Seeing Sacred Stones
A Family's ALS Journey of Love, Healing and Faith
Marked by positivity, Seeing Sacred Stones is a memoir about maintaining faith and hope in the face of a partner’s terminal diagnosis.
Karen J. Williams’s affecting memoir Seeing Sacred Stones is about caring for a loved one with ALS.
Williams’s husband, Peter, was fifty-three when he was diagnosed with ALS following what he mistook for symptoms of his multiple sclerosis. In the aftermath of his diagnosis, his family prepared for the upcoming changes he’d face and for their inevitable grief. They also worked to keep living vivaciously. Thus, the couple filled their days with favorite activities, including travel, golf, and spending time with their son, Mark.
Bookended by sections that put their central, therapeutic writing into context, the bulk of the book is devoted to a period of almost a year, gathering in-the-moment memories of the couple dealing with the disease. These appear in chronological order. Williams’s intimate journal entries are incorporated, too, bringing her pain and grief to the surface as she chronicles the worsening of Peter’s condition and her responses to those challenges:
It was a lovely drive in the sun, and I had extra time to stop in for a quick cup of tea with a friend. She’s so sweet and there for me. I told her about the last two weeks and joked how desperately I needed today’s massage to help me release it all.
Indeed, despite its difficult subject matter, the book is full of optimism and appreciation. Even at the height of Peter’s illness and at his death, a sense of gratitude for the time spent with him prevails. This is emphasized by an abundance of prayers that appear throughout, as well as through records of enjoying simple moments, like walking on the beach and dancing in the backyard. Such scenes are enlivened by sensory details, as of the breeze in Williams’s hair and the sensation of the sand beneath her feet. The experience of sleeping on a hospital bed procured for Peter is also covered in evocative, cozy terms, with being in it likened to a hug.
Grief is ever-present and is treated with gravitas, with Williams expressing sorrow as she witnesses her husband’s condition deteriorate. When he becomes too weak to climb stairs, her sense of hopelessness is palpable. And the book works toward a natural closing point. Though its conclusion is tinted with grief over Peter’s absence, it also strikes a hopeful note, maintaining sight of its goal: to champion living life to the fullest. Indeed, Williams writes about how the loss of her husband became a catalyst for her to explore old wounds, pushing her story in new directions.
About finding joy amid hardships, Seeing Sacred Stones is a poignant memoir.
Reviewed by
Carolina Ciucci
Disclosure: This article is not an endorsement, but a review. The publisher of this book provided free copies of the book and paid a small fee to have their book reviewed by a professional reviewer. Foreword Reviews and Clarion Reviews make no guarantee that the publisher will receive a positive review. Foreword Magazine, Inc. is disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255.
