It's Hard Being You

<p>Sharon Emery struggled with the losses and limits she faced but couldn't change - no matter how hard she tried. </p><p>And she <em>did</em> try. First with her incurable severe stutter then with the death of her daughter Jessica and the too-early deaths of her own younger siblings. Meanwhile her broken voice meant her long career in communications was regularly a battle.</p><p>Emery wrote this memoir to help guide her children on their own life journeys stressing the amazing resilience of humans beings. Exhibit A: herself.</p><p>In the foreword Steve Gleason - former NFL player with the New Orleans Saints now living with ALS and a friend of Emery's son Ben Schneider front man for the band Lord Huron - provides a compelling introduction to what we can gain from what we lose.</p><p>Emery was a daughter sister and mother - and lost all those roles. She was a journalist public relations consultant and teacher - and never able to speak fluently. </p><p>Her memoir recounts Emery's challenges and achievements tracing her efforts to give them meaning and find where they fit in her life. It's a process she considers vital to surviving what happens to you - telling the story. This is a reaffirming example of how it can be done.</p>