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Hug Everyone You Know: A Year of Community, Courage, and Cancer
In 2007, Antoinette Martin believed her call back doctor appointment was routine, maybe a scare, nothing worse. Her shock at receiving breast cancer diagnosis was instantly compounded by her own deep fears. As a self-described wimp, how was she going to get through this? Antoinette started her fight against cancer with words. She began by journaling and by writing emails to Her Everyone—the large close-knit family and circle of beloved friends wanting to offer their support, especially those who were fighting breast cancer alongside her. The emails not only helped to keep Her Everyone informed, they gave cancer less of a presence in Antoinette's life, since she wasn't repeatedly updating people or saying the word "cancer" over and over. The practice of writing calmed her and also gave her space to focus on living: on the house that wasn't selling, an exciting new job, daughters in college, and summer beach plans. She signed every email with the reminder to "hug everyone you know." Those emails and journal entries are at the heart of this memoir, which give the book an immediacy and raw power. Hug Everyone You Know is a memoir about how Antoinette found the courage to navigate her first year of breast cancer treatment. It's the story of how a community—colleagues, family, friends—rallied to support her. The book is moving, brave, informative, and occasionally funny—and it speaks to us all. Hug Everyone You Know received a Five Star Reader Favorite Award and was a finalist for the USA 2017 Best Book Award and 2017 Indie Press Book Finalist. Published 2017 by She Writes Press
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Antoinette Truglio Martin, a life long Long Islander, is a speech therapist and special education teacher by training but is a writer at heart.
On a visit with her family to the shore, Sara gathers water, seaweed, snails, and smelly stuff to make her famous seaweed soup.
