Review of Shirley Melis' "Banged-Up Heart: Dancing with Love and Loss"

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This is a memoir about a woman finding love again after the death of her husband of thirty years and to lose that new found love again way too quickly.

I usually do not read memoirs or love stories so I was hesitant to read this one.  But after a couple of chapters I became emotionally invested in this woman.  I am glad she decided to write this book because she is right, women need more books like this to show an aspect of what it’s like to grow older, losing loved ones, and staying strong mentally, emotionally, and physically despite all of that.  She shows the difficulties of still feeling alive while losing someone.

Although I have not been in her shoes, I am appreciative that she allowed me to walk along her side and see her experience.

I feel that death has become a taboo topic in the U.S and we tend to not talk about it enough nowadays. We need more books like this one.  She is definitely a role model of strength and courage and I hope I can be just as strong when faced with these situations in life.  

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ABOUT SHIRLEY MELIS
Shirley Melis is a longtime business writer, travel writer, and newspaper columnist who traveled the world interviewing everyone from busboys to heads of international organizations before launching a career in public relations in Washington, D.C. With Banged-Up Heart, she now takes her writing in a new direction, delving deeply into her own personal story of finding love late, losing it early, and discovering the strength to choose to love again. It is a fascinating odyssey, a journey both creative and erotic as Shirley and John work lovingly together to blend their dreams—until a mysterious bump on his forehead starts them on a tragic struggle against the dark hand of fate.
A graduate of Vassar, Shirley Melis has created an intimate memoir bearing eloquent witness to the kind of wild trust that can grow in the heart of an ordinary woman thrust into circumstances that few others must face. Now retired, she lives in Galisteo, New Mexico.

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Tangalene Dudt served in the Army for eight years and now works as a contractor for the US government. 

She lives in beautiful Arizona with her wonderful husband and loves to read, garden, hike, and run ultra-marathons.

Each year Tange resolves to read 100 books.