Our Divide:Two Sides of Locked-In Syndrome

 "Our Divide: Two Sides of  Locked-In-Syndrome" A Memoir

Meet author LaDonna Harrison, a Minnesota native. 

Book signing event by Blue Cottage Agency. 

CatTales Books and Gifts

609 Laurel Street

Brainerd MN

11:00 AM

Book Review

 A prognosis of a rare neurological disorder Locked In Syndrome creates a divide between a newly married young couple. “Our Divide: Two Sides of Locked-In Syndrome” by LaDonna Harrison is an emotionally captivating memoir told with courage and honesty. As the author tells the two sides of Cleve and LaDonna's (Donnie) life story we find her struggling through trauma, depression, and unbearable loneliness. But being the survivor she is Harrison takes the “lifeline” offered by her father and turns her life around finding unexpected success in the academic world and joy in motherhood.

Harrison's story begins in northern Minnesota in the early '70s where her family borders on poverty and lives off the land for food. Fresh out of high school, Donnie meets Cleve, a 27-year-old Vietnam Vet. They find love and the commonalities of living a carefree life of fishing, snowmobiling, partying, and the enjoyment of friends. Several bouts of physical abuse spiral Donnie into confusion and sadness with Cleve's unexpected temper. An impulsive marriage followed by an unplanned pregnancy and a traumatic health diagnosis turns their lives upside down. Cleve suddenly falls victim to an obstruction in the brain stem pushing him into a comatose state.

Donnie finds herself overwhelmed dealing with his illness, medical staff, financial issues, and the early stages of pregnancy. With the purchase of a journal, she finds writing becomes a compulsion. It provides some solace offering her a place to be with Cleve again easing her anxiety. Donnie's daily entries imagine Cleve reading the letters when he wakes up. She keeps him updated on baby development, weather, her loneliness, and the frustrations of running a household being inexperienced along with confusing, contradicting medical opinions. At times she truly believed he'd wake up and read her letters. Plus writing these letters made her feel fine and strong. After a few months, Cleve emerges from a comatose state to a new state called “locked-in syndrome.” As hours became days and days became weeks, Donnie's despondency grows with little or no visible change in Cleve. The realization he will never improve spurs her on to take her father's offer to pay tuition to a local community college for 3 months. Donnie desperately needs to escape her own locked-in state. Education becomes her salvation. Eventually, she manages to move forward making healthy decisions about how to live her life.

Harrison's writing is mesmerizing and hard to put down. To jump back into a life of decades ago, reopening emotions must be a soul-stirring and harrowing experience. Harrison's story demonstrates resilience in the face of adversity. Despite the fact her family could be labeled dysfunctional, it was their loyalty and support that kept Donnie moving after each crisis.

“Our Divide: Two Sides of Locked-In Syndrome” will appeal to readers who find stories of hope and life reclaimed inspirational. It is a beautifully written story sure to stir your soul.