Giving My Heart: Love in a Military Family (Reflections of History) [Paperback]

Lisa H. Farber-Silk (Author), David W. Powell (Foreword)

Book Description

Series: Reflections of History | Publication Date: November 10, 2007

Giving My Heart is the true story of a New England wife's struggle to find hope and help for a soldier, friend, and lover after his return from Operation Iraqi Freedom. Before the war, he was an outgoing and affable man with a can-do attitude. After deployment, he returns to Vermont wanting nothing more than to be left alone. In the months after, he begins avoiding family and old friends. He is subject to mood swings, angry outbursts, headaches, trouble sleeping, problems at work, and feels that no one can ever understand his world and what he has become.

Meanwhile, Lisa has sacrificed everything including a marriage of two decades, to be with a man who is no longer interested in relationships with anyone. Her quest to find healing for her friend with Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) will take more love, patience, and persistence than she ever knew she had.

Giving My Heart portrays the legacy of our involvement in the Middle-East from the Persian Gulf War to the Iraq War as one family tries to grapple with what it means. Lisa provides a personal and heart-rending perspective that only a military wife and mother can share.

Book #3 in the Reflections of History Series from Modern History Press
Foreword by David W. Powell, author of My Tour in Hell: A Marine's Battle with Combat Trauma

Product Details

• Paperback: 116 pages
• Publisher: Modern History Press (November 10, 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1932690441
• ISBN-13: 978-1932690446
• Product Dimensions: 8.4 x 5.4 x 0.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 6.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,847,920 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars PTSD Veterans - Seen by One Who Loves Them!, June 12, 2008

By 

W. H. McDonald Jr. "The American Author Assoc... (Elk Grove, CA USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Giving My Heart: Love in a Military Family (Reflections of History) (Paperback)

Author Lisa H. Farber-Silk bares her life and soul in her book "Giving My Heart: love in a Military Family". She shares her very personal tale of love, frustration, pain and rejection by her lover - a PTSD veteran - for whom she gave up her long-standing marriage and home for. She truly made one of those life choices that follows the heart but leaves so many unfilled emotional and spiritual needs. This book does not have a lived happily ever after ending, or really any ending at all - much like real life for all of us.

Lisa allows the readers to fully view her self-admitted flaws and shortcomings in an effort to promote the understanding of a much bigger issue and problem - that of PTSD veterans. She reaches out to the public to give their loving support not only in the book but in her personal life as well. She opens the door to the kind of problem that families of returning veterans are finding. There is much to learn from her book as it presents a different view of the PTSD problem to a public that little understands, or even knows, how huge of a concern it has become.

I have been helping PTSD veterans for over 30 years and have seen how it can and has destroyed so many families. The problem is only growing worse. This book calls attention to those destructive behaviors and hopefully, will become a catalyst for some families to seek out help.

If you are a military family (or have a relationship with a PTSD veteran) this book might be a good insider look at what you might not even be aware of. The book is a sincere attempt to build a bridge of understanding between the returning veterans and those who are trying to love and help them.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The Book will help alot of families and friends but soilders as well !, February 1, 2008

By 

A Soilder (Vermont) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Giving My Heart: Love in a Military Family (Reflections of History) (Paperback)

This book does not have a happy ending yet so if you want one it may disappoint you ,but for families and friends having problems with the people they love ,it shows you never never to give up in what you believe in even if it costs you . I think it is a powerful message of the book ,what if you let it go . What happens when soilders are taking it out on the people they love and how you as a loved one has to be strong and stop at nothing to get help , get information .
I have seen Lisa get the word out about PTSD .I have seen her do good helping and doing for the military for the last 25 years .She is blunt and honest and honest to a fault even if it cost her which it has been alot .But everyone loves and respects her .
For her to open up her feelings and share them with you so you can find the help you need ,the strength ,the courage ,this woman is remarkable ,not only that all the proceeds goes to Vermont Vet to Vet which is a Non -profit that help Veterans have their weekly meetings to talk about with other vets who are having issues .
I hope that if you have a service member that you and love and care about you will pick up the book , and realize you are not alone ........ this can happen to anyone .

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Lisa tells it like it is, January 25, 2008

By 

Victor R. Volkman "http://www.LovingHealing.com" (Ann Arbor, MI USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Giving My Heart: Love in a Military Family (Reflections of History) (Paperback)

As a military wife and mom for almost 25 years, Lisa has seen it all from Desert Shield to Desert Storm and back again. In 2007, she organized the Vermont Veterans Combat Stress Symposium to bring information and help for soldiers and their families. With this book, she lays it all on the line -- including personal failures and the whole nine yards. You can judge her by what she does but you do not have the right judge her by who she loves. This book is for anyone who has a loved one returning from Iraq and Afghanistan who is not the same person as who left.