Book Review: When Life Gives You Pears: The Healing Power of Family, Faith, and Funny People by Jeannie Gaffigan

aWhen Life Gives You Pears: The Healing Power of Family, Faith, and Funny People by Jeannie Gaffigan
Publisher: Grand Central Publishing
Publication Date: October 1, 2019
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Publisher’s Description:

In 2017, Jeannie’s life came to a crashing halt when she was diagnosed with a life-threatening brain tumor. As the mother of 5 kids — 6 if you include her husband — sat in the neurosurgery department in star-covered sweats too whimsical for the seriousness of the situation, all she could think was “Am I going to die?”

Thankfully, Jeannie and her family were able to survive their time of crisis, and now she is sharing her deeply personal journey through this miraculous story: the challenging conversations she had with her children; how she came to terms with feeling powerless and ferociously crabby while bedridden and unable to eat for a month; and how she ultimately learned, re-learned and re re-learned to be more present in life.

With sincerity and hilarity, Jeannie invites you into her heart (and brain) during this trying time, emphasizing the importance of family, faith and humor as keys to her recovery and leading a more fulfilling life.

When Jeannie Gaffigan noticed that she was having trouble hearing, she did what most busy moms would do – she ignored it. Her children’s pediatrician happened to notice she was having trouble when she was in her office with her kids and wrote her a referral to a specialist. Long story short – Jeannie had a pear-sized benign brain tumor. She went from a mother of five living life at breakneck speed to being bedridden after brain surgery completely dependent on others.

Before her tumor, Jeannie had been somewhat of a control freak, insisting on doing a lot of things herself because it seemed easier to just do everything herself, even if it left her tired and stressed. Can any other moms relate?? During her recovery, she was forced to let other people take over and she found other people were capable of helping her – even her bumbling husband, comedian Jim Gaffigan. (Not surprisingly, he’s not nearly as inept as he makes himself seem in his act.) It also turned out that her children were capable of doing more things for themselves than she thought.

Jeanne’s sense of humor and strong faith got her through her tough journey. She is what her husband jokingly refers to as a “Shiite Catholic” so there is God-talk in this book, but she’s never preachy. I had surgery a few years ago and experienced complications and a recovery process very similar to Jeanne’s and I so wish I had this book back then. It would have helped me a lot to know that I wasn’t alone in what I was feeling.

Even if you haven’t been through a major medical issue, this book has a lot to offer. Busy moms will totally relate. When Life Gives You Pears is inspirational without being hokey. It’s also really funny. She’s Jim’s writing partner so she has street cred in the laughs department. Recommended.