Arthur E. Dell Orto, Ph.D., C.R.C., Professor and Program Director, Rehabilitation Counseling
Associate Executive Director, Center for Psychiatric Rehabilitation
To Whom It May Concern:
Once in a while a book appears that not only gets your attention but it rivets your soul. Terry Wise’s book is one of those. When I read the manuscript I knew that I was on a journey that would explore domains that were familiar and some that were very new. Our common ground is that Terry and I have a mutual friend who has lived the ALS experience and I have worked with families whose lives have been directly or indirectly transformed by ALS and other illnesses. In addition, I have written or edited several books in the area and I was very interested to read about a different perspective.
Terry has presented not a vision or an image but rather a larger than life panorama on what it means to live life when it is not ideal. To be transformed and to reach simultaneously inside and outside of ourselves, to create understanding, meaning, and hope. Not an easy task when the waves of distress and despair threaten and often undo what gains have been made or hoped for.
In this journey, marked by vulnerability and honesty, Terry shares what it means to be a person, to love, to lose, to cope with nightmares, to hope, to dream and to survive in spite of it all.
She shares markers, potholes, and gifts that will most certainly echo in the hearts and souls of those who are or have been in the darkness of the “alone.”
I thought that to review this book would be an opportunity to learn. I now see it as a gift Terry has given us to share.
Arthur E. Dell Orto, Ph.D., C.R.C.
Boston University
Professor and Program Director, Rehabilitation Counseling
Associate Executive Director, Center for Psychiatric Rehabilitation
