Love Equals Sacrifice
| Book Details Title: Love Equals Sacrifice: The Journey of Loyalty and Service Author: Michael Stidham Format: Paperback Print. Number of Pages: 96 Summary: As a Certified Public Accountant, Michael Stidham dealt with numbers most of his career. Alzheimer’s was just another passing word he heard on television. Little did he know that one word would become a focal point in his life. Thus began his journey back to the Catholic Faith and the realization that Love Equals Sacrifice. Price: $9.95 (paperback) Author Bio: Michael Stidham is a Certified Public Accountant who was self-employed for most of his career. After selling his business in August of 2002, he spent several years taking care of his father who was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s. Michael is currently semi-retired and resides in Bellevue, Kentucky. He enjoys outdoor sports including golf and is a member of several organizations including The Knights of Columbus. |
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*** I was most interested in reading Love Equals Sacrifice because I myself am currently caring for my elderly parents, and like Stidham’s father, my mother has Alzheimer’s. I expected the story to focus mainly on Stidham’s caregiving years, but only a little over a third of the book is devoted to that time in his life. And at a mere 85 pages of actual text, Love Equals Sacrifice seems more like a long essay than a book, and left me wanting more. Much more. The book begins by sketching out Stidham’s parents’ early lives and marriage, and then Stidham’s own childhood. The story moves quickly to Stidham’s adulthood and his first jobs. The first time I wished for more details came when Stidham says of his sports bar’s customers, “As well as the good side of people, I also witnessed the dark things they are capable of. Some of the fictional things I’ve seen on television, I’ve also witnessed in real life.” But instead of giving specific examples, Stidham moves on with his narrative. (I’m also puzzled by the random italics.) However, since the book’s description highlighted Stidham’s caregiving, I figured that section would contain more detail. Stidham described coming to the slow realization that something was wrong with his father, the doctor visits to resolve ailments, and the typical daily routine he and his father shared, as well as a few anecdotes. However, this section comes to an end all too soon. The book’s final chapters outline Stidham’s return to his Catholic faith after years of neglect. Though Love Equals Sacrifice could have used a little editorial tweaking here and there, Stidham writes fairly well, and I found his story compelling. My only real complaint is that the book is much too sparse. I would gladly have read more family stories and wished he would have fleshed out details of the joys and frustrations of daily living with someone suffering from Alzheimer’s. Too many authors pad books with extraneous fat. Love Equals Sacrifice to the contrary, is much too lean. |
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