Having read and appreciated, "The Last Lecture", written by this author's husband, Randy Pausch, I was curious to know their life from her perspective. This book deals with her husband's pancreatic cancer diagnosis, and follows the family through his illness, his death, and the life that remains for her and her children.

Fortunately, Jai Pausch is in a healthy financial position. She doesn't have to hold down a job while she and her children grieve their loss. Thankfully, that is one factor with which she doesn't need to concern herself. Other than the perk of financial stability following the death of a spouse, everything she writes about is pertinent to most who face loss at some point in their lives. She is brutally honest in her recollections. She relates conversations with her husband as together, they attempt to prepare their children for the inevitable death of the father. She candidly explains the challenge of caring for her dying husband, while trying to maintain some normalcy for her young children.

In this book, Jai examines every decision, feeling, and consequence during such a horrible time. She dissects her grief and her children's grief, allowing the reader a tutorial of sorts. With her husband's logical and systematic approach to matters, Jai learns to shoulder the burden of putting the puzzle of her life back together after losing a huge, important piece of that puzzle upon Randy's death.

And Jai stays true to the book's title, "Dream New Dreams". She shares how she is able to re-enter the world with new goals. She continues to advocate against pancreatic cancer, but now it will not consume her. Instead, she works toward a balance that will allow her to grow as a mother and as a woman, while keeping Randy's memory in her heart.