TALES FROM THE BED by Jenifer Estess.
Do not, I repeat, do not read this book for a feel-good laugh out loud simple read. Tales from the Bed, a memoir told to one sister by another sister dying of ALS, aka the uncurable Lou Gehrig's Disease, is nothing short of tear-jearkingly poignant, but so motivating that you feel as though you have done nothing with your perfectly-healthly-able-to-feed-yourself life, and inspired enough to do something...anything, after reading it.
Estess' physicians tell her to prepare to die; max out the plastic; take the trips you've always wanted to take; do all the things you've wanted to do. Just as she begins to truly live, her health truly begins to fade. In her failing condition, her work, including research on ALS, its effects, affects, potential cures and establishing awareness, continues to soar, accomplishing more than she could have hoped for. She relies on her sisters, to be her voice and continue to inspire others as she has been inspired by her debilitating disease to live as never before. Project ALS, as her work is called, is relied upon by not only Estess but also her own doctors, her sisters, other ALS patients and others to try and find a cure.
Estess details every instant that she realizes one more muscle doesnt work, the second she discovers that she can longer smile, the moment she uncovers that she really is dying. Each significant time period lets readers peek into her life, into THAT life, to see the disease as it ravishes the body; each span pushes readers to see do the things they need to do before it is too late.
The last pages are easily read through streaming, but well worth it tears. Jenifer Estess is not just her sister's sibling; she is every reader's sister, mother, daughter, friend.
OVERALL: a quiet moving memory that will no doubt inspire even the hardest soul