The Longest Trip Home by John Grogan
"Heaven was not a paradise reserved for the exclusive use of any one religion. The Lord could not be that unfair. There could be either one God who loved everybody the same or no God at all."
The Longest Trip Home is John Grogan's of Marley and Me fame, account of growing up in the 1960's in the suburbs of Detroit. His childhood antics, in a simpler time without cell phones or computers to distract were totally relatable to me. I grew up in the similar Midwest suburbs of nearby Cleveland. John's parents were devote Catholics and everything about their lives and how they raised their children was steeped in serving the Lord. I cracked up when the altar boys finished off what was left of the communion wine after Mass. John and his siblings often had to be on their best behavior because a priest was a frequent dinner guest. A crucifix was a wall decoration in every room of the house.
I too, was raised in a home where my mother dragged us to church every Sunday. We weren't Catholic but Presbyterian. We served grape juice at communion which is boring by comparison. But when John graduated from college and started life on his own, he began to examine his own feelings about religion and faith. Whether it was the times or the faith based foundation, I found myself searching for the same things in that period of my life.
What sealed the deal for me in this book, was how John dealt with his father's illness and his mother's dementia in later years. There is no guidebook for this and he struggled in the same ways I struggled to care for my parents and step mother. He floundered at times and I finally felt that I wasn't alone because I did my fair share of doubting and floundering in similar situations too. Our parents give us what they can and the rest is up to us.
The Longest Trip Home is a great story that I'm certain most baby boomers can find something within its pages to laugh about, cry about and reflect on. I'm so glad I read this.
"Heaven was not a paradise reserved for the exclusive use of any one religion. The Lord could not be that unfair. There could be either one God who loved everybody the same or no God at all."The Longest Trip Home is John Grogan's of Marley and Me fame, account of growing up in the 1960's in the suburbs of Detroit. His childhood antics, in a simpler time without cell phones or computers to distract were totally relatable to me. I grew up in the similar Midwest suburbs of nearby Cleveland. John's parents were devote Catholics and everything about their lives and how they raised their children was steeped in serving the Lord. I cracked up when the altar boys finished off what was left of the communion wine after Mass. John and his siblings often had to be on their best behavior because a priest was a frequent dinner guest. A crucifix was a wall decoration in every room of the house.
I too, was raised in a home where my mother dragged us to church every Sunday. We weren't Catholic but Presbyterian. We served grape juice at communion which is boring by comparison. But when John graduated from college and started life on his own, he began to examine his own feelings about religion and faith. Whether it was the times or the faith based foundation, I found myself searching for the same things in that period of my life.
What sealed the deal for me in this book, was how John dealt with his father's illness and his mother's dementia in later years. There is no guidebook for this and he struggled in the same ways I struggled to care for my parents and step mother. He floundered at times and I finally felt that I wasn't alone because I did my fair share of doubting and floundering in similar situations too. Our parents give us what they can and the rest is up to us.
The Longest Trip Home is a great story that I'm certain most baby boomers can find something within its pages to laugh about, cry about and reflect on. I'm so glad I read this.
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