Happy Wednesday Friends!
As I am playing catch up at work due to a snow day (Yes, 26 year olds can still get Snow Days), I can’t help but think how busy we all are. I previously mentioned that I have been catching up on my reading list in my spare time and am very happy to bring to you another good read. While this book is completely different from many of the books I have reviewed, it is also one that made me feel most grateful for the life I have and the moments I can share with loved ones. It made me slow down and think about people that I am blessed with to have in my life. I believe it will do the same for you. Today I am going to review, Dianna’s Way by John Catenacci. Prepare to be thankful.
Dianna is a young woman in her late 20’s when she meets John, a man in his late 40's. They fall in love and marry. A central feature of their life plan is to have one child to fulfill her fervent lifelong dream of being a mother.
Not to be.
Not long into their marriage, Dianna discovers she has an aggressive form of breast cancer.
Hand in hand, they begin a 17 year spiritual journey into the nature of love and healing. Along the way, she discovers and fulfills her life purpose and, in the process, takes John by the hand, gently helping him to reveal, then fulfill, his own.
In the beginning, John, being much older, thought he would be her teacher but gradually discovers in the most important dimensions of life quite the opposite is true. With Dianna’s guidance, he ultimately discovers we are all teachers, we are all students and we are all one.
Theirs is a story of courage, determination and a lightness of being, as they descend into the deepest valleys of crushing disappointment, pain and suffering only to rise again to ever higher peaks of appreciation, gratitude and love. Throughout it all, their journey is laced with light and laughter.
Even today, after her passing, they continue their relationship, piercing the Illusion that veils this reality, exploring its limits while continuing a spiritual journey without end.
Review:
How do you write a review on book that is so personal that you feel like you walked down the path of heartache with the people who actually lived these moments? This is the road block I was faced with. The book was such a powerful story wrote by the author, John Catenacci, that I felt like I became his friend along the way. I got to see Dianna through his eyes. How he fell in love with her, his emotions towards the events that their life together took, and the love he had for her. Throughout the book, I couldn’t help but feel downhearted because of how I thought the ending was going to turn out. It was during the happy moments that I felt the saddest. It is one thing to know you are reading a sorrowful story based on the author’s thoughts, but it is another thing completely when you know that this is the true life that they led. Even when the book started to feel a bit tiresome at some parts, it didn’t deter me because that was their life. There were exciting moments, sad moments, and moments that you just lived. After reading this book, you will feel grateful for the instances in your life that make it worthwhile to go on to tomorrow. No one can question Jon’s love for Dianna. She was mysterious, playful, grateful, and so very strong. Jon wrote his own love story about a love that consumes, even after events take a turn down a completely different path that they set out on. The pure courage and strength these two people have was so admirable and together, their attitudes and love was overwhelming. This book teaches you how to live for each moment and how the hateful Cancer doesn’t need to rule every great moment of your life.
Thank you Jon, for this beautiful story. It must have been hard to write and even harder to live.
After spending his youth doing cement construction work while getting his education, John Catenacci earned a Bachelor’s degree in chemical engineering. He went on to work on the Apollo 11 Project as a member of the USAF in California, then as an engineer for the Dow Chemical Company in Midland, MI, doing both process research as well as designing and building chemical plants.
Mid-career he became interested in group dynamics, leading to another 20-year career in team building that took him across the U.S., Canada, Europe and Saudi Arabia.
With a sprinkling of published short stories and articles in small magazines along the way, his abiding passion has always been writing, something now coming to fruition in this, his first book.
Dianna’s Way can be purchased at:
Paperback
Price: $16.95
Pages: 365
ISBN: 9780985247904
Publisher: Spiritdogtalking
Release: December 1, 2012
Emily, thanks for the poignant, moving review of John's book. It's so very special.
Thank you for the review, Em.
Gee, I am sorry though that you found it so sad to read. Though we certainly had moments of immense sadness, our lives did not feel sad day in, day out, so guess maybe my writing did not quite capture how much fun we had and the million laughs we shared.
Having cancer is not fun to be sure and Dianna did die. But, we all die. I think both Dianna and I felt it is how we live that matters. To make every day count as if it were our last. And it is the way she lived (Dianna's Way) I found so remarkable and so important to share with others.
All this being said, again, thank you so much for your kind review and hope you will post it on Amazon for me as well.
In any case, the very best to you and yours in the days ahead and hope there are many more of them!
John Catenacci