Grateful for the Color Blue: Surviving the Loss of an Adult Child

by Ellyn Wolfe

"Outstanding. 5 Stars"— Writer's Digest Magazine . Parents aren’t supposed to outlive their children, but they do. Ellyn Wolfe’s journey through hell and out the other side begins with a phone call from 3,000 miles away, “Mom, I have cancer.” A memoir of loss and survival, optimism and coping strategies, estrangement and reconnection, Grateful for the Color Blue is a compassionate outreach to anyone who has lived through loss and needs to know they are not alone. Beautifully written with heart-wrenching intensity, diversionary escapes into nature, and revelations about intuition and mindfulness that yield startling results, this memoir is a page-turner.

Genres: Nonfiction

336 pages, Paperback

Published June 8, 2020

Reviews

[Lynne Spreen · Rating 5 out of 5]

This may be the most authentic-feeling memoir I’ve ever read. In Grateful for the Color Blue, Ellyn Wolfe chronicles her life from her son Rob’s terrifying diagnosis through the present day, fourteen years later. This is a debut work, beautifully written, meticulously edited. She kept a journal during this time, so her memories are as clear as if it were unfolding in the present. Which is wrenching, of course, but also lends authenticity as she describes her journey. In Grateful, we see a thoughtful, sensitive woman learning how to live in a world where grief will never leave, only recede. She’s adept at rich description, as when she walks the beach at her home in Massachusetts, visits remote and wild places in Oregon with her brother and nephew, and endures Los Angeles and Boston. Even struggling with heartache, she tries, and tries again, to reason with her life and arrive at new ways of seeing. This is the true value of any memoir, and Ellyn delivers, taking us through the unimaginable, sharing her journey, showing us how she survived, and thus offering a template. A lovely portrayal of the resiliency of the human spirit.

[Karen · Rating 5 out of 5]

After losing our son to cancer at 42 I searched for something that I could read to help me but there was nothing for adult child bereavement so I felt very much alone. Finding Ellyns book was a comfort to me as much of her feelings and thoughts I identified with, it was painful and sad to read but also gave me some hope. Thank you Ellyn I feel your pain

[Kay Masonbrink · Rating 5 out of 5]

Though there were tears shed of both sadness and laughter, what was most prominent to me was the inner peace I felt as I read this compelling story. Fortunately, I have not had to face what can only be life’s worst experience, the loss of a child as did Ellyn, but the coping strategies she devised and utilized were helpful and can be used in any number of life’s situations by anyone. I especially enjoyed her encounters with nature, which are essential in my life also, so I understood how they helped her and relished each vivid description. Ellyn has poured out her heart and soul and provided us with a wonderful gift in this book.

[Hege Herfindahl · Rating 3 out of 5]

I lost my son-in-law who was 43, from a sudden heart attack two years ago. Then, I lost my youngest son, who was 42, half a year ago from a rare form of cancer.
I don’t have enough energy to go to therapy, but I read books to help me cope. I found this book and started reading it. It is not a how-to-survive grief book, but a memoire.
Very poignant in places, but maybe a little bit too chatty other places.
I know how it is to lose a son to cancer and I felt her grief at times. I don’t know how I would have been able to write about my losses. It is difficult. And hats off to Ms. Wolfe for doing that.

[Sheryl Cooley · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book was hard to pick up and hard to put down. Although you know the story's ending from the beginning, it is incredibly engaging. Ellyn does a beautifully artistic but realistically rendered job of weaving the people, experiences, and emotions that played a part in her living through the death of her adult son and, near the end of the book, her nephew. The overall story is touching, sorrowful, hopeful, humorous, and devastating by turns. It is well told and worth the read.

[Hughes Rosalie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Grueling story, written by a woman living in Annisquam.

[Kathy K. · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent book, but I may have read it too soon after the death of my only son.