📘 It's Okay to Laugh
by Nora McInerny Purmort
Genre Nonfiction ◦ Memoir
Format & Source Print ◦ For review, TLC Tours
Publication Dey Street Books ◦ 2016
Dates Read May 12 – June 3, 2016
Rating ★ ★ ★ ★ ★
📝 My Review
It’s Okay to Laugh completely captured my attention after just a few pages. I’m not kidding. After reading the first chapter, I went on and read Nora’s blog for hours and hours the next day. I couldn’t get enough of her story, couldn’t get enough of her effortlessly beautiful writing.
Here’s what happened:
Nora and Aaron fell in love.
Then Aaron got diagnosed with brain cancer.
Despite that soon to be fatal diagnosis, they chose to keep living. They packed as much living into a few short years as they could. They got engaged, they got married, they decided to have a baby, even while Aaron was on chemo, even after he had brain surgery.
Despite what you may think, as Nora points out, “it’s not a cancer story, it’s a love story. With some cancer.”
This is the story of Nora. This is the story of Aaron. This is the story of Nora before Aaron, the story of Nora AND Aaron, and the story of Nora after Aaron. This is the story of their son, Ralph. This is the story of loving and living, even when things get hard. Especially when things get hard.
You’ll find out even before starting the book that Aaron died. It wasn’t unexpected and the lengths that he and Nora went to in order keep on living until the final days were astounding and incredible. I am in awe of their family. I am inspired by their strength. I am moved by their story and their love and their baby son who knows that his dad lives in his heart and says it frequently.
I didn’t know what to expect going into this book. I expected to be sad. I didn’t expect to laugh, but I did… so, so much. Nora is hilarious and has this amazing way with words. That’s why I couldn’t tear myself away from this book or from her blog. Her writing pulls you in. You feel like you’re talking to your best friend. I kind of want to be best friends with Nora now, actually. Nora, are you reading this? Can we be friends?
I love Nora and Aaron’s love story. It is sweet. It is hopeful. It is full of the best kind of love in the world. It is still going, even after his death.
I love Nora’s writing, too. In fact, this is probably my favorite book so far this year. I fancy myself a writer, but Nora’s writing just blows me away. I admire her style and when I grow up, I want to write just like her.
I highly, highly recommend this one. Please don’t steer clear of it just because you think you’ll be sad – the funny moments (it IS okay to laugh), the hope, the love, and the incredible writing make it all worth it. I will be keeping this book in my collection so I can read it again in the future… I love it that much.
“Someday, the universe will throw a wrench in the works and your well-oiled machine of a life will grind to a halt. And then it will keep going. Because after you got bored of crying and worrying, you took a deep breath and pushed it back into motion.”
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