My WVOX radio show on Friday-a family who is trying to overcome a near death experience- turning crisis into hope

I will have an interesting guest on my WVOX radio show Friday. Caryn Hirshleifer and Jenn Goldman. Show airs live from 10 AM to 11 AM on 1460 AM. It is also streamed live on www.wvox.com.

When a massive bleed in Jenn’s brain (left frontal lobe) leaves her comatose and clinging to life on August 18, 2021, just days before her 31st birthday, each member of our family is forced to grapple with Jenn’s potential sudden death.

The Gift, so titled to reflect Jenn’s deep gratitude for having emerged from her unconscious state, is a self-help book written from the perspective of each member of our family. The narrators include Jenn, a wellness entrepreneur and dynamic motivational speaker who lost and is in the process of regaining her ability to think and speak; Caryn, Jenn’s mother, attorney and successful business owner (Hirshleifer’s Inc.) who writes alongside Jenn and plays a pivotal role in the book’s genesis; Jenn’s father David, an experienced Board Certified Emergency Physician who struggles to balance his roles as father and physician; Amanda, Jenn’s younger sister by eighteen months who takes on the role of Jenn’s advocate and protector, and Jenn’s recently engaged boyfriend, Mischa, a newcomer to the family who chooses to step up rather than step away.

This non-fiction inspirational memoir sheds light on the existential issues we have each faced – what it means to be present in times of uncertainty and crisis while holding onto hope, and what we have come to learn about the power of family and community to sustain us through these challenges.

Told chronologically in an interwoven narrative, The Gift, over 45,000 words, carries the reader through the emotional highs and lows that see Jenn vacillate between life and death, and struggle to triumph over her right-sided paralysis and severe cognitive deficits.

Before her stroke, Jenn, a 2013 graduate of Skidmore College with a joint degree in Religion and Philosophy, founded and served as CEO of Essential Rose, an aromatherapy beauty brand which she started in her college dormitory room. A motivational speaker on wellness and self-care, she created her own content and has completed several chapters of a book about healing. Caryn, an attorney and co-owner of a highly successful fifth generation family business, has written several short stories as well as a book, Birdie Spills the Beans (all of which are unpublished).

We anticipate that this is just the first installment of Jenn’s story. The Gift takes the reader from the day of Jenn’s stroke to just beyond the one-year anniversary of that event. Readers who have workshopped the book universally comment that they don’t want the story to end. In fact, Jenn’s recovery is an ongoing process that will continue to evolve over time, and the lessons learned by our family are all valuable to impart in additional books.

The Gift is a unique contribution to current literature on stroke and recovery. We’ve not been able to find any other book that sheds light on the emotional complexities of what stroke victims and their families must traverse or to offer insight on how to cope with the varied stressors that such an event undoubtedly brings.

We are in a unique position to help spread the word about The Gift with our current social media channels and contacts. Jenn and her sister have started a TikTok channel documenting Jenn’s healing journey, My Sister’s Keeper, which presently has almost 300,000 views and 15,000 followers.??