“A Short Life” by Jim Slotnick

When I went away to college I know my mother let out a deep sigh of relief. From birth to 18, I was a full time job for my mom. I had several car accidents with my raspberry 530i BMW. I had many parties on the family tennis court during which beer bottles were broken. And my crowning bad-girl moment occurred in the 8th grade when I phoned her to say I took a Quaalude and chased it down with a few shots of rum. So you can only imagine that when I got my act together and went to Northwestern in the fall of 1982 Barbara Marshall had a ton of time on her hands. So, she went back to work. A long time Registered Nurse, she had taken time off to raise her children (the younger two were much lower maintenance). She got a job at the LA Free Clinic (now called the Saban Community Clinic). At the clinic she met some wonderful people, including a health educator named Laurie. Thirty five years ago, Laurie fell for a UCLA medical student named Jim Slotnick. Shortly after they met, he was diagnosed with a rare brain tumor. Before he died he was able to write this powerful memoir. Recently Laurie and her husband Don, along with Jim’s brother and sister published “A Short Life” and you can buy it on Amazon. All proceeds from the book go to the Saban Community Clinic where there is a fellowship in Jim’s name. Every year Laurie gives the Slotnick fellow a copy of this book so they can get to know Jim. Like Paul Kalanithi’s “When Breath Become Air,” this is the story of a man who is learning about medicine while facing his own death at the same time. There is a rawness and vulnerability to this book that is heartbreaking yet also uplifting at the same time. Laurie recently created a Facebook page as a complement to the book www.facebook.com/AShortLifeJimSlotnick. Laurie said Jim’s philosophy was “love life and take nothing for granted.” A good take away for today and every day.  To purchase this book on Amazon click here.