Cover Image: Future Widow

Future Widow

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Member Reviews

This book is so hard hitting and emotional. This memoir was totally inspiring and so honest. The author opens her heart for all to see

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Not an easy read, as expected, unbearably poignant (and doubly so when you know what the whole rigmarole of cancer and its hospital visits is like first hand - 3x breast cancer survivor here). Yet also deeply hopeful, too, because the author has to look to the future, for her kids and especially for herself - I really liked how this aspect wasn't glossed over, that you have to have your own cup full before you can start pouring for others.
Personal peeve - I wished there were more emotions shared on the pages, a deeper look into what it actually felt like for the author...but to each their own comfort zone and boundaries, and I do respect that.

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When Dennis Lisk told wife Jenny that he’d been feeling a bit dizzy lately she had no idea of the horror awaiting them and their two young children. There then followed an 8 months nightmare of appointments, hospital stays, drugs etc. This book is the account of what happened, treatment but mainly how she coped with what was thrown at her, her coping mechanisms. A horrible situation to be in but she was fortunate enough to have many willing helpers along the way who looked after the domestic front plus people she could talk to who could offer advice. Obviously by its very nature not an enjoyable book but sadly necessary and Jenny’s experience could well help other people who are going through something similar.

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FUTURE WIDOW by Jenny Lisk is an interesting, compelling memoir that allows the reader a glimpse into her experience of becoming a widow. Reading this memoir is like sitting down with Lisk for a long visit where she tells you some of the moments of her experience. Facing what we all dread, Lisk describes how quickly her family’s life unraveled at her husband’s diagnosis of a brain tumor. She also describes the many ways her extended family, friends, and community showed up with love and support to get them through. FUTURE WIDOW is a very good book that will make you cry and it will leave you grateful for the generous way Lisk has shared this part of her life. Reading it will also help show you a way through that type of loss, should you ever find yourself there. Framed with some of her CaringBridge emails to family and friends, we get a glimpse of what that time was like in her life. And a glimpse of how we might traverse a similar situation. Thank you to NetGalley for the complimentary copy of the book in exchange for my honest review.

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Future Widow: Losing My Husband, Saving My Family, and Finding My Voice is a must read for those who have lost a spouse. I was able to relate to the author and what she went through. Five stars.

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Future Widow by Jenny Lisk is beautifully written, hauntingly sad, and utterly gut-wrenching. Perfect for fans of “When Breath Becomes Air,” “Between Two Kingdoms,” and “The Last Lecture.”

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I read this book shortly after I lost my mother to glioblastoma in a rather sudden turn of events. I found this book incredibly honest and heartbreaking, it definitely made me feel very emotional.

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My thanks to #Netgalley and #Bluhenbooks for the opportunity to review this memoir.
It chronicles the short devastating journey from diagnosis of a brain tumour to her husband untimely death.
I’m not sure if inspirational would be a correct description but the way she dealt with the trials of daily living , raising her children whilst caring for her husband was inspiring. It gives you faith in the way friends, relatives and the community rallied to help and support.
A definite read for anyone who unfortunately finds themselves in this situation.

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This book, though heartbreaking to read, is so well-written and so helpful for people who are grieving and for people who are walking with them as they grieve. Though I have never gone through what the author, Jenny Lisk, went through- the losing of a spouse to a terminal cancer- I now have a better understanding of how to walk with someone in my own life who may be going through some form of grief. I learned that the question "How are you?" can be frustrating to someone who is walking through a deep valley of grief, because it encompasses too many thoughts and emotions and is overwhelming to answer. Jenny says that the better question is "How are you today?" By sharing her very emotional and candid journey through her Caring Bridge entries while her husband was so sick, Jenny is teaching the reader how to grieve well and how to help someone who is grieving. The intimate picture of grief that I received while reading this book will help me to be a better friend and will give me the strength if I have to face my own valley of grief someday.

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One minute life is normal and the next you’ve been slammed in the gut by a huge Boulder. The Boulder was the big C, brain cancer. It took Jenny’s active 44 year old husband in 8 months. Reading Future Widow is gut wrenching. All the surgeries, ER trips, meds, and more meds to address the issues caused by initial meds. If you’re not torn up by the end of this book, you should be. It’s a good lesson to seize every day because one never knows when life might be seized from us.

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Go to IG: @entre.mi.libro.y.yo to read the complete review

OMG, this book was so good.
It broke my heart in ten different ways. This was the first book that made me ugly cry in a long, long time.
The story that is told here is real and sad but at the same time hopeful and mature.
I´m so thankful that the author decided to share her story through these pages, this book can help so many people.

