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Beauty in the Broken Places
Beauty in the Broken Places: A Memoir of Love, Faith, and Resilience | Allison Pataki
16 posts | 8 read | 10 to read
A deeply moving memoir about two lives that were changed in the blink of an eye, and the love that helped them rewrite their future Five months pregnant, on a flight to their babymoon, Allison Pataki turned to her husband when he asked if his eye looked strange, and watched him suddenly lose consciousness. After an emergency landing, she discovered that Davea healthy thirty-year-old athlete and surgical residenthad suffered a rare and life-threatening stroke. Next thing Allison knew, she was sitting alone in the ER in Fargo, North Dakota, waiting to hear if her husband would survive the night. When Dave woke up, though seemingly strong and outwardly intact, he could not carry memories from hour to hour, much less from one day to the next. Allison lost the Dave she knew and loved when he lost consciousness on the plane. Within a few months, she found herself caring for both a newborn and a sick husband, sifting through endless hospital bills and insurance paperwork, and struggling with the fear of what was to come. As a way to make sense of the pain and chaos of their new reality, Allison started to write daily letters to Dave. Not only would she work to make sense of the unfathomable experiences unfolding around her, but her letters would provide Dave with the memories he could not make on his own. She was writing to preserve their past, protect their present, and fight for their future. Those letters became the foundation for this beautiful, intimate memoir. And in the process, she fell in love with her husband all over again. This is a manifesto for living, an ultimately uplifting story about the transformative power of faith and resilience. Its a tale of a husbands turbulent road to recovery, the shifting nature of marriage, and the struggle of loving through pain and finding joy in the broken places.
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KathyWheeler
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Pickpick

I found myself a little jealous of Pataki because when things went terribly wrong for her husband (at 30, he had a serious stroke that could‘ve been fatal), she was able to be with him in the hospital, as this was pre-COVID. I could not do that. I enjoyed this memoir because it was hopeful, and she was so honest about how she felt, including the “bad” feelings. That honesty helped me. #audiowalk

TrishB Great review 👍🏻 the affects of covid are so much more than the virus. Sorry you weren‘t able to be with your husband ❤️ 2y
KathyWheeler @TrishB Thank you. That was so hard. I didn‘t see him for 2 weeks. We FaceTimed, but that wasn‘t the same. They started allowing me to visit when he was moved to rehab; that was so much better. 2y
33 likes2 comments
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KathyWheeler
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I saw Pataki on Friends & Fiction, and someone mentioned her memoir about the time her husband had a rare type of stroke at 30. It could‘ve been fatal; they just didn‘t know. When he woke up, his memory was gone and he couldn‘t make new ones. This is about their journey to recovery. Since I‘m still on a similar journey with my husband only with walking, I decided to make this my new walking book. I sure am crying a lot, however. #audiowalk

TrishB 😢 sounds sad. 2y
KathyWheeler @TrishB But ultimately hopeful because, as she mentioned on Friends & Fiction, he DID recover. She was pregnant with their first child when this happened. They have two more now, I think she said. If he hadn‘t recovered, I‘d be completely unable to read this right now. 2y
TrishB I understand that ♥️ 2y
BookDragonNotWorm Best wishes that your own journey is as successful! 2y
KathyWheeler @BookDragonNotWorm Thank you! It‘s going well but I know it‘s going to be long. 2y
23 likes5 comments
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lostinwords
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lostinwords #weekendreading I‘m glad I didn‘t give up on finishing this heartwarming memoir. Pataki‘s a gifted & skillful writer. I enjoyed every word, every page, and every experience she shared. 2y
kspenmoll Beautiful book. 2y
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lostinwords
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So glad didn‘t give up on finishing this heartwarming memoir. Pataki‘s a gifted & skillful writer. While portraying a profound sense of compassion and strength, Pataki takes the reader through her & her husband‘s excruciating experience of loss and their feelings of fear, anger, & sadness after an unexpected tragedy. While it‘s a true love story, it‘s also about hanging on to hope, faith, & strength when devastation strikes without warning.

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kspenmoll
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#ColdPlay #FixYou
Allison Pataki‘s husband had a stroke on a plane at the age of thirty. This memoir is her story of a harrowing time in her marriage when no one new her husband‘s prognosis- but she worked with her husband, family, friends, medical teams to “ fix you”.

Eggs This sounds really good 5y
Crazeedi This sounds like a good book, I like the medical related books a lot. Just finished this 5y
50 likes2 comments
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kspenmoll
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Unsure of this memoir at first. But I got drawn into this world of brain neuroplasticity, recovery against all odds, the perspective of a wife whose world is shattered when her husband has a stoke at 30, resulting in amnesia, & seemingly insurmountable cognitive impairments.Based on daily letters written to her husband in hopes of creating new shared memories. Philosophical questions: what makes us who we are in relationship? What makes us human?

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kspenmoll
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kspenmoll
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#porchtime#cofffeeandbooks #birdsong

Starting my day the right way! Coffee in my beautiful mug from @Kdgordon88 ❤️ very few cars this time if day with school out; just birds singing.
Day trip with family today. I have this week off before I go back to work for the month of July. 🙌🏻

Elizabeth2 Perfection! 5y
Crazeedi Love your porch! And your mug! Have a wonderful day! 5y
kspenmoll @Crazeedi Love the mug too! A gift from @Kdgordon88 my #secretsantagoespostal friend! I am on my way to a hike near Brattleboro VT with family😁 5y
Howard_L What‘s on the plate? Blintzes? Kolache, Klobasnek? 5y
74 likes5 comments
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kspenmoll
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#summersantagoespostal #summersolstice

Ice cream cone wrapping paper on these gifts-it‘s summer!
I was away on the 21st so could not open this box from @Kdgordon88 . Debra, I was overwhelmed last night when unwrapping each gift-so evident that you “ got me”. So incredibly generous! Perfect books, bookmark, coffee mug, stickers, chocolate-thank you for all the time & thought you put into my gifts! I have begun reading the tagged book already. ❤️

Deblovestoread You are most welcome. I had a blast shopping for you. Have a great summer! 5y
kspenmoll @Kdgordon88 Enjoy your summer too! Just finished one if your book gifts, Beauty in the Broken Places. 💕 5y
50 likes2 comments
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Insightsintobooks
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EKonrad
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Pataki's husband suffers a stroke at the age of 30 while they're flying to their "babymoon". Yep, she's five months pregnant when this occurs. Although the story is truly frightening, it was also inspirational. My only critique is that I found myself trying to rush through the sections about the beginning of their relationship that are sprinkled throughout the book. I just wanted to get back to the descriptions of the husband⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ #NetGalley

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EchoLogical
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Though I‘m no longer working in the library, I still feel the need to keep up new releases through email. Found this gem from Penguin, I think. 🤔 There‘s little that I love more than a good memoir so I will definitely read this a some point.

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Insightsintobooks

I am an insatiably curious person, and so are the people I love most. I find it to be one of the most irresistible character traits because it carries this promise: Continued learning. Constant questioning. An antidote to boredom or passivity.

bibliobliss Amen! 6y
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bookchickdi
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I‘m really looking forward to reading Allison Pataki‘s Beauty In The Broken Places. i‘ve heard that is is very moving.

Chelleo Pretty pic! 6y
4 likes1 comment
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Insightsintobooks
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35 likes1 stack add