Come Back Strong: A Widow's Song

Thriving. Not Merely Surviving. Come Back Strong tells the story of a woman's journey from the horrifying moment she learns her husband has terminal cancer to the joyous moment when she breaks a ribbon with her chest running in the first race of her life. Moving and inspirational, the memoir is written for people facing and enduring loss. Different than other books about life-changing events, Come Back Strong a Widow's Song is a road map back to wellness after care giving and worry takes its toll on personal health. Intimate and reflective, it shares the thoughts and insights of a woman facing the imminent death of her spouse and the challenge of restoring her health and happiness. The story starts and ends in Presidents Park on an extremely hot Fourth of July morning. A woman who now feels "newly young" is running in her community's annual 5K. While running, she thinks about the terminal cancer journey, the events of a comeback journey and what she has learned about love, life, and happiness. The heartfelt part of the book is the love story of a couple's final days together. The determined couple spend their days working hard to be happy in spite of the massive cancer in his chest. From the first "it doesn't look good" from the family doctor to the final days in palliative care, the couple lived in a positive progression: spirit, attitude, stubbornness and strength. Then he was gone. Stressed, sad, and facing a cancer scare of her own, the author was looking for a way past the bad in her life. A grief counselor challenged her to find the mind-body connection and use movement to quiet her mind, change her body, and pop her spirit. Never an athlete, she was uncertain just how to change her ways and uncertain she could do it. Fortunately, she meets an understanding but tough trainer and builds an unlikely bond with the young man she laughingly names "Sheriff." Slowly he teaches her what she needs to know to change her body and restore her health. Ultimately he coaches her to compete as an athlete after losing ninety pounds. Written for those painfully aware of loss but appealing to all who like a warm story about an unexpected comeback, Come Back Strong, a Widow's Song is thoughtful, warm, and powerfully moving.

About the Author :
Eileen McGuire Whaley had two surprising events back to back in her life. First the loss of her husband of 42 years to terminal lung cancer and then a physical transformation, losing ninety pounds in seven months after he passed. She shocked her family by throwing herself into exercise, writing, and new challenges after her husband's passing. The author is a lifelong resident of Northern Kentucky, school and district administrator, and senior runner.