Customer Reviews

The Water Giver: The Story of a Mother, a Son, and Their Second Chance

5 star:		(13)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

As a parent who lost a child when he was 14, and now with my two daughters grown up and healthy, I highly recommend The Water Giver to any parent who needs reassurance that we may not all have been perfect, but we did the best we can. Joan Ryan shares how she felt like her son's "manager" (I was guilty of that with all my kids too)and how her son taught her to just be his mother. The book choked me up at times but also inspired me and made me laugh. I loved it and have bought seven copies for friends.

Through her son's near death accident and the journey her family takes towards recovery, Joan Ryan takes the reader through a roller coaster of emotions. You might think you would be crying from cover to cover, but that's not the case. There are humorous and wonderful moments that will have you laughing out loud. There are also frightening moments that will keep you turning page after page. And, yes, there are moments you might shed some tears. But throughout it all, every moment is REAL. Ms. Ryan's courage to share her experiences so honestly is what makes you root for this family and is why you should read this book.

The Water Giver is beautifully written and interesting, beginning to end. The horrible accident and medical journey are balanced with tales of family and friends, work and delightful anecdotes. One can laugh, cry, feel empathy, and relate. As soon as I finished, I wanted to read it again.

I bought the book because I am a mother that tends to worry about my childs challenges instead of highlight her strengths. I thought the book would be more about her relationship w/ her son after the recovery. The majority of the story was about the medical details that he went through. Once the second chance began the book was over. Its written well and it is a touching story but it wasnt what I expected based on the description of the book.

I thought I might have a hard time reading this, because I have a son, also an only child. I started reading and literally couldn't stop. Ms. Ryan recounted the story of her son's accident and recovery in such a concise and "lack of drama" manner that it really was easy to read. Perhaps because she is a reporter, and knows how to write about very emotional subjects, or perhaps because I knew from the book jacket that Ryan did recover from his accident, the book just roped me in without wringing me out. The story of Ryan's accident and journey to recovery is a great story in itself. Ms. Ryan's own journey as a mother is equally inspirational. I think any mother who reads this book will be able to identify with Ms. Ryan, and even feel relief to find their own feelings about their children so eloquently expressed. We all have such doubts about our ability to parent well, and our children's ability to fit in and be happy. Ms. Ryan's attitude really makes this a wonderful book - her belief that Ryan's accident "reset" her relationship with her son shines. Read this book - you will be glad you did!

Every parent doubts their parenting style and every child presents unique challenges. By writing her story with brutal honesty regarding her own mistakes, doubts and fears we are all able to feel a bit more human and accepting of our own failures. We can better accept and love our own children whoever they are. And that is priceless. Thank you, Joan.

This is a brilliantly written memoir by an experienced newspaper writer of the pain, patience and hard love required to navigate life as the parent of a learning disabled child. Ms. Ryan is a former sports writer quite familiar with the emotional and physical demands of professional athletics. And she knows how to communicate with average and sophisticated readers. She uses her skills to describe her life as the mother of a boy born with significant, neurologically based learning differences who, as an adolescent, suffers a further traumatic head injury.
The book is moving, mature and insightful. Ms. Ryan can be read as a worried mother, as a clinician, an excellent journalist, but perhaps most importantly as a burdened game planner - the one responsible to scout the strengths & weaknesses, opportunities, methods, therapies and courses available to her child. She must analyze each, try many, suffer several apparent failures, and then adjust to or cope with the overcome of each.
Through Ms. Ryan, parents of challenged children will experience the optimism, hope, failure and overwhelming anxiety of an articulate woman similarly situated with them. Ryan may give some readers a direct insight into their own particular problem. More likely, readers will experience the patient, resiliant, emotional reality that parenting a disabled child requires.
The "good parent" may offer his or her life to their child. Joan Ryan helps you understand that such a gift is a step-by-step, day-to-day challenge. And that it is an investment, to yourself and your child, with lifelong rewards.

I really enjoyed this book about a mother learning to appreciate and enjoy her "difficult" child for who he is. Too often we are focussed on what we'd like to "fix" in our loved ones, and we forget to be glad that we have them in our lives at all, when so many others who lose loved ones never get a second chance. After her teenage son's near-death accident, this mother learns to appreciate all that she has in him as he learns to walk and talk again. She sees parents in the hospital whose children are having a much slower recovery, or whose children didn't survive at all - and begins to see the blessings of being his parent and become a more patient and loving mother.

In the middle of the book I felt it was heavy on the medical details - indeed, these parents did go through a harrowing, long journey through almost unimaginable ups and downs as their son underwent multiple brain surgeries. But I was far more interested in the personal aspects of her son's recovery. Still, I would highly recommend this book.

This book is an excellent story of a family's personal struggle through the dark valleys of mental illness as well as a brain trauma accident that could have killed their only son. It is frank, open, and honest. Not sugar coated, nor gory, but realistic. I could so identify with Joan and her determination on demanding the best care for her son, building relationships with doctors, nurses, hospital staff, other families and patients. Your world and your core being are forever changed. Not that you would ever wish tragedy upon anyone, but it changes you, and if you allow it to, and can and will change you for the better. Thank you, Joan for sharing your story. And thank you, Ryan for letting your mom share your story. I hope you are doing well in college and have a life time of good health, love, and laughter.

As a mother I found this book to be inspiring, and gut wrenching. I thought it was an honest and candid look at this mom's experience with her son. I felt her emotions, and loved her telling of this story.