On My Own

In a deeply personal and moving book, the beloved NPR radio host speaks out about the long drawn-out death (from Parkinson's) of her husband of fifty-four years, and of her struggle to reconstruct her life without him. With John gone, Diane was indeed "on her own," coping with the inevitable practical issues and, more important, with the profoundly emotional ones. What to do, how to react, how to reach out again into the world--struggling to create a new reality for herself while clinging to memories of the past. The focus is on her own roller-coaster experiences, but she has also solicited the moving stories of such recently widowed friends as Roger Mudd and Susan Stamberg, which expose the reader to a remarkable range of reactions to the death of a spouse.John's unnecessarily extended death--he begged to be helped to die--culminated in his taking matters into his own hands, simply refusing to take food and medication until pneumonia claimed him. His heroic...