Together

A Memoir of a Marriage and a Medical Mishap

By: Judy Goldman

Narrated by: Kathe Mazur

Novelist and poet Judy Goldman's inspiring account of the mishap that left her husband paralyzed, how it tested their marriage, and their struggle to regain their "normal" life.

When Judy Goldman’s husband of almost four decades has a routine spinal injection to alleviate back pain, he is instantly paralyzed from the waist down - a phenomenon no doctor can explain or undo. She’s forced to take over, navigating the byzantine medical world they suddenly find themselves in. Her husband is forced to give in. This is the starting point for Together, which looks at the changes every couple faces - the slow, ordinary ones brought about by time and the sudden, dramatic ones that take us by surprise. Identities shift; roles switch. How do we adjust? How do we let go of the if-onlys? Together is a deeply honest story about the life we dream of and the life we make - an elegant and empathetic meditation on what happens to love, over time and all at once.

©2019 Judy Goldman (P)2019 Simon & Schuster

Critic reviews

"Together is a riveting account of a strong marriage tested when a routine medical procedure goes terribly wrong. Judy Goldman beautifully shows us the challenges and setbacks but also the triumphs as two people find strengths within themselves to create a new life together." (Ron Rash, author of the New York Times best seller Serena)

"Part love story, part medical mystery, Together explores the rich terrain of a marriage during a period fraught with uncertainty and stress...a celebration of what truly matters in life: the power of love, the importance of forgiveness, and the necessity of accepting that some things remain unknowable." (Christina Baker Kline, number one New York Times best-selling author of Orphan Train and A Piece of the World)

"Judy Goldman is that rare writer whose inward gaze forces her reader to gaze inward as well, revealing something both brutal and beautiful about the world in which we live.... I loved this book. I really loved this book." (Wiley Cash, New York Times best-selling author of A Land More Kind than Home and The Last Ballad)

Interesting story...

...especially because so many of us are getting these injections now that we have been taken off pain meds for structural spine issues. I have this very same procedure a couple of times a year and I will have questions before the next one.

At first I thought the narrator was acting way too angry and this behavior (what she calls her hospital behavior) would have done the patient no good, but as I read on, it became clear the actress was doing her job. The writer admitted her children told her in her zeal to protect her husband, she was just too hard on staff. Try as she might, she couldn’t seem to correct this at the hospital or at home but she had good insight into herself that this was caused by fear and anger. Totally understandable.

The book was very well written and I hope they are still well. I hope her husband wasn’t too depressed about losing his own work.

Completely involving

Truly compelling and relatable. Anyone who has had to advocate for a family member or work with a frustrating medical system will appreciate TOGETHER. I could t stop listening. Beautiful writing and reading.

Poignant revelations that are thought provoking and inspiring

What happened to this couple was truly a living nightmare but Judy’s courage in retelling the story brings a great deal of hope. Honest and endearing, anyone fortunate enough to be a loving long term marriage will be inspired by their story.