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Gone: A Memoir of Love, Body, and Taking Back My Life

A couple of months after the author lost both legs and her right arm in a 1979 accident, her husband took her sunbathing on a California beach—in a bikini. It was uncomfortable, Olson writes, but it made a powerful statement: Her husband still saw her as beautiful. “I didn’t marry your arms or your legs,” he told her later.

Olson went on to complete her medical residency, become a professor, raise two kids, and (true to the subtitle) take back her life. But it’s the love stories that resonate in this memoir—not only the love between husband and wife, but also the love Olson showers on her patients, students, and children. As she puts it: “I am proof that individuals can overcome unexpected challenges and find joy where it might not be expected.

Order a copy of Gone: A Memoir of Love, Body, and Taking Back My Life.

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