I'll Be Seeing You

(Paperback, Large Print Edition)

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Elizabeth Bergs father was an Army veteran who was a tough man in every way but one: He showed a great deal of love and tenderness to his wife. Berg describes her parents marriage as a romance that lasted for nearly seventy years; she grew up watching her father kiss her mother upon leaving home, and kiss her again the instant he came back. His idea of when he should spend time away from her was never. But then her father developed Alzheimers disease, and her parents were forced to leave the home they loved and move into a facility that could offer them help. It was time for their children to offer practical advice, emotional support, and direction, to the best of their abilities to, in effect, parent the people who had for so long parented them. It was a hard transition, mitigated at least by flashes of humour and joy. The mix of emotions on everyones part could make every day feel like walking through a minefield. Then came redemption. Ill Be Seeing You charts the passage from the anguish of loss to the understanding that even in the most fractious times, love can heal, transform, and lead to graceful and grateful acceptance.

Reviews

This is Bergs loving portrait of her family over time, and a bracingly honest exploration of the emotions that arise when caring for aging parents.Real Simple

[Berg]writes poignantly about her aging parents and the power of connection through the years in this compelling narrative.Good Morning America

Elizabeth Bergs poignantly renderedI'llBe Seeing Youshares with readers a story that is both highly personal and universally applicable. In bearing witness to her parentss diminishing lives, and to the challenges these setting suns present to their loving but taxed middle-aged children, Berg delivers a bittersweet account that issad, loving, and completely authentic.Ill Be Seeing Youmoved me and broadened my understanding of the human condition.Wally Lamb, author ofI Know This Much Is True

With her trademark compassion, humor, affirmation, and grace, Elizabeth Berg renders her own familys experience in such a natural and bountiful way that it connects seamlessly to the readers own. It pierces, this book, in all the right places.Jessica Treadway, author ofThe Gretchen Question

Its hard to know how to rescue someone. Its hard to know how to help them in the way they need to be helped. With honesty and tenderness, Elizabeth Berg confronts the grief, frustration, and pain of seeing her parents through the difficult changes of aging.Ill Be Seeing Youis brave, sweet, angry, loving, unbearable, and absolutely necessary.Stewart ONan, author ofEmily, AloneandHenry, Himself

Elizabeth Bergs brave and beautiful memoir is proof that the heart, like a bone, can be broken and heal stronger. Unflinchingly honest, Berg walks into the tangled forest of sorrow and frustration familiar to anyone whos had to contend with the end of their parentss lives, and emerges with the understanding that love and loss are the two sides of any life well lived.You close this book reminded of our common humanity.The effect, which lingers, is something very much like grace.Mark Slouka, author ofLost LakeandEssays from the Nick of Time

Berg's fans will be touched by her disclosures, and readers caring for an aging parent will see themselves in Bergs painfully honest, beautifully written account, and be comforted by her insights.Booklist(stared review)

Berg eloquently explores the pain of realizing ones parents are in their declining years. . . . This bittersweet, touching story will particularly resonate with those caring for older parents.Publishers Weekly

"Readers familiar with Bergs novels know that her stories wonderfully encompass the comforts of beauty and wry humor, but they never sugarcoat lifes hard truths. The same is true ofIll Be Seeing You, which mines the wisdom hidden in difficult times.BookPage

Author Bio

Elizabeth Berg is the author of many bestselling novels, including The Confession Club, Night of Miracles, The Story of Arthur Truluv, Open House (an Oprahs Book Club selection), Talk Before Sleep, and The Year of Pleasures, as well as the short story collection The Day I Ate Whatever I Wanted. Durable Goods and Joy School were selected as ALA Best Books of the Year. She adapted The Pull of the Moon into a play that enjoyed sold-out performances in Chicago and Indianapolis. Bergs work has been published in thirty countries, and three of her novels have been turned into television movies. She is the founder of Writing Matters, a quality reading series dedicated to serving author, audience, and community. She teaches one-day writing workshops and is a popular speaker at venues around the country. Some of her most popular Facebook postings have been collected in Make Someone Happy, Still Happy, and Happy to Be Here. She lives outside Chicago.