| View Larger Image | I Remember Running: The Year I Got Everything I Ever Wanted - and ALS | Paperbackby Darcy Wakefield (Author), Jonathan Eig (Foreword)
| List Price: | $14.95 | | Price: | $11.66 | | You Save: | $3.29 (22%) | | | Available: | Usually ships in 24 hours |
| | Binding: | Paperback | | Publisher: | Da Capo Press | | Page Count: | 208 Pages | | Publication Date: | August 28, 2006 | | Sales Rank: | 250,106th |
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EDITORIAL REVIEWS |
Product Description
A little over a year ago, Darcy Wakefield was a single, 33-year-old, athletic, workaholic English professor, a vegetarian who had never had a serious health problem or injury. Then she was diagnosed with ALS, and her world turned upside down. I Remember Running is Darcy's story of change and loss and challenges during her first year with ALS, as she struggles to make sense of her diagnosis and redefine herself in the face of this terminal illness. With unflagging courage, wit, and eloquence, Darcy shares what she calls her "fast-forward" life, a life in which she applies for disability, leaves her job, and plans her own funeral as well as meets and moves in with her true love, buys a house, and gives birth to her first child in less time than it takes most of us to accomplish even one of these things. Beautifully written and wholly inspiring, I Remember Running proves that it is possible to live a rich, meaningful life after being diagnosed with a terminal illness. This book will move readers to see the world in a different light. |
CUSTOMER REVIEWS (Average Customer Rating: 5.0 based on 21 reviews)
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A unique and beautiful voice by Amy Robbins Wilson (Maine, United States)  5 Stars
April 22, 2009
In the interest of full disclosure, I was honored to be Darcy's college roommate for several years and she was a beloved friend. That said, her book is a wonder. Darcy's ability to find the joy and see the poetry of life is something that I always loved about her and that she shares in this book. Her voice is unique and authentic and her storytelling has roots that go down into the earth. Few books have touched me as deeply as this.
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We should all have such courage by Sharon R. Mattsfield (Esko, Minnesota) 5 Stars
March 29, 2009
This is not a depressing book but rather I found it to be uplifting and encouraging. The author was able to find strength and courage at a time when most of us would fall apart. Reading it made me want to be a better person and it made me re-think the things I get upset about. I went on-line after reading the book to see if there was more information about her life after her son was born. You can also find this by going to her website.
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"It takes daily acts of courage" by Linda Bulger (Avon, Maine) 5 Stars
September 30, 2008
In the first half of 2003 Darcy Wakefield, age 33, began to seriously assess her life. A relationship had broken up and while she was happy with her roles as runner, swimmer, writer and college English professor, she longed for more. A child, she realized, was essential to her; a man, important but not essential. She took a bilateral approach to her goals, registering with dating services and investigating sperm banks. Darcy had the magnificent good fortune to meet her soulmate in a Denver doctor named Steve, nearly 2,100 miles from her home in southern Maine.
As her relationship with Steve grew in strength, Darcy's strong runner's legs began to weaken. In October of that year she was diagnosed with motor neuron syndrome -- ALS -- Lou Gehrig's disease. This fatal but unpredictable disease kicked Darcy's life into "fast-forward." Steve moved to Maine to be with her, they began house hunting, and early in 2004 Darcy was pregnant.
This journal-like little book is Darcy's exploration of her new world. The short essays are dated and each is named with a present participle that celebrates her new appreciation of life in the here-and-now -- "Committing;" "Expecting;" "Moving;" "Helping;" "Loving;" and the poignant final section, "Birthing," in which she describes the birth of their son Samuel.
While Darcy hopes for a remission of her disease, her thoughtful writing explores the twin realities of her blessings and her losses. Within a year she loses the ability not just to run, bike and swim, but eventually to walk, write and speak. Along the way are wonderful lessons about how to live life joyfully and understand the meaning of disability. "I hate asking for help," Darcy writes. "I am ... a Mainer by birth and disposition, which is to say that I am an independent, stubborn, do-it-my-way-and-by-myself kind of woman, the sort of person who hates being dependent on others."
