Still Life

An inspiring and brilliantly observed memoir in the manner of Paul Kalanithi's When Breath Becomes Air and Mitch Albom's Tuesdays with Morrie. Father, husband, athlete, medical doctor, Jeff Sutherland had built a perfect life for himself and his family. Then he noticed that he was losing strength in his left arm. Diagnosed with ALS (Lou Gehrig's Disease), he quickly lost the ability to walk. Confined to a wheelchair, he was forced to retire from his life's calling at age forty-three. Soon, he could no longer speak. Locked in his own inanimate body, he became unable to eat, drink, or breathe without assistance. Meals were delivered through a feeding tube, a ventilator controlled his lungs through an opening in his throat. The only parts of his body he was able to move voluntarily were his eyes. Sutherland made peace with his disease and, surrounded by his loving family, and found happiness again - only to suffer the soul-shattering loss of his eldest son, Zachary.