TOGETHER

When a routine medical procedure goes terribly wrong, Judy Goldman's sixty-five-year-old husband Henry, (big, athletic "Hank" who plays tennis, lifts his grandchildren in the air and cleans out the gutters) is instantly paralyzed from the waist down. This is the compelling story of two people who find their well-worn roles of husband and wife suddenly reversed, and have to learn who they are, together and as individuals, all over again.

Forced to take on the role of advocate for her husband, Judy asserted herself with the medical personnel, advocating for him throughout his recovery, while Henry, who had always been the family's provider and emotional rock, struggled to accept the idea of himself as the one needing care. As they worked to understand themselves and each other within these new roles, Judy began to realize that, despite her stubborn will, she'd never thought of herself as the backbone of their relationship; surely that was strong, even-keeled, good-humored Henry? Rather, she'd actually had the steel behind the magnolia all along.

Medical drama is intercut a and the fallout thereafter with stories from her life with Henry, from their courtship to their marriage, to parenthood and beyond. TOGETHER is a book filled with poetic wisdom and it is as insightful as it is warmhearted about the life we dream of and the life we make.

JUDY GOLDMAN is the author of two award-winning poetry collections and two novels, Early Leaving and The Slow Way Back, which was a finalist for SIBA's Novel of the Year and winner of the Sir Walter Raleigh Fiction Award and the Mary Ruffin Poole Award for First Fiction. Her memoir, Losing My Sister, was a finalist for both SIBA's Memoir of the Year and ForeWord Review's Memoir of the Year. Her work has appeared in Real Simple, The Washington Post, and in many literary journals. She teaches writing workshops throughout the Southeast, and serves on the permanent faculty of Table Rock Writers Workshop. Born and raised in Rock Hill, South Carolina, Goldman has lived in Charlotte, North Carolina, for many years. She and her husband have two children and four grandchildren.