've bought a house. Life is unfolding beautifully.
Then one day their beautiful 1-year-old daughter Havi is diagnosed with a debilitating neurodegenerative disease called Tay-Sachs. Soon after this, Sack and her husband discover that despite their extensive pre-conception genetic testing, an error was made by their physician, making the diagnosis possible. Then they're told: Havi has about twelve months to live.
Against all advice and norms, they decide to celebrate Havi's short life rather than intervene in order to prolong it. They vow to show her as much of the world as they can. They embark on a journey that begins on the California coast and continues back to Boston, surrounded by friends and family who relocate to be in Havi's orbit. Along the way, they transform Friday night Shabbats into birthday parties--"Shabbirthdays"--to replace the birthdays Havi will never have. After her death, they continue to center their lives on existing right on the edge between the physical world and the unknown world beyond it.
Synopsis
"Required reading for any parent, because it is the story of the greatest love story between a parent and child: loss. The book--beautiful, propulsive, wrenching, and true--reveals the essential truth that there is no love without loss, and that we learn how to love through and within our grief." --Emily Rapp Black, New York Times Best-selling Author of The Still Point of the Turning WorldSack is a 30-year-old new mom, married to the love of her life, Matt Goldstein, who is a doctor. They live in Boston because Matt's residency in internal medicine took them there. She has just finished her MBA. They've bought a house. Life is unfolding beautifully.
Then one day their beautiful 1-year-old daughter Havi is diagnosed with a debilitating neurodegenerative disease called Tay-Sachs. Soon after this, Sack and her husband discover that despite their extensive pre-conception genetic testing, an error was made by their physician, making the diagnosis possible. Then they're told: Havi has about twelve months to live.
Against all advice and norms, they decide to celebrate Havi's short life rather than intervene in order to prolong it. They vow to show her as much of the world as they can. They embark on a journey that begins on the California coast and continues back to Boston, surrounded by friends and family who relocate to be in Havi's orbit. Along the way, they transform Friday night Shabbats into birthday parties--"Shabbirthdays"--to replace the birthdays Havi will never have. After her death, they continue to center their lives on existing right on the edge between the physical world and the unknown world beyond it.
Synopsis
"A wondrous, hopeful, heart-breaking witness to one of the darkest journeys imaginable... This will be one of those rare books that people re-read, think about, and encourage others to read." --Bruce D. Perry, M.D., Ph.D, author, with Oprah Winfrey, of What Happened to You
"I love this book. I absolutely could not put it down. It is beautifully written and cuts to the very heart of life and love: The story of Havi's short, beautiful life and early death from Tay-Sachs is harrowing, heartbreaking, uplifting, profound and sometimes funny. Havi will charm the socks off you."--Anne Lamott
Life is unfolding as planned for Myra Sack and her husband Matt until their beautiful year-old daughter Havi is diagnosed with Tay-Sachs, a fatal neurodegenerative disease, and given only a year to live. Myra and Matt decide to celebrate Havi's short life and vow to show her as much of the world as they can, surrounded by friends and family who relocate to be in Havi's orbit. Tapping their Judaism, they transform Friday night Shabbats into birthday parties--"Shabbirthdays"--to replace the birthdays Havi will never have.