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"Cariou is a deft emotional cartographer...Sixtyfive Roses is a love letter, a thank-you note, a defence, a plea, a setting straight, a reaching out. " - Paula Todd, Globe and Mail book review

Welcome.

The writer James Baldwin has said, "For while the tale of how we suffer, and how we are delighted and how we may triumph is never new, it always must be heard. There isn't any other tale to tell. It's the only light we've got in all this darkness." SIXTYFIVE ROSES: A Sister's Memoir is one of those lights.

Beyond any illness, addiction, or loss there exists the possibility of redemption, the opportunity for a full, rich life that moves beyond mere survival. In the midst of fighting a disease, recovering from dependency, or going forward after tragedy and loss, we honor ourselves and our loved ones by becoming warriors on behalf of our own lives. There are times when grace falls from heaven unbidden, but we must not wait for heaven. Heather Summerhayes Cariou, author of SIXTYFIVE ROSES, has found that we must learn to become partners in our own grace.

Heather promised to die with her sister Pam, who at the age of four was given only months to live when diagnosed with Cystic Fibrosis. “Sixtyfive Roses” is the way Pam pronounced the disease that altered the lives of her siblings and parents, who in turn helped alter the community’s response to the disease by founding the Canadian Cystic Fibrosis Foundation. With the help of the Foundation, research, and new treatments, the fight to save Pam lasted for years, ending with her death at the age of 26. Heather had to learn to survive the tragedy of her sister's illness, and her loss.

This beautifully written memoir offers an unsparing eyewitness account of the pain, hope and valor of a family in crisis as it falls apart and pulls itself together again and again, only to emerge stronger and more loving. At the heart of the story is the relationship between the two sisters. As they journey through childhood, adolescence and young adulthood, each struggles for autonomy, yet helps the other learn where to find joy and meaning in a world of pain and uncertainty.

This is not just a story about a disease. Rich in detail, loving, funny and profoundly moving, SIXTYFIVE ROSES is about fighting for your life and never giving up. It’s about loving fearlessly and the choices we make in the name of love. It’s about the kind of faith, fortitude and forgiveness we tell ourselves we don’t possess, but which is present in all of us. Ultimately, SIXTYFIVE ROSES illuminates what we must all come to understand about the nature of life and death.

“There is no happy ending. But there is the day. The sun, the rain. The chance to say I love you. The willingness to forgive. The courage to remember. The opportunity to be kind. The ability to laugh and to be generous. The fact that we can choose our joy in each moment, no matter what. This, in itself, is the miracle.”

McArthur & Company publishers will donate 5% of proceeds from book sales to the Canadian Cystic Fibrosis Foundation.