When the simple things that Darcy took for granted are lost to her, she finds a way to accommodate the loss. In her former life as a busy athletic woman, for example, she rarely took time for manicures. Now unable to do her own nails, she begins to have them done regularly. She writes, "The real truth of my ALS is that it takes daily acts of courage to get up, live the day fully, be grateful for what I have, and to find the humor and grace and the pleasure, yes, pleasure, in not being able to clip my own nails." And as cooking and even eating become difficult for her, she describes her new way of eating: "Slowly. Mindfully. Thankfully."
There is nothing self-pitying about I Remember Running: The Year I Got Everything I Ever Wanted - and ALS; nor is there a false gaiety or denial about her life with ALS. Darcy Wakefield writes intelligently and with the utmost courage about her daily accommodations to weakness and to getting everything she ever wanted, all in the space of little more than a year. Far from being a sorrowful read, this little book may be the most heart-warming and thought-provoking thing you will read this year. Some of Darcy's essays were produced for Maine Public Radio and she made fund-raising public appearances. When she could no longer read her work, her sister Betsy read to the audience. In her last appearance Darcy sat in her wheelchair while Betsy spoke her words: ''You may very well be one of those people who's sitting on a great story, waiting for the right time to write it. Here's my challenge to you. Write now. Write here. Write your first sentence."
Although it's outside the time scale of this brave little book, readers should know that Darcy Wakefield died in December 2005, three months after this book was released. Her partner, Dr. Steve Stout, lives in Maine with their young son Sam.
If you've ever lost or loved -- and who hasn't? -- Darcy Wakefield's intensely personal story will touch your soul.
Linda Bulger, 2008
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FOR SAMUEL by Ben Hagler 5 Stars
September 15, 2008
I HAVE NOTICED THAT SOME OF THESE REVIEWS ARE FROM PEOPLE WHO KNEW DARCY. FROM THIS, I AM SURE THAT HER FAMILY AND FRIENDS WILL CHECK UP ON THE REVIEWS ON AMAZON FROM TIME TO TIME. TEN YEARS FROM NOW, WHEN SAMUEL READS THIS HE CAN FEEL PROUD OF HIS MOTHER AND THE LIFE SHE GAVE HIM. THIS BOOK BY DARCY IS IMPOSSIBLE TO PUT DOWN. I HAVE A 1 YEAR OLD AND I AM ALONE THIS WEEKEND TAKING CARE OF HIM AND I MADE TIME TO READ THIS BOOK WHILE HE NAPPED A COUPLE TIMES AND FINISHED THIS BOOK AFTER HIS BEDTIME. AFTER READING THIS BOOK, I WILL ALWAYS REALIZE HOW LUCKY I AM, EVEN THOUGH I HAVE SUFFERED FROM MANY PHYSICAL PROBLEMS THROUGH MY LIFE, NOTHING COMPARES TO WHAT DARCY WENT THROUGH AND IT MAKES ME HAPPY THAT SHE GOT TO MEET HER SON BEFORE SHE WENT ON TO THE NEXT WORLD. ONLY A PARENT COULD UNDERSTAND THAT FEELING.
ALSO, I AM SURE YOU WILL AT TIMES FEEL AN EMPTINESS IN YOUR HEART, SAMUEL, BUT I HAVE A GIFT TO HELP YOU THROUGH YOUR TOUGH TIMES. I'M NOT GOING TO TELL YOU WHY I RECOMMEND THESE GIFTS, BUT ORDER THEM OR CALL ME AND I'LL PURCHASE THEM FOR YOU! I MEAN IT.
ORDER THE BOOKS AND READ THEM IN THIS ORDER.
1.CLOSER TO THE LIGHT BY MELVIN MORSE
2.RETURN FROM TOMORROW BY GEORGE RITCHIE
3.AND IF YOU LIKE THOSE TWO FOR MORE,,,READ THE STARTER, LIFE AFTER LIFE BY MOODY.
I HAVE READ HUNDREDS UPON HUNDREDS OF BOOKS AND I RECOMMEND THESE TO ANYONE AND EVERYONE WHO'S EVER LIVED.
YOUR MOTHER IS AN INSPIRATION TO ANYONE WHO COMES ACROSS HER STORY. GOD BLESS HER.
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not what I expected by Mary J. Laabs (WI)  2 Stars
June 19, 2008
I was hoping that this book would be an uplifting account of hope to encourage my husband who was recently diagnosed with Lou Gehrig's disease. It was NOT. Would not recommend it.
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