There is no manual for how to handle a cancer diagnosis or for the journey through treatments.

Neither for the grief many families experience when the outcome results in the loss of a loved one. Loss is a profound, life-changing event that has no end. I will not pretend to have any tidy answers for you on how to overcome grief or to provide a process for you to follow in your own grief journey. I simply do not have one, even for myself.

This book is about my joy journey with the love of my life, Amy. You probably are curious about the use of the word joy in describing this journey. Certainly, cancer is not a joyful event, but the word joy had special meaning and significance to Amy and, because of her example, to many others. After receiving her cancer diagnosis, Amy expressed very adamantly that she wanted to somehow find joy in our cancer journey as well. As you read this collection of reflections, I think you will come to understand the joy Amy sought. Throughout this book, I recall the many wonderful, joyful memories of my life with Amy as well as chronicle my own challenges and struggles through grief to healing.

While writing My Joy Journey with Amy was in many ways cathartic for me, my hope is that this book will inspire you to follow Amy’s example and find some way to seek joy each and every day.

“Joy does not simply happen to us. We have to choose joy and keep choosing it every day.” —Henri J.M. Nouwen

AUTHOR

Mark D. Youngquist

My Joy Journey with Amy: A Love Story Through Life, Loss, Grief and Healing