Dan Antion

A Journey Like No Other

A few months ago, Miriam Hurdle joined me at the bar on a Saturday, along with Robbie Cheadle. They set the record for views and comments for a bar visit. A few weeks later, Miriam sent me a collection of resources to help me launch my debut novel. When I heard she would be releasing The Winding Road: A Journey of Survival I immediately offered to join her launch tour. When I receive the book and started reading, I was so happy I would be part of this tour. I’m going to turn this over to Miriam for a while, but I’ll be back.

Thank you for hosting my launch tour today, Dan! I’m so happy to be here to share my new book with your friends.

During this launch tour, I want to talk about memoir writing. Here is my topic for today.

Memoir as a Family Legacy

I wanted to write this memoir to share my personal experience. During this battle, my family and friends played a big role in carrying me through the journey. The value of family support is an important tradition and virtue I wanted to pass on. This is also a universal value shared and resonated by most cultures.

When a person dies, the mark the individual left on the world represents that individual’s legacy. We may think of legacy as money and inheritance, but the concept of legacy is much larger than the value of an individual’s estate. It is about the richness of the individual’s life, including what that person accomplished and the experiences. The story of a person’s life reflects the individual’s legacy.

Examples of a Family Legacy

Have you wondered what people will remember about you after you are gone? If you have, that means you have spent some time thinking about your legacy. Have you wondered if your generations to come will be a bit better because of what you did throughout the course of your life? If you have, you are thinking of your family legacy. My dad was a hard-working person all his life. Patience is my mom’s virtue. These are part of my family’s legacy.

Leaving a legacy vs. Passing on the legacy

Someone distinguished between leaving a legacy behind and passing on the legacy. He said leaving a legacy behind is passive. You may not think about the issue, but you will leave a legacy when you’re gone. But you can intentionally preserve certain experiences, such as your writing, artifacts, and any recordings in your life to pass them on.

Even though my sister is not writing a memoir now, she is creating an album to pass it on to her children.

An Honest Family Legacy

An autobiography covers a person’s lifetime in chronological order. A memoir covers a certain segment of one’s story. When we write memoirs, it’s pertinent to include not only the facts and events but our emotions of struggles, pain, joy, and excitement. It’s our way of showing ourselves and our imperfections to our generations to come. When they encounter challenging situations, they will think about you, knowing you had gone through that, and draw strength from your examples.

The book information.

Blurb

In the summer of 2008, Miriam Hurdle was diagnosed with melanoma-an aggressive and invasive cancer in her internal organs. The survival rate before 2008 was low. Besides risking harsh treatments for a slim chance of survival, Miriam had hoops to jump through. By the time she received treatment at the beginning of 2009, her cancer had progressed from stage II to stage IV. It was a rough and uphill winding road. But alongside her was support and encouragement. Accompanied by the love of her family and community, this is Miriam’s journey of faith and miracle. It is a heartwarming story of resilience, courage, and the will to live.

My (Dan) Thoughts

“You know the ending before you read the story because I’m here to tell it to you.” That is the opening line from Miriam Hurdle’s latest book. I think my heart skipped a beat when I read that. It’s the ultimate spoiler, and yet it’s a compelling opening to a book that is hard to put down.

Miriam leads us through this story – through her journey – in a careful, methodical, and surprisingly interesting way. I say surprising because this is such a personal story. I started off thinking that I can’t possibly imagine what this journey must have been like, but I came to realize that that’s not true. With Miriam’s help, I think I can imagine.

I don’t want to introduce any spoilers. As Miriam says, you know how the story ends, but you don’t know what the author had to go through to get to that end. You know what the story is about. You can imagine, the struggles Miriam went through – health – work – insurance – finances – making medical decisions that will ultimately affect your life. Well, you can imagine that a person would struggle with these issues, but unless you’ve been through something similar, you can’t imagine what it would be like. Miriam shares that with us. This is a story of family, of science, of faith, of will power, of confidence, of fear and of love. It’s a story I am glad I read and a story I urge you to consider reading.

Now, how do you buy this book? Click here to buy Miriam’s book from Amazon.

107 comments

  3. I’m glad that Miriam decided to share her story. It should help many others going through the same thing. Looking forward to hosting her on Thursday.

    Liked by 3 people

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  4. Thank you very much for hosting Day 2 of my launch tour, Dan! I look forward to seeing your friends and chatting with them about memoir writing and about my book. I’m in the middle of packing. As you may know, I’m moving from Southern California to Portland, Oregon to be close to my daughter and the grandkids. I’ll see you and your friends in the morning!

    Liked by 1 person

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  8. Miriam, congratulations on your new book. It’s a wonderful inspirational story. One hard to write and relive, but with a happy ending. Dan, this is a lovely interview. Thank you for introducing Miriam on your blog. 📚🎶 Christine

    Liked by 2 people

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  9. Hi Dan – thanks for sharing Miriam and her journey with us … you’re right an inspirational memoir … some live (a doctor I know died but wrote about it) some die … we need all the stories and all the encouragement to live and love life. A great book, while the trailer is a delight to see … and Miriam has expressed her Memoir journey, almost diary, so clearly. Thank you both – congratulations and let us all enjoy living our lives. Hilary

    Liked by 2 people

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    • Thanks so much for your comment, Hilary. Miriam has told a powerful story, and she told it so well. It’s hard to read and hard to put down. Like most people, we’ve known survivors and those who did not survive. The stories of these journeys are important.

      Liked by 1 person

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  13. I had the same reaction to Miriam’s story, Dan. What a difficult journey, which she faced with immense fortitude and courage. I was riveted to her story. And a lovely share about memoirs as a way to leave a legacy for future generations, Miriam. Your story is unforgettable. Congrats on the amazing book.

    Liked by 2 people

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  14. Thank you for the information on family legacy. “Someone distinguished between leaving a legacy behind and passing on the legacy.” I never thought of legacy being active or passive. Best wishes on your new release!

    Liked by 2 people

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  21. Wow, Miriam, what a blessing that you’re here to tell the story. I really liked some of the ideas you shared in Dan’s post. Gives me something to think about and perhaps to write about. Thanks for having the interview, Dan.

    Liked by 2 people

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