Jenifer Estess (1963–2003)

Very readable---but immediately, even with the tremendous work these three sisters did to get the A.L.S. organization they founded going----help comes with who-they-knew---especially Jenifer, in the celebrity field. Could they have done as much if it had been " just " three sisters? This is not a criticism---just a fact. When you need help, what makes it come? The expense of care for a person with A.L.S. are overwhelming--economically as well as emotionally. There was not a lot of detail about the actual costs except that you were certainly aware of them in terms of the types of experts and non-experts, as well as equipment, involved. To have this story told by the person with A.L.S. provided a lot but left me wanting lots more details.… (mais)

This is a book about Jenifer Estess' battling with ALS, a fatal disease which has know cure and no treatment.

I think Ms. Estess' was a very intelligent woman, fierce, determined and beyond sad that she befell the fate of ALS.

That being said, I did not think this book was very inspiring, funny, touching or anything else really. At no point in the book (which was transcribed the the author's sister, Valerie) did I feel like she was being honest about the suffering of ALS or giving a true-to-heart story about her personal struggles with it. This book came across as one big celebrity name-drop after another. And another. And another.

I get the picture, lady. Celebrities clearly loved to hang out at your bedside and keep you company in your lush private jets, luxurious vacations, designer clothes and all the other fancy things you couldn't stop talking about.

Take out all the fluff and there is an inspiring story. A woman and her sisters embarked to raise a company up from nothing and turn it into the foremost (in 2003) research company for ALS (entitled: Project A.L.S.). That part IS inspiring. There was no medicine ready to use on Jenifer before her passing but the change they have brought to the neuroscience studies is incredible. In the future, I believe many people will be saved directly because of their tenacity in assembling the team and project.

Now, the last chapter was ridiculous, in my opinion. It was obviously written 100% by her sister because it opened up on the morning she [Jenifer] passed away. Yet the chapter continues on in Jenifer's POV, describing the flying feeling of death and peering down into her sister's lives after crossing over. Ho-hum to that.… (mais)