Golf Widow

How do you rise above the most tragic of circumstances and gamely go on? Many of us feel compelled to rally to the tragedy, putting on the cheeriest face possible. Actually, however, it is okay to admit that you're really not okay. Such was the hard-won revelation of Kimberly Julian, wife of PGA golf pro Jeff Julian, who was forced to face the most unfathomable of circumstances when her new husband was diagnosed with a terminal illness just eight months after they wed. Golf Widow, her tender, disarmingly honest, and, frequently wry memoir, shares her overwhelming years as primary caregiver to her ailing husband, and how she worked through the relentless strain to start caring for herself again. As the number of in-home caregivers continues to escalate in this country, this timely work explores a topic that affects millions of Americans every day.Compassionate and candid, this journey of health and healing is certain to appeal to anyone who relishes an insider's take on the professional golf arena, as well as anyone confronting conditions that seem at best unfair, and at worst, hopelessly insurmountable. By the time Julian reached her thirtieth birthday, the pieces of her life were weaving together beautifully. She reveled in her role as a devoted mother to her son Tyler. Her role on a Branson, Missouri stage was equally delightful, dancing as Lady Liberty with celebrated entertainer Yakov Smirnoff while also juggling her responsibilities as the theater PR and Marketing Ambassador. And, she had at last found the love of her life when she met Jeff Julian, a towering PGA tour player with a slapstick wit, a gentle heart, and a son Keegan, who got along famously with her own son. Soon, her days were spent caddying for Jeff, and becoming an integral part of the PGA world. However, when the two exchanged vows, she felt an eerie note of doom with the words "in sickness and in health" that she quickly brushed aside.What Julian did not know was that their fortune as a family was about to become brutally upended by an illness so devastating and physically taxing that all of their lives would be consumed by it. While she battled conflicting feelings of immense guilt, frustration, anger, profound grief, and betrayal, Julian had to face the limitations of her own inner strength. In doing so, she was also compelled to address an expectation of smiling self-sacrifice that society has inadvertently imposed on in-home caregivers. The book lifts the veil on the stresses endured by individuals during this undertaking, who must also fill the roles such as mother, friend, lover, and more. With poignant, astute insight on how one family navigated the darkest days, Golf Widow reveals how Julian and her loved ones learned to come together to take care of each other when her husband Jeff no longer could. Through it all, flashes of joy and humor keep this moving story buoyant and hopeful, while offering firsthand comfort from a caregiver's perspective that is certain to re...