First as a dog lover, well I loved the book. In the first few chapters learning how Barnum was stricken with cancer was a killer. I recently had to put down my baby Quesadilla and she was 7. I grieved for her and still talk to her everyday. OK I don’t want to discount the loss of Ryan her husband. There is a little issue, that I will point out, she wasn’t in love with him. Yes, she loved him but right before coming home with the melanoma diagnosis she was planning on divorcing him. She lined up her ducks and had a plan. Then he says he has cancer and what else is there to do but support him. I don’t know how ling they were actually happy, but I felt bad for her. She was feeling the loss of a spouse but I think she was dealing with her own feelings of indifference. YES it is sad but there were so many things the authors does to make “light” of the situation. For example in church she should be thinking of Ryan or some part of their time together and yet she thinks “I notice his belly button. I can’t remember every noticing other Christs belly buttons before.” That is why I love Jackie. Who else would think that? OMG I was laughing at his funeral.

Another hysterical part for me was “I’d dig two M & M’s out of the bag each time a new song started. If they were the same color, I got a bonus M & M. Those two or three with the bonus- M & M ‘s had to last the whole song.” I totally loved Jane. I totally hated Barbara, the mother in-law, and sort of dis liked Jeffrey, the father in-law.

Jane drives from Philadelphia back to San Diego with the dead husband and the pet, both in ash form. What happens and where the course changes are really special. This is the time where Jane must evaluate her life, her future, and get Ryan’s ashes to Maui.

These are just a few reasons why I adore Jackie and her writing. No writer has come across with more love for pets than her. I sometimes think I take better care of my dogs than I do my husband, so I related to this. Please if you are a dog lover, read this. It is truly a wonderfully written and enlightening book. The plot, the characters, and the awakenings they all have are to be enjoyed and shared.