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

by Lisa H. Farber-Silk (Author), David W. Powell (Foreword)
Key Phrases: Giving My Heart, Operation Desert Storm, Saudi Arabia (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Product Description

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: 4.6 out of 5 stars See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #1,290,750 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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 (TOP 1000 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

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.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars One woman's story of her life with two military men, January 2, 2008

By	Reader Views "www.readerviews.com" (Austin, Texas) - See all my reviews

Reviewed by Vicki Landes for Reader Views (12/07)

First-time author Lisa H. Farber-Silk releases her autobiography "Giving My Heart: Love in a Military Family." Open, honest, and full of details, the book gives a glimpse into one woman's connection to the armed forces.

"Giving My Heart: Love in a Military Family" details Farber-Silk's personal journey from childhood to marriage and motherhood, then on through businesswoman, mistress, and divorcee. The three men in her life - her husband, his friend, and eventually her son - are all in the military. As her story progresses, she describes how it felt to see them off to war and how it felt to transition them back. She concludes with her unsuccessful attempt at helping her lover adjust and deal with his Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD).

"Giving My Heart: Love in a Military Family" isn't your typical `military wife perspective' book. Instead, the story is an autobiographical account of Farber-Silk's love affair with two military men. Further, the book ends on a rather sad note as she never did get through to her second love as he struggled with PTSD. The book seems to be a last attempt to get him to see what he's put her through and how he can help himself.

As a military wife myself, I expected to read more of her activities on the home front and less of her background or affair with another man (something obviously frowned on by the US Army). I also expected to read about more PTSD experiences. Farber-Silk doesn't note the first hints of PTSD behavior from her lover until page 62; her entire story is only 89 pages. Further, the story has a bit of a juvenile tone; phrases such as "NOT!" and "I was so pissed" really don't read well in a book meant for mature adults dealing with post-war trauma. "Giving My Heart" is not for those looking to read the more traditional `triumph over PTSD'-type book.

Farber-Silk does write from her heart. She lives and loves from deep within and her book serves as a historical account of her life and her experiences as a military family member. She holds a strong devotion to her country as well as her fellow spouses enduring the separation of loved ones deployed to war zones. "Giving My Heart" is simply Lisa Farber-Silk's life story.

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 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 .