The Leisure Seeker, a Novel by Michael Zadoorian
Time for a book review!
After filling up on turkey, catching up with family, and eating my share of pumpkin pie, I settled down with a book. I bought this one several months ago and have been waiting to find just the right time to indulge my heartstrings. I finished it within 24 hours.
I found The Leisure Seeker to be poignant, nostalgic, bittersweet, and thought provoking. The book begins with Ella and John Robina stocking their travel trailer, a Leisure Seeker. Against their doctors’ and their two grown children’s wishes – they are driving from their home in Detroit to California with their final destination Disneyland and the Pacific Ocean – all by way of Route 66. A ghost of its former self, Route 66 is paved over completely and lost in many places along the way, only to resurface later. There are predictable landmarks along the way, and this is the repeat of a journey taken years before when their children were young.
Ella and John have been married for many years. She is dying of cancer, and he has dementia (probably Alzheimer’s). They decide to take this trip for one last hurrah. The book covers their journey state by state with a sense of humor as Ella makes fun of the tchotchkes and cheesy tributes to past Americana along the way. She struggles with her pain (her “discomfort”) and tells us she is finally becoming a drug–addicted old lady as she pops her little blue pills. She has to stay quick-witted enough to be the navigator for her husband who is amazingly still able to drive through the fog of dementia. Remember – this is a work of fiction. They’ve brought along their projector and when they stop to camp, most nights they watch old slides of past trips, reminiscing and reliving good memories, seeing their kids grow and change along the way.
I loved the way they bolstered each other up when things went awry – and plenty did – yet they kept pushing onward. They call their frantic kids periodically, who in turn plead with them to return home. John and Ella have a plan; nothing and no one is going to stop them. They intend to maintain their independence and the life they’ve built for themselves through their years together. In order to define their own terms, Ella and John find their own resolution to their plight.
If you decide to read The Leisure Seeker, you won’t be able to forget it. The message is heartfelt. I loved “traveling” with them; I especially loved being able to revisit an era I grew up in and one that is forever gone.
Posted by There For You Too at 11-29-2011 
Categories: Books I Recommend
Tags: aging independently aging parents book review of The Leisure Seker
Categories: Books I Recommend
Tags: aging independently aging parents book review of The Leisure Seker
This reminds me of a book I read called the Widows Adventure. Two old ladies take a road trip. Why, I can't remember. What I do remember is that one of them is blind, and she does the driving! M, I think I still have this book, I'll have to give it to you for a read.
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