Well, today is the day. The day I share with you another
part of my life… A part that you have not seen. I feel like I have been holding
out on you but I wanted to save this particular moment in my life for a very
special reason… The Book.
I know that I have been talking about his stupid book
forever but I have finally finished it. I started writing the book four years
ago because I wanted Gracie to have something solid to remember this experience.
But now, the book has morphed into something else. How could it not? Four years
ago I was a different person… Sort of. Having ALS is a tricky disease… You keep
who you were but a stranger emerges and you have to learn how to cohabitate.
Sometimes you like your new roommate, sometimes you don't. Sometimes this new
person teaches you a thing or two.
This book that I wrote, AND SO IT IS, is different from
the blog. It is tougher, sadder, and sometimes surprising. It has taken me all
of these years to write because every time I start to proofread a chapter, I
start crying like a baby and then I stop for a few months to fucking collect
myself because life with ALS is so brutal that is it surreal.
So, I am warning you that this is not an easy read but I think
in the end it is an important read. Not to be full of myself but I think that a
lesson or two can be learned. What do I mean? I mean that ALS schools you about
who you are, who you were and who you need to be. These are lessons that I did
not necessarily want to learn. I was perfectly happy going about my ignorant
existence before ALS. However, I did not have a choice but to learn how to adapt
to my new life.
AND SO IT IS is a big book, almost 200 pages. It is not
about decorating, it is not about cooking, it is not about annoying French
people, it is about the hardcore past six years of my life. The book starts
with the lead up to my diagnosis while I was happily living my life in New York
and ends with some brutal honesty and what I think my legacy is. The 26
chapters delve into every aspect of my life that I have not really discussed in
the blog, if you can believe it.
Yes, I discuss my childhood. Yes, I discuss my
relationship with my family. Yes, I discuss my past. Yes, I discuss my feelings
and I also answer all of your questions, however tough they may be, including
your sex questions. I have not kept anything from you because I am all about
transparency, even though I hate to use that word but it is the only way that
we are going to learn from this train wreck called ALS.
By nature, I am an optimistic person and I think that
this trait has served me and saved me but there have been times of utter
despair so dark that I do not know how I came out of it… Maybe I am still in
it. Who knows? All I know is that I can say that I have survived ALS. I know that
that may sound strange, but let me explain…
ALS did not take me before I had the time to create
memories with Gracie and David, reach milestones, tell my friends that I love
them, accomplish a thing or two, prepare for the future, and learn life
lessons. I hope the book allows all of you to take what I have learned and
incorporate it into your own lives.
I could tell you more about the book but I feel like I
should just shut up and let you experience the book on your own. Let me warn
you, you are going to cry and laugh and have some moments of clarity regarding
life… The good, the bad and the ugly. There are some definite surprises in the
book like Chapter 19. Okay, okay, I will shut up.
So, here we go, the book, AND SO IT IS. There are three
versions… A giant hardback coffee table version, a softback version and an
ebook version.
For the large coffee table version, CLICK HERE.
For the softback version, CLICK HERE.
For the ebook version, CLICK HERE.
As always, a portion of the proceeds will go towards ALS research.
I hope you like it.
