In Love--A Memoir of Love and Loss: Book Review

 

Published 8 March 2022

Because I teach a class called Death, Dying, and Bereavement, I like to read a few titles on that topic every year. 

Because I had already read a novel by Amy loom, I decided to pick up a copy of her nonfiction book In Love: A Memoir of Love and Loss, published in March of 2022 by Random House. 

Bloom details the time between her husband's diagnosis at 67 with Alzheimer's disease and his self-administered death two years later through a death with dignity organization called Dignitas, located in Switzerland. As expected these months are a mix of anguish and administrivia. 

Her husband, Brian Ameche, was her spouse for just thirteen years at the time of his death. He was an outgoing person who loved going fishing and enjoyed time with his grandchildren.  When he got his diagnosis in 2019, he knew that he did not want to lose his life bit by bit over the upcoming months, so he applied to die by self-administered drugs. 

The book explains that the person who wants to die must have a terminal disease but they also must be of sound mind when they declare their intent to die. This means that Brian had to move forward before the Alzheimer's disease eroded too much of his cognition. 

Bloom describes their relationship and the response each of them have to his diagnosis, to the progression of his disease, and the arduous application process meeting with physicians and psychiatrists. The last few chapters details the trip to Zurich and Brian's death. There is a little bit about Bloom's trip home and adjustment to an empty home, but the primary focus of the book is on Brian's quest for a right to die. 

This book will fit nicely with a few documentaries on the right to die, such as How to Die in Oregon (2011). 

Related:

Movies about Older Adults in the Dying Process

Books on the Dying Process