When Life Throws You Lemons...Make Cranberry Juice!...Review

About the book:
When my kids were learning to walk, I remember walking behind them, ready to catch them if they stumbled backward. I never dreamed that thirteen years later my kids would be walking behind me, ready to catch me if I stumble backward. 

I was 42 years old when I was diagnosed with a benign, operable brain tumor in July 2006. Doctors predicted a short hospital stay followed by a speedy recovery. Complications arose, giving me lifelong obstacles that I never could have prepared for. 

A divorced mother of two beautiful, talented, wonderful children, I had high hopes for a bright and happy future. I tried online dating, which got me a few cups of coffee, but no real dates. A couple of dating disasters later, my dating karma was beginning to change when my brain tumor was diagnosed. 

My life since that fateful day has been focused on regaining basic human functions: breathing, swallowing, walking, etc. I am working again, and trying to be a good mother to my two beautiful, talented, wonderful children. 

Putting a positive spin on life’s disasters doesn’t always work, but looking for, and accepting, positive things in spite of life’s disasters works. Instead of making lemonade out of lemons, I add life’s sweet sugar and cranberries to my lemons. This makes life much more palatable.

Shari Bookstaff very simply shares her story.  She's open and honest and, at times, a little whiny.  She talks of the good, the bad, the joy, and the sorrow.  While not a faith-based book, her story is one that will inspire some and cause others to think.  It's a short, easy read.  Shari lives in the San Francisco Bay Area and I, being born and raised there, loved reading of references and locations that are very familiar to me.

I love the concept that Shari shares: that putting a positive spin on disasters doesn't always work.  Sometimes you need to find the sweet cranberries to go along with the sour lemons and adding those with a little bit of sugar makes your life's journey a little more enjoyable.  The lemons are sour and, in Shari's case, involve a traumatic brain injury following surgery.  The cranberries you add to your lemonade are the little things:  a hug, a back rub, laughter, a good friend and so on.  You might have to look for them, but you will find them.


Thanks to Tracee at Pump Up Your Book! for the opportunity to review this book.  You can learn more about Shari Bookstaff here.  You can purchase your own copy here.

Read 10/10

* * *
3/5 Stars


Comments

  1. This does sound like a good story. I think it's hard not to be whiny sometimes when awful things happen.

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