Six Months To Live, Learning From a Young Man With Cancer, written by Daniel Hallock, published by Plough Publishing House, 2015.
Imagine being twenty-two year old Matt Gauger and learning that you have six months to live. Now, imagine how your family and friends would respond to that news. That is the story of Six Months To Live.
Author Daniel Hallock does not spend a lot of time talking about the cancer or its treatments but, rather, the emotional impact of the terminal diagnosis on Matt, his family and friends. It’s a remarkable story, really, of enduring love, ultimate acceptance of pain and suffering, and growing in faith through the dying and death of a loved one. Through lengthy quotes, we are granted insight to the emotions of one facing death; there is amazing strength and deep doubt, love and anger, conflict and peace.
I wish the author had provided a little more background about the Bruderhof community. That insight would have helped me better understand the approach to life that Matt and his family and friends shared. In turn, that knowledge would also help understand their approach to death.
Although the short story of Matt Gauger is a sad one, it is simultaneously an uplifting one. Would that we were all so brave, loving and at peace when facing our final days.
If you would like to read this very intimate story, order the book here on Amazon. It will not take you long to read it, but its impact will be long-lasting.
Note: A copy of this book was provided by the publisher at no cost to me. In no other way was the content of this review influenced. The thoughts expressed above are entirely my own. -El
