Helpful Score: 3
Though this could have easily fallen into the oh, poor me genre of books, The Leisure Seeker redeems my faith in the ability of hitting a life experience head on and living what time you have left right between the eyes .
Yeah for John and Ella Robina, both in their eighties and both with end of life illnesses. After being married for more than fifty years Ella has decided to end her cancer treatments, her horserace soliloquy is hysterical, and John has Alzheimers. Ella decides that they need one more adventure, one more chance to be alive before they die, so she packs up the RV (a Leisure Seeker) and they head from Michigan to California. Their goal is to drive Route 66, remember their lives, and end up at Disneyland, the happiest place on earth.
Against their adult childrens wishes they kidnap themselves and head out. John still remembers how to drive and Ella is darn handy with a map, as long as her difficult periods can be contained by pain medication.
And adventure they have, often laugh out loud funny, these two down-on-their-luck geezers take on what most would be too terrified to do. With humor, though sometimes darker then you would expect, and a whole lot of gusto, this dynamic duo take on the ride of their lives.
To say that the end is an OMG moment is an understatement. I love this couple and the life lessons that they have taught me along the way. I just wish that when I am this age I have the courage to be Ella and have the adventure of my life.
Yeah for John and Ella Robina, both in their eighties and both with end of life illnesses. After being married for more than fifty years Ella has decided to end her cancer treatments, her horserace soliloquy is hysterical, and John has Alzheimers. Ella decides that they need one more adventure, one more chance to be alive before they die, so she packs up the RV (a Leisure Seeker) and they head from Michigan to California. Their goal is to drive Route 66, remember their lives, and end up at Disneyland, the happiest place on earth.
Against their adult childrens wishes they kidnap themselves and head out. John still remembers how to drive and Ella is darn handy with a map, as long as her difficult periods can be contained by pain medication.
And adventure they have, often laugh out loud funny, these two down-on-their-luck geezers take on what most would be too terrified to do. With humor, though sometimes darker then you would expect, and a whole lot of gusto, this dynamic duo take on the ride of their lives.
To say that the end is an OMG moment is an understatement. I love this couple and the life lessons that they have taught me along the way. I just wish that when I am this age I have the courage to be Ella and have the adventure of my life.
Helpful Score: 1
This book put me on a roller coaster of emotions. Taken from the inside cover of the book. "John and Ella Robina have shared a wonderful life of more than fifty years." Ella has Cancer and John has Alzheimer's. Ella has had enough of hospitals, Doctors and their kids trying to find ways to make them comfortable in their illness. Ella decides to take a trip and follows the old Route 66 trail to Disneyland. The book reads as a journal on their road trip. I laughed, I cried and I feared for them throughout the whole book. I like Ella's spunk and the very real human emotion the Author Michael Zadoorian unfolds in this eye opening book about growing old.
Helpful Score: 1
I confess that when I read fiction I tend to steer away from the mainstream. I like fiction that is off the beaten track and generally I am not much for the NYT Bestseller List. I picked this book up because the description seemed quirky and interesting and I do enjoy reading authors who dont have tons of book published. What intrigued me about this book was taking a trip down the old Route 66 and trying to remember a time when people did not fly all over the world for their vacations, but simply got in a car or camper, loaded up the kids and drove to various parts of the US. Yes, there is a side of me that longs for simplicity. Ella was a crusty character, yet at 80 years old was fully in control of her faculties. I guess there is a part of me that read this book wondering if this would be my husband and I one day. At what point does a person no longer get to decide what is right for them when death is near? Why do we feel that the adult children have more decision making power? Why do we take a persons dignity away from them? It is an interesting look into the mind of a woman who spent her whole life caring for her husband and her children
