Choosing to Smile

Choosing to Smile is three life stories interwoven into one book. It is the autobiographical journeys of three friends who happened to have cancer. Each woman was diagnosed in a different decade of her life. Michelle Rickaby was diagnosed with Hodgkin's Lymphoma in her 20's - the same disease which claimed her older brother's life five years prior to her own diagnosis; Glenda Standeven was diagnosed with bone cancer in her 30's and lost her entire right leg, hip, and pelvis to the disease. Less than three years after her surgery she gave birth to her second son, Andrew; Julie Houlker was diagnosed with breast cancer in her 40's and was one of the few women in the world to have had a mastectomy twice on the same side when a reoccurrence caused her to lose the reconstructed breast 10 years after her initial diagnosis. However, their stories are not just about surviving cancer.Lisa Sehn,contributor to the Times Newspaper, described it as... a book containing the autobiographical stories of three local women who survived cancer and met each other because of it. It's much more than a collection of survivor stories, though. It's a celebration of the wholeness of life.Each author starts at the beginning; with her childhood and the people, places and events that helped to shape her into the resilient, good humoured, generous woman she would ultimately become. We laugh along with some of their antics during their teens and early twenties. We watch as they begin to pursue career paths, cheering for them as their struggles to find their own purpose begin to take shape. We see them fall in love, sometimes more than once. Along the way we meet the men they marry and the children they give birth to. At times we are moved by the depths of love and courage their partners display.The common theme running through these individual accounts is that the women didn't let cancer define and rule their lives. But these aren't just three 'brag letters', not everything went right. There was a divorce; significant financial stress and even survivor guilt while they watched some of their loved ones perish from the disease that they were struggling to recover from. Not everyone in their lives was able to be the supportive person the authors needed them to be. The fear and suffering and times of isolation came close to utter desperation at times.Their determination to live and love their lives is the celebration. We are defined by how we respond to joy. Houlker, Standeven and Rickaby are well defined.Choosing to Smile has become a world-wide movement for people who have faced any kind of adversity and have chosen to smile in the face of it. The movement evolved from the book 'Choosing to Smile'.Reader 'Choosing to Smile' is a candid and honest account of the emotional and personal journeys of Glenda, Michelle and Julie. It also made me very aware of the effects their illnesses had on their spouses, children, friends, and people around them. You can't help but be touched and inspired by their optimistic outlook and love of life. I will definitely be reading it again and passing it on to others to read.Julie Muirhead Meet three amazing women through the pages of their book. Written in the heart-to-heart manner of women speaking to each other, it's like an afternoon with your best girlfriends. Except the girlfriends have all wrestled with the beast we call cancer. Shockingly personal, shockingly personable, Choosing To Smile has received international media attention. One needn't be touched by cancer (but who isn't?) to receive the message of hope and inspiration this book provides. Yarrow NewsI read it from front to back in one night with both tears and alot of laughter! Well done on deciding to tell your life story it was one well worth its weight in inspiration!! Your book will be forever cherished.Jayda WilsonSee more reviews www.choosingtosmile.comChapter Excerpts www.choosingtosmile.com