I'll Be in the Car - One Woman's Story of Love, Loss and ... (ISBN 0977485609)

I'LL BE IN THE CAR:
I think this book is one of the most touching and heartfelt books I have ever read. It deals with love and loss but also allows the reader to realize how precious life is, enjoy and treasure each moment. The author allows us to see her personal struggle with loosing one very dear and yet going on to live a full life as a mother and woman. Three cheers for Annette Wick for sharing her very personal true story with the reader.

An uplifting testimony written to reach out to readers who have experienced terrible loss:
I'll Be In The Car: One Woman's Story Of Love, Loss, And Reclaiming Life is the true story of a wife whose young husband was diagnosed with a terminal illness. She and her infant son had to cope with her husband's cycles of disease and remission, readying themselves to confront the inevitable. Yet I'll Be In The Car is a story of hope, not despair - it is about finding love in the precious moments of life together, no matter how fleeting, and the choice to carry on and cherish the love that was had rather than the years that were lost. An uplifting testimony written to reach out to readers who have experienced terrible loss, highly recommended.

A True Love Story:
Congratulations Annette! Your book grabbed my heart from the first page. Having went to high school with Devin, it was also gut wrenching to read of the pain and suffering. There were many times I had to put it down for a day or so until I could be emotionally prepared to continue. Extremely well written in that it exposes the raw characteristics of each character. Just what an author is supposed to do. Thank you for sharing your life through Devin with me.

I'll Be in the Car - One Woman's Story of Love, Loss and Reclaiming Life:
I'll Be in the Car is a love story, a recollection of pain, and an inspiring memoir. This book starts with the story of how the author met her husband, Devin. The two were colleagues and workmates and then realized that they were something more. Like all couples, the relationship didn't always go smoothly but since it was a solid relationship where it most counted, the bond created a happy marriage full of hope and dreams of the future. This is where the story turns heartbreaking. At a time that the couple's biggest worries should have been caring for their new son Davis while balancing their careers, the couple received some scary news- Devin was diagnosed with leukemia. The next few years would become a yoyo world of hope and despair as the couple went through several remissions, therapy, a transplant, and eventually the worst. I'll Be in the Car is one of those stories that reminds the reader to look at what's really important in life. I absolutely recommend this book for anyone who is struggling with terminal or chronic illness as the author shares the positive moments as well those times she wished she could have had more strength and energy.

Moving Through Loss:
As a pastor I'm confronted at times with similar situations as this gripping one of Annette. Thus, immediately upon reading of her intense time with Devin I was reminded of a similar cancer encounter which will hopefully explain this review. It started with a young man whom I had never met before asking me after a worship service if he could talk to me alone. Having said yes, after everyone else in the lobby was finished with me, I led him and a most attractive blond female companion of his to my office. We reached the office entrance and he announced to her, "I'll see you in the car." Alone in my office he proceeded to tell me of his dilemma: most successful auto designer for one of Motown's best he had just discovered at the age of 35 that he had terminal lung cancer and the doctors had estimated he only had three to five months. I asked him: "What can I do for you?" He replied: "Help me discover if God will cure me or not!" To this my response came: "Certainly we can tackle that one, but let me add one more objective if I may to our counseling, "Whether God chooses to heal me of this cancer or not, I know I will be ok." He had been away from church and active faith life and then added many other family and emotional issues on the counseling table, including the shocking one that the blonde had been his fiance who told him when he shared the terminal diagnosis, "I can't go through with the marriage." Amazingly, thanks be to God that was about a decade ago and a marrow transplant much the same as Devin went through. This active member in my church is now married happily and quite an inspiration to all. I share this because I was waiting and hoping for someone to bring Christ into Devin's and Annette's life but closest I heard of Him was the name of one of Devin's hospital. My pastoral heart ached and pained at this absence in this amazing chronology of loss and new recovery and movement forward in life's journey. A magnificent movie from Billy Graham videos (World Wide Pictures", called "The Ride" exhibits this perfectly from the perspective of a young boy with terminal cancer and His relationship with Jesus. Check it out, it's excellent for kids of all ages. Certainly this energetic and talented young woman is moving forward significantly and was brave and therapeutic for many in this new written venture. The style was a bit cumbersome and awkward at times, what I would label as "a bit contrived" at times, wanting to fulfill what so many writing coaches call: painting things with word pictures. The best writing is at the end, when she seems to have written more from the heart about finding herself. I cheered when she finds herself! The pain was worth it, and this is signifcant present to the rest who venture down this path of shared suffering to cancer and other terminal illnesses, then lost and recovery of self and future life.