****** - Verified Buyer
4.5
Being a late arrival to the wisdom and brilliance of Caroline Knappthis book gave me the opportunity to know her even better, as wellas allowing me to grieve her all too soon departure from our realm.A little bit about that. I am a therapist and had heard about Drinking, a Love Story and thought it would be a good (turned outto be GREAT) resource for my clients with substance abuse issues.I read it and literally fell in love with Caroline Knapp. I then found out that she had written a book about DOGS and ordered it immediately and practically swallowed it whole. You see I havehad, more on that later) a dog named Nico who was the love of my life; a beautiful, willful, intelligent boy...who through sheerdetermination overcame 3 kinds of Cancer until he met the onehe couldn't beat. He made it to almost 13 (not bad for a healthybig dog) with Cancer following him since 2009.After reading a Pack of Two I decided to google Ms. Knapp (this wasjust in 2010) and found that she had died some years before. I completely fell apart crying.........simply heartbroken that hervoice has been silenced by the insidious epidemic we call Cancer!I immediately ordered and read the other books she had written andmy love affair with Ms. Knapp grew deeper. You see we are cut ofthe same cloth. As it turns out so is Ms. Caldwell.At the end of August of 2010 I lost one of my 2 best friends, myDad, to the same Lung Cancer that killed Ms. Knapp. Of course Ididn't know it was the same Cancer until I read Let's Take the LongWay Home.Just 3 weeks ago to the day (Jan 24, 2011) I lost my other bestfriend, Nico, my Angel Dog....also to Aednocarcinoma. As you canimagine I am heartsick in an indescribable way.On Saturday I read the entirety of Long Way Home and it served asa balm for my heart and soul. The words so pitch perfect to thelevel of grief one experiences upon losing best and irreplaceable friends. Ms. Caldwell's telling of her relationship with Carolinethat was built around sharing the pure joy of the love and adventureswith their dogs is required reading for anyone who has suffereda loss of either/or a 2 or 4 legged best friend. The prose issublime. The honesty a breath of fresh air. And, as I said, anelixir for deep, indescribable loss. Thank you Ms. Caldwell, youshowed up just in the nick of time for both beautiful Caroline andme.
