4 out of 4 stars
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Life After You: What Your Death From Drugs Leaves Behind is a non-fiction account of a mother losing her son Danny to the harsh epidemic of drugs. In this heart-wrenching narration, we hear from Linda Lajterman who is sharing her devastating story in hopes of reaching out to others. As indicated from the title, this story not only involves the horror of learning about the impact of drug addiction against America's future leaders, but also the devastating death of her youngest child.
Linda starts off with a hopeful letter to the parents, pleading them to try to talk to their children about the impacts of drug use and abuse. The author then jumps straight in to speaking to the young people, leaving nothing to imagination. Linda takes her shattering experience and puts it to work- unleashing a story of less than 100 pages that is sure to influence readers of all ages. The pain depicted in Linda's writing is so raw that I actually felt heartbreak for her family and others who could be experiencing the same turmoil. She tells the audience that she started this non-fiction narraration only two weeks after the death of her last born.
I was pleased that the writing and editing was done attentively, as not to interfere with the telling of her story. The timeline she portrays is accurate and descriptive- enough to hopefully place the fear of death and loss in the eyes of the young people experimenting with dangerous substances. She leaves no detail out, which I can only imagine was agonizing for her along the way. She details the experience from the point of view of a mother, a father, siblings, and all other loved ones. Not for a moment does she sugar-coat the harrowing situation that her family was left in, which had tears in my eyes for the duration.
As a mother myself, I cannot fathom the tragedy of losing a child, and even more so to, something as preventable as drug abuse. As parents, we do everything in our power to keep our children happy and healthy, but as Linda explains, talking to your children about the ever present consequences of drug abuse is the best way to make sure you keep the communication open. I know from experience that there are some things young adults keep private from parents, and while you don't want to come off as suffocating to them, we as parents are responsible for shaping their future. It's completely inevitable- drugs will always be present as long as there is someone out there willing to buy them. Linda explains in detail the best ways to address the situations from a young adult perspective as well as an adult.
I am happy to say that I rate this book 4 out of 4 stars, and would love to see Linda's work as something provided to high school students. Coming from someone who is personally impacted by the consequences of a family member's drug abuse, I feel like her material is one that is not simply read and dismissed. The story of Life After You is devastatingly real, and her emotion is obvious throughout. I recommend this testimony for all parents, teachers, and counselors to read and share with their early teenage children.
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Life After You, what your death from drugs leaves behind
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Great job on the review. Congratulations to Linda Lajterman on such an obviously great book.
