I See You: Observations from the ICU, A Caregiver’s Journey

by Monica Saigal Bhide

Life can change in a single moment... Noted international food writer, poet, and educator Monica Bhide was a planner, a list maker who worried about "things big and small" until her husband's life-threatening illness changed everything. As he lay in a coma in the ICU, Bhide was relegated to the sidelines, powerless, until she came to the realization that all we have is now, and all we can control is our mindset. Laced with her personal stories from the ICU-from the friends who showed up with food and prayers to the stranger who shared her potato chips and optimism-I See You is the story of finding peace and happiness amid the pain and uncertainty. With her trademark insight, wisdom, and evocative prose, Bhide takes readers along on the emotional and transcendental journey of being a caregiver for a loved one-a journey filled with fear, helplessness, guilt, and frustration, but also humor, love, and the shining light of hope. Because "where there is hope, there is possibility, and possibility carries happiness in its folds."

226 pages, Paperback

Published April 17, 2018

About the author

Monica Saigal Bhide is an internationally renowned writer known for sharing food, culture, love, and life with a lyrical voice and universal appeal. She has built a diverse and solid audience through the publication of three cookbooks and a collection of short stories, her website, MonicaBhide.com, and articles in top-tier media, including Food & Wine, Bon Appétit, Saveur, The Washington Post, Health, the New York Times, Ladies Home Journal, AARP The Magazine, Parents, and many others. Her books have been published by Simon & Schuster and Random House(India). The Chicago Tribune named Bhide one of the seven food writers to watch in 2012. In April 2012, Mashable.com picked her as one of the top ten food writers on Twitter. Her work has garnered numerous accolades and has been included in four Best Food Writing anthologies (2005, 2009, 2010, 2014). Monica released her debut short story collection, The Devil in Us, in October 2014. Monica is a frequent presence on NPR, and serves as a speaker and teacher for organizations such as Georgetown University, the Association of Food Journalists (AFJ), London Food Blogger’s Connect, and the Smithsonian Institution. Her sixth book, A Life of Spice, released on April 27th, 2015

Reviews

[Ilana]

The newest book by Monica Bhide is about the very experience of seeing someone dear falling deep into the painful seas of physical uncertainties. I See You. Observations from the ICU. A Caregiver's Journey is not aimed at raising fundamental questions about life and death and the life after, but about the day by day challenge of surviving alongside with someone close going through a very complicated health-related episode.

While her husband is in coma, she is observing the new environment, with the curiosity of the writer, while trying to get used with the dramatic reality. In such situations, only your curiosity can actually save you from deep sadness and the overwhelming feeling of being just a puppet of destiny. For good and for worse, things can change and you are just a witness of all those chain of events. What you can do, in fact, as a writer and creator of words-made worlds, is to gather those experiences, filter through your personal art and offer inspiration to those suddenly found themselves in a similar situaiton. It is a noble task to offer spiritual help without promising ultimate explanations. It is this sequence of life through the eyes of a caregiver that in fact never considered being a caregiver. Observations from the ICU, a place where you never wanted to find yourself in the first place.

Life doesn't come with an user guide anyway so we are left with its incertitudes and unexpected shocks and drama. Books like the one authored by Monica Bhide is a practical guidance to go on with that.

Disclaimer: Book offered by the author in exchange for an honest review