by Barbara Laupmanis (Author)
It is author Barbara Laupmanis' hope that the reader will find his or her own hope when faced with life-changing events. Just as Laupmanis survived her mother's mental illness, her own declining health due to several autoimmune diseases, and lack of a social life and mobility, she encourages readers to look to what one can do, not what one cannot do.
About the Author
Barbara Laupmanis had been very active prior to her first autoimmune disease. In addition to caring for her family, her mother periodically required her help with her own illness. Laupmanis would be called by her father to come help with her mother--taking her to her psychiatrist office, helping her dress and with her makeup, and staying with her until she fell asleep.
In With a Grateful Heart, Laupmanis describes this period freely, looking at the glass half full in life. She is not angered by her mother's illness; the time she and her mother had together was very special and Laupmanis feels blessed.