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Remember: the things that matter when hope is hard to find

Reviewed by Ursula Franklin.

At 55 years of age, Rhonda Watson was diagnosed as having Motor Neurone Disease. She had to come to terms with the fact that it would not go away, but would cause her body to deteriorate to the point of death. She first decided that she would plot the progression of the disease for herself, but later she decided to record the journey that she had to make for a wider public. It is a searing record of suffering and of courage, and it will be of immense value not just to fellow sufferers, but also to those of us who meet chronically ill patients.

As part of her coping strategy in dealing with this creeping death, she decided to take charge of her thoughts by remembering forwards as well as backwards! Her mind turns to familiar words from Scripture, poetry and hymns. This is an account of the most stringent honesty. Sentimentality is avoided. She is a ‘warrior’ using logic, courage and militant faith on the battlefield of suffering and faith. 

The book is attractively produced.  Each chapter heading contains paired opposites: e.g. ‘beauty and ugliness’; ‘silence and speech’ ‘fear and trust’; ‘thankfulness and bitterness’.  Each chapter too ends with a prayer, thoughts to remember, and a space for reflection.