Excerpt Tour + #Giveaway: When Will It Stop Hurting? by Glenn Cameron @GoddessFish

 

"When will it stop hurting?": One man's journey through grief

by Glenn Cameron

GENRE: Memoir

BLURB:

Crystle was the love of his life. For thirty-six years they had done everything together. As retirement approached all he could think of was spending even more time with his beautiful wife, growing old together. Just three years earlier they had sold their home in the Toronto area and moved to Niagara in preparation for retirement. Then on her 58th birthday, Crystle was diagnosed with stage four brain cancer. A terminal diagnosis that Glenn never allowed himself to accept. But just eight months later she had succumbed to her illness and Glenn was thrust into a time filled with uncontrolled grief that seemed to almost suffocate him. This is his real life story. He shares the raw emotions and the dark places he visited in his mind. His story will make you laugh and cry. It will makes you cherish your loved ones. You will be uplifted as you follow his path in overcoming grief. His inspirational story will provide comfort and hope to others struggling with grief.

Excerpt:

On Crystle’s fifty-eighth birthday—yes, the exact day—she was diagnosed with glioblastoma multiforme. A terminal grade four brain tumour with a very grim diagnosis. Her diagnosis worsened when the surgeons informed us that they were unable to remove any of the tumour due to its location in her brain. I remember bursting into tears in the office of her family doctor as he read the results of the CT scan. When we arrived at the hospital that day, the hospital where Crystle had worked since we had moved to Niagara, she seemed calm. The director of her department brought down a single flower with a Happy Birthday greeting. Crystle was loved.

Less than eight months later she was gone. Taken away from friends and family. It was a gruelling time and an experience that I know many people have had to endure. The care Crystle received was full of compassion and for that I will be forever grateful. I don’t believe I ever fully accepted the gravity of her diagnosis. Even while she was bedridden for the last two months of her life, I was still expecting a miracle. How could I not cling on to hope? I could not bear the thought of losing her.

When she passed away, I was broken in two.

I suppose shock came over me initially. For those last two months we were provided a shift nurse to sit with Crystle through the night so our family could get proper sleep and rest. With the assistance of personal service workers, our family provided Crystle’s care through the end of her life, at home. I know this is not possible in many cases. I felt privileged to have been able to keep her home, but I could not have done so without the assistance of our children and community care nurses who visited Crystle every day, no matter the weather. And there was some treacherous weather.

We were taking turns being with Crystle through the night. It was difficult but drew us even closer together as we cared for our beloved wife and mother. I fell asleep quickly that first night the nurse had returned. I had been in bed less than thirty minutes when the nurse came calling. I did not hear her, but my son was roused and came into my room to wake me. When he told me that the nurse had been calling me, I had a strong sense of what had happened. This is not unique: most of us have heard similar stories of knowing when a loved one has passed. I had much the same experience when my father passed away a few years earlier.

Crystle had passed. The love of my life was gone.

AUTHOR Bio and Links:

I grew up in Canada’s east coast and moved to Toronto in my late teens. I was ready to sow my wild oats in the big city. But I met Crystle on a blind date and everything changed. I knew she was the love of my life. I have a business degree from the University of New Brunswick and I have worked in the information technology sector much of my working career. That hardly is credentials for an author, but life makes us all experts, even in areas we may prefer not to hold that title. When Crystle passed my life was forever changed. My grief was so overwhelming I felt I needed to share my story and if even one person is inspired to defeat grief then my writing career will be a success.

Website ~ Goodreads

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