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At age 23 Debbie Gisonni had everything. She was on her way to becoming one of the youngest top paid executives in Silicon Valley; had found true love; and could make a mean cannoli!
Then in 1984 Vita, Debbie's mother, got a brain tumor and became permanently disabled. A few years later, her younger sister suddenly killed herself. Three months after that, her father was diagnosed with bone cancer. And then her favorite aunt got breast cancer.
Vita's Will chronicles Debbie's riveting experiences. One day she was riding an adrenaline rush on the fast track, and the next she left it all behind to stop and smell the red sauce.
Tuesday's With Morrie meets Chicken Soup for the Soul(r) as Debbie brings humor and sorrow into the horrors of hospitals, the lost dreams of her parents, and the shock of her sister's suicide.
Through these four deaths, Debbie learns to squeeze the sweetest wine from a bunch of sour grapes without wallowing in self-pity. Her advice works for any traumatic situation. You'll be moved to tears and laughter by her 44 inspirational real-life lessons and her nightly chats with God. I give it four hankies and a biscotti!
| Acknowledgements | xi | |
| Introduction | xiii | |
| I | Vita | 1 |
| The End | 3 | |
| Picture This--Sicily 1942 | 6 | |
| Self-Diagnosis | 10 | |
| I Begin to Pray | 13 | |
| Mad Science | 17 | |
| The Alphabet | 22 | |
| Village Life | 25 | |
| Visiting Hours | 28 | |
| Life on the Outside | 34 | |
| She's Back! | 40 | |
| II | Martha | 45 |
| The Phone Call | 47 | |
| The Flaky One | 51 | |
| Unsolved Mysteries | 54 | |
| Where Was the Cry for Help? | 61 | |
| Somewhere Over the Rainbow | 64 | |
| Things That Matter | 68 | |
| Facing Your Demons | 70 | |
| III | Tommy | 77 |
| How Much is Too Much? | 79 | |
| Tommy George | 82 | |
| Bitterness | 88 | |
| The Green Juice | 91 | |
| Turning Thirty | 96 | |
| Choices | 99 | |
| Letting Go | 102 | |
| Real Life Lessons from Tommy | 106 | |
| IV | Yolanda | 111 |
| Yo's Turn | 113 | |
| Darling, You Look Marvelous! | 118 | |
| California, Here They Come | 121 | |
| The Other Side | 124 | |
| The Blackout | 127 | |
| Another Ending | 130 | |
| V | Year Ten | 133 |
| Vita's Will | 135 | |
| Somehow You Know | 140 | |
| She Looks Good | 143 | |
| Laughter | 146 | |
| A Moment in Time | 149 | |
| VI | Reflections | 153 |
| Playing Doctor | 155 | |
| The Grass Isn't Always Greener | 159 | |
| Small World | 161 | |
| Prejudice Has Many Faces | 163 | |
| It's Just a Job | 166 | |
| Coping | 168 | |
| Prayer of Thanks | 174 | |
| About the Author | 175 |
Anonymous
Posted March 4, 2002
This book was just sad...but wonderful. I grew up in an Italian family and my mother was dear to me also. I wrote the author and told Debbie what a great job she did with the book. I recommend it...I will keep my copy when most books I pass on to others.
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Posted January 30, 2001
MY SISTER JUST WROTE TO ME TO TELL ME THAT SHE, MY OTHER SISTER AND MY MOTHER ARE ALL STILL CRYING. SHE JUST READ THE BOOK, LOVED IT, AND SAID THAT MY FATHER, JACK, IS MENTIONED IN THE BOOK. HE'S THE ONE WHO BROUGHT HER COMMUNION ON SUNDAYS. MY FATHER HAS NOW PASSED AWAY HIMSELF, WE ARE HEARTBROKEN AS A FAMILY, AND I AM VERY ANXIOUS TO READ THIS BOOK MYSELF. MY SISTER SAYS IT'S WONDERFUL.
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Posted January 24, 2001
Once I started reading, I couldn't stop. I literally read this book in one sitting. Vita's Will is an amazing story...I laughed, I cried and I re-read certain sections over and over because I could relate to them so well. Debbie Gisonni's real life lessons at the end of each chapter were so important to me that I've written them down and carry them with me as my little life-reminders.
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Posted December 18, 2000
Debbie Gisonni has written a scarily honest book about the emotional struggles she suffered in losing four close family members in four short years. But ultimately, her heart-wrenching story has a triumphant spirit. She takes us inside her mind and her heart with a raw honesty rarely, if ever, seen. Like everyone else, you'll likely recognize your own guilty thoughts, 'inappropriate' jokes or laughs, things you've done or said that you hate yourself for. Thus, she holds a mirror up to our humanity in all its pain, humor and wonder. Oh yeah, and glory. And even though it's a first book, she does all this with a simple, powerful writing style that drives you through the book. And she throws in an uncannily accurate description of the culture inside a New York City Italian-American family (that is NOT mob-connected). Trust me; been there, done that. She nails it. If you've ever struggled with emoitonal loss, or just felt overwhelmed by circumstances beyond your control, this is an important book for you. Internalizing its 'Real Life Lessons' will help put you back on track.
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Posted December 21, 2000
ESPN Magazine, BusinessWeek, Silicon Valley Business Journal....That about does it for my reading...Books??? That's for people have have all sorts of extra time (or so I thought!). Once I picked this book up, I couldn't put it down as I lost all sense of time and place as I was living Debbie Gisonni's life through her articulate descriptions of her family (being half Sicilian myself probably helped). I was smiling and laughing out loud by page 11 as Debbie described the Italian mother I know so well (making a melodrama out of everything). The 'butchering' of the English language by Vita brought back fond memories of my Silcian grandmother and many more hearty laughs. This book really puts everything into perspective...Real Life Lessons are to be learned daily as long as you are willing to step back and take a look at the big picture. A joy to read, very inspirational!
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Overview
At age 23 Debbie Gisonni had everything. She was on her way to becoming one of the youngest top paid executives in Silicon Valley; had found true love; and could make a mean cannoli!
Then in 1984 Vita, Debbie's mother, got a brain tumor and became permanently disabled. A few years later, her younger sister suddenly ...