Family Meals: Bringing Her Home

By Michael Tucker

Book Overview

Michael Tucker and his wife, Jill Eikenberry, are enjoying the early years of retirement in their dream house, a beautiful 350-year-old stone farmhouse in the central Italian province of Umbria, when life suddenly interrupts their summer plans. Jill's mother's second husband, Ralph, has passed away, and Michael and Jill must leave the respite of the Italian countryside and travel to California to console Lora, Jill's mother, and help her plan her future. Thus begins Family Meals, a beautifully told memoir that explores the meaning of family and examines the sacrifices we make for those we love. After Ralph's death, Lora begins a rapid decline into dementia. Jill wrestles with the decision to move her from her comfortable home in Santa Barbara to New York City so that she can be near her family. After a disastrous attempt to place Lora in a senior residence in New York, Jill slowly comes to grips with the reality of her Mom's condition. By chance, an apartment becomes vacant right across the hall from Michael and Jill and they grab it for Lora and her twenty-four hour aides and set up their own little nursing home. Michael and Jill's children, Alison and Max--much to their parents' delight--decide not only to relocate to Manhattan but also move in together. Alison, a personal chef and caterer, takes over the responsibilities of her grandmother's daily meals. Their family, which had been a loose network of individual parts, is now, remarkably, a cohesive unit. It's all become very Italian. Family Meals is a heartwarming story of Tucker's own unique family and the journeys each member has taken. It is a book that addresses a fact of life all of us will face--aging--with remarkable charm, sympathy, and warmth, showing the ways in which those we love are our greatest asset in times of sorrow and times of joy.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0802145086
• ISBN13: 9780802145086
• Release Date: September 2010
• Publisher: Grove Press
• Length: 245 Pages
• Weight: 0.68 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.7" x 5.4" x 8.3"

Customer Reviews

Elder care is not a job for one person alone

Elder care is not a job for one person alone. "Family Meals: Coming Together to Care for an Aging Parent" is the memoir of a family taking care of its aging matriarch as Lora, a widowed late in life woman coping with the death of her husband with the help of her children Michael Tucker and Jill Eikenberry. Their story is taking care of an aging woman as she fights the diseases of age such as dementia and the stories and wisdom that is drawn from these relationships. "Family Meals" is a choice and very highly recommended read for those who have elderly relatives of their own to care for.

Reading for pure pleasure

Michael Tucker is my hero. He writes so well and pulls you into his and his wife's life with true brio. This book is such a delight. I have already read it twice.

Tucker is Yummy

Michael Tucker writes with wit, empathy and a dash of the devil. His book is moving and delicious. Buy it. Robyn Goodman

Another tour de force from Michael Tucker!

Mr. Tucker's books are gem! They are funny, witty and charming all rolled up into one! This is the third book of his I've read and every time, he never fails in his brilliant writing style. Family Meals is a book you must run out and buy, it's not only about family but about life---and it's hilarious to boot! Grazie, Mr. Tucker!

Family Meals: Coming Together to Care for an Aging Parent

Mr. Tucker, Mr. Tucker! Thank you. "Family Meals" is a feast. Sharing ones personal life can be tough, but Tucker handles it with such wit, wisdom, and passion. This book is for anyone who is in the midst of dealing with an aging parent and trying to have your own life at the same time. By far his best book, yet. Tucker's writing has reached another level. I must admit that all I wanted was more tastes and smells of Italy, but Tucker gives us real life. Grazie.