Choose Joy: Accepting the Road We Never Wanted

This memoir tells the story of one woman's journey through devastating loss, unexpected upheaval, and the difficult work of rebuilding a life she never would have chosen. After losing her husband to Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS), she and her four children were forced to navigate not only profound grief, but also the destruction of their home and community in a devastating wildfire just months later.

She found herself facing the unimaginable: widowhood, single parenting, displacement, and the painful task of rediscovering her identity in the aftermath of a shattered future. What began as a journey through anticipatory grief through her husband's terminal diagnosis became a story not only about death, but also about resilience, surrender, faith, identity, and the complicated beauty of continuing to live after heartbreak.

This memoir follows the family through loss and into an unexpected new beginning, where she wrestles with loneliness, fear, faith, identity, and the challenge of starting over.

At its core, the book explores the "both/and" reality of grief: how sorrow and joy coexist, how faith can survive disappointment, and how beauty can still emerge from ashes. It wrestles honestly with the questions many grieving people quietly carry: How does someone continue living when the life they loved is gone? How does faith endure when the miracle prayed for never comes? How does a person move forward without betraying what was lost?

While deeply personal, this memoir ultimately extends an invitation to anyone walking through loss-whether through death, illness, divorce, shattered dreams, or unwanted change-to believe that life can still hold meaning, connection, hope, and beauty on the other side of devastation. This is not a story about "getting over" grief. It is a story about learning to carry it while still choosing joy, embracing surrender, and continuing to live fully and courageously in the life that remains.