Book Review - The Last Dance, But Not the Last Song

I just finished reading The Last Dance, But Not the Last Song, the autobiography of Renee Bondi.  Renee is very familiar to me since she lives locally and often performs in Southern California.  I had known a little bit of her story and I really wanted to read this book to learn more about her journey, since I have yet been able to attend one of her her talks in which she shares her testimony.

I do not want to spoil the book for any of you, so I will keep this purposely vague.  When Renee was 29 years old, engaged to be married, and enjoying a successful career teaching music, a freak accident left her with quadriplegia.  This book does a fantastic job of sharing the emotional and spiritual journey of someone who has suddenly become severely physically disabled.  As a Physical Therapist, I know all too well the physical challenges that people may face, but this book really helped me to understand what someone goes through emotionally from the very moment of their injury.

I think that the "Ask Me Anything" chapter is fabulous.  She lovingly and charitably answers a lot of questions that people may feel embarrassed to ask and she addresses some topics that people wouldn't normally think of, like how she buys clothes and how someone who is paralyzed is able to mother a child.  She also gives startling advice on why we shouldn't ask people how they became wheelchair-dependent.

One thing I'd like to mention is that Renee is a very spiritual, very faithful Christian woman.  She writes about God and prayer and priests and hymns quite frequently, so if topics of faith are uncomfortable for you, I thought I'd give you adequate "warning."  I found it all to be very inspirational!