Review: In Love, A Memoir of Love and Loss

In Love: A Memoir of Love and Loss by Amy Bloom is a must read for anyone who has contemplated a humane suicide for oneself or for a loved one confronting terminal illness, chronic pain, or endless suffering. It’s incomprehensible and reprehensible to me that in most countries this hero’s journey is fraught with cruel and byzantine obstacles.

Amy Bloom’s memoir guides us through the heart-wrenching journey with her husband, Brian, who has chosen to end his life following a diagnosis of Alzheimer’s disease. One’s right to a dignified death is no less important or no less compelling than one’s right to a dignified life.

Amy and Brian, a couple who are deeply in love, must travel to Zurich to legally end Brian’s life. Amy and Brian engage the services of non-profit Dignitas in Zurich. Dignitas is a Swiss “self-determination, autonomy and dignity group” of doctors and caregivers. Accompanied suicide is legal in Switzerland provided specific conditions are met.

“To live with dignity — to die with dignity”

I was moved and motivated by Bloom’s memoir: moved by the couple’s abiding love and devotion and motivated to consider end of life contingency plans for me, my spouse, and my loved ones.

Bloom’s memoir is truth-telling that’s bitter and sweet.