In An Instant

Once again, the kind folks over at FSB Associates asked me to review a book.

In An Instant, a memoir by Lee & Bob Woodruff was at the top of the New York Times bestseller for quite a few weeks last year. Now it's available in paperback that also includes an afterword.

As you may remember, I posted a bit about the Woodruffs' on my other blog about a week ago. Lee Woodruff would know about handling a crisis with kids. She has had the unfortunate experience of this first hand. Her husband, Bob and his cameraman were injured while reporting for ABC News in Iraq. Using alternating voices, the Woodruffs share their journey of healing - the frustrations, fear, anger, the joys, courage and milestones in their recovery. And I say THEIR recovery, because as they so beautifully share, it was THEY who went through this traumatic event, not just Bob. This effected their entire family.

Lee shares with us telling their 4 children, being apart from her children for weeks while taking care of Bob, the effect on their marriage and family and the hard-to-talk-about-subject: struggling with depression. Bob shares with us his painful recovery along with stories of his family and love of Lee from before and after the accident.

What I liked most about this book is that it was not written in a 'woe is me, this horrible thing happened to me, come sympathize with me' voice. They use their position in the public eye to help educate the public that this has happened not just to them, but to thousands of our soldiers who are fighting over in the Middle East. The statistics on head trauma from IED's is extremely high. The toll it takes on a family with its medical costs, emotional costs and physical pain, long term care, loss of wages (just to mention a few of the stresses) is, well, I'm not sure how you would put a price tag on it. They really opened my eyes to this growing issue.

There are so many themes and questions you can take away from reading this book. What would you do if your life changed in an instant? How would you react if your spouse, child or best friend was traumatically brain injured? How would it change your role, your marriage, your friendships with others?

They truly make you realize that your life can change in an instant.