Thanks to the author and to NetGalley for giving me this amazing book.

If you´re looking for a book that talks about grief and hope, look no more.

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"How do I tell my kids--just nine and eleven--that the doctors can't fix their dad's cancer?

How do I navigate eight months of caregiving so my husband's terminal illness doesn't destroy the rest of us, too?"

This is such an honest heartwarming, heartbreaking look at what happens when cancer knocks on the door and invades a member of your family. As well as looking after her husband's physical needs, Jenny is also aware that her children need to be looked after too. Ultimately, although the practical side of their wellbeing comes fairly easy to her with friends and family to help, somewhere along the way she forgets to check on their emotional needs and their mental health too, settling for an "ok" when she asks them how they are.

With hindsight Jenny is able to see that it was an impossible situation and is lucky that the family unit did survive and reminds us that grief affects everyone differently, one size does not fit all and love, compassion and time together will see you through in the end.

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This heartbreaking memoir detailed one woman’s experience as her husband battled stage four gliobastoma for eight months. So, so sad but beautiful too. I thought the way she interspersed advice for those going through a similar experience (as well as people who want to get involved) was smart and I’m sure will be really helpful for someone out there. 3.5 stars, rounded up.

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This book is the realist tear jerker I’ve read in a long time. Listening to to
The struggle of a family who’s about to loose someone in 8 months is hard to read. As the days count down you know you’re not even at the hard parts yet. If you want a book to bring you to present day and real life. This is it

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Thanks to NetGalley, author, and publisher for sending me a digital copy of Future Widow by Jenny Lisk.

This book is so honest, well-written, and heartbreaking. Jenny shares her experience of giving care to her husband who was battling aggressive brain cancer for eight months. She provides the details of how her family deals with the hardest time in their life - since the day he said “I’ve been feeling a little dizzy lately.”.

This is hard for me to read, too emotional to follow all those updates of her husband's conditions she updated on CaringBridge.

Lastly, I am very touched by her family and friends messages about how thankful they are for having known her husband for some years, and he was a sweet and nice family man.

"If only I could give you one gift, I would give you the ability to see yourself as others see you. Only then would you realize what a truly special person you are."

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Get yourself a box of kleenex AND a big ol' chocolate bar, you will need both.
The author writes about her experience with her husband Dennis and his ultimate demise from brain cancer. Through caringbridge entries, she relates what was going on at the time and how things were progressing.
As a reader, I KNEW Dennis was going to die....when they put him on morphine, I thought to myself, it won't be long now.
Then the exchange of beds to a hospice bed....getting closer to the end.
Yet when the end came, I cried like a baby.

More then just a chapter in the authors life, the author struggles with what worked for her (a community of people who helped and even those who just asked How are YOU today?) and what didn't work...the diapers, S-E-X, etc.

I admired her candor and I appreciate that she took the time to detail how she was doing, what was happening, how she became the patient advocate.

This is a book I wish I knew MORE about. I wish I knew how the kids were doing now, did the kids go to the grief camp that was mentioned early on in the book, has the author started dating again?

I loved the eulogy and really got a feeling for Dennis. I wish that I had heard more of Dennis' life and their relationship in the book.

Overall a great (is there such a thing about grief?) book about grief, talking with kids, talking with people who have been through so much.

I Really appreciated this book.

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Future Widow by Jenny Lisk is a heart breaking memoir of the last months of her husband's life. This book is a must read for other wives/families starting the journey of a death of a spouse. Jenny provides an honest depiction of all aspects of her journey through her husband's diagnosis of Glioblastoma. Not only does Jenny detail the her journey, but she also provides insight into how others can help if they know someone dealing with a similar situation. This book reminded me to not take anything for granted, we are not guaranteed tomorrow. It is a must read for someone encountering similar circumstances. Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for the advance copy in exchange for my honest review.

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FUTURE WIDOW by Jenny Lisk is a heartbreaking book. I suspect many of the people who pick this up will (like me) have a personal experience that is somewhat similar to Lisk's. However, the author's ability to convey both the grief and the strength and the deep love of community make this a book appropriate for a much larger audience.

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Thank you net galley for providing this book. I personally liked this book. The book is knowledgeable for the people who are facing any kind of loss in their life. Most people who keep their grief to themselves, this book is like a therapy. In this it actually shows how a caregiver too need support not physically, but emotionally too.

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What a beautifully written memoir. The book left me wondering how am I going to live my life when the closest person to me is lost. And this I do not know but Jenny's memoir helped to see how to focus on this possible situation and also being to prepare.

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