Ira Byock’s colleague, Arlene, explains why it is important to say “I’m sorry”. Arlene’s parents divorced when she was eight and her father, alcoholic, moved away. Arlene’s mother, Hazel, got remarried to Conrad whom had 3 other children from a previous marriage when she was in her first year of junior high school. Arlene did not like the fact that her mother married Conrad and even became jealous of him because he was taking away her and her mother’s time spent together. Conrad tried to connect with Arlene by taking her to the hospital with him since he was a surgeon and she had an interest in science but they were not able to form a bond together. Just as Arlene was entering graduate school Conrad, age 63, suddenly became sick. Over the
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Too often we assume that the people we love really know we love them. The next story I’m going to talk about is the relationship between two twin sisters, Lisa and Linda. When Lisa and Linda were children they used to everything together from going on double dates to attending the same college and getting an apartment together, they were inseparable. The twin’s family had history of caner-thyroid and colon cancer on their father’s side, and breast cancer on their mother’s. One day Linda realized that she had developed a lump under her arm and she got the devastating news that it was breast cancer. As a result, Linda has to get a “bilateral mastectomy and was started on chemotherapy” (165). To support her sister, Lisa took kind of the same action by getting a “bilateral, prophylactic mastectomy and implant surgery” (165). Lisa showed Linda that she wouldn’t have to go through it alone and drove her to the doctors’ for chemo and tests, shopped for wigs and breast prosthesis with her, and attended a “Look good, Feel Good” (165) course with …show more content…
In Ira Byock’s book, The Four Things That Matter Most, Byock teaches us how to practice these “life-affirming” words in our day-to-day lives. These words can rebuild broken relationships, teach people to let go of the past and focus on the future, bring a family together, release tension and let others know that you care about them and appreciate them for who they are. I would recommend this book to others because I wish I had been taught to say these words daily before my grandmother passed away. I feel as if things were left unsaid and I have regrets about our relationship. Some people may stop reading the book halfway through because it’s multiple stories relating to the same topic but, each story has its own lesson in itself so I encourage people to read the whole book, maybe even twice. I really liked reading The Four Things That Matter Most and it has taught me a few life
Too often we assume that the people we love really know we love them. The next story I’m going to talk about is the relationship between two twin sisters, Lisa and Linda. When Lisa and Linda were children they used to everything together from going on double dates to attending the same college and getting an apartment together, they were inseparable. The twin’s family had history of caner-thyroid and colon cancer on their father’s side, and breast cancer on their mother’s. One day Linda realized that she had developed a lump under her arm and she got the devastating news that it was breast cancer. As a result, Linda has to get a “bilateral mastectomy and was started on chemotherapy” (165). To support her sister, Lisa took kind of the same action by getting a “bilateral, prophylactic mastectomy and implant surgery” (165). Lisa showed Linda that she wouldn’t have to go through it alone and drove her to the doctors’ for chemo and tests, shopped for wigs and breast prosthesis with her, and attended a “Look good, Feel Good” (165) course with …show more content…
In Ira Byock’s book, The Four Things That Matter Most, Byock teaches us how to practice these “life-affirming” words in our day-to-day lives. These words can rebuild broken relationships, teach people to let go of the past and focus on the future, bring a family together, release tension and let others know that you care about them and appreciate them for who they are. I would recommend this book to others because I wish I had been taught to say these words daily before my grandmother passed away. I feel as if things were left unsaid and I have regrets about our relationship. Some people may stop reading the book halfway through because it’s multiple stories relating to the same topic but, each story has its own lesson in itself so I encourage people to read the whole book, maybe even twice. I really liked reading The Four Things That Matter Most and it has taught me a few life