Love or Die Trying: How I Lost It All, Died, and Came Back for Love by Bob Ramsay was an interesting memoir about substance abuse, relationships, death, and love. #LoveorDieTrying #NetGalley

I wish to thank NetGalley and Dundurn Press for this inspiring story about addiction, recovery, love, death, resilience, and perseverance. The author speaks candidly about the high and low points of his life. He is a Toronto businessman who runs Ramsay Inc. This is a marketing and communication firm and serves as an event organizer. He writes opinion articles for the Globe and Mail, Toronto Star, and Huffington Post. 3.5 stars rounded to 4.

He found success at an early age, but at age 40, he had lost his business due to erratic behaviour and his home due to bankruptcy. He was heavily addicted to cocaine and was living in a drug treatment facility in Atlanta. His love for an older woman, Doctor Jean Marmoreo, helped him through his darkest days of recovery, despair, and self-loathing. He rebuilt his Toronto business. She was energetic and athletic. Jean encouraged him to hike, camp in the wilderness, go on kayak adventures, and feel healthier and happier. They travelled worldwide, climbed mountains, trekked in Asia, and ran marathons, with Jean usually in first place for her age range. They decided to marry, and her three teenaged children were reluctant to accept Bob, a younger man and ex-drug addict, into the family.

Bob was plagued with health worries and scares. He actually died following a heart attack and was resuscitated on the operating table. Once recovered, he had a mini-stroke. Then be had a bladder obstruction which was thought to be possibly cancerous. There was a long, painful recovery, his wife always at his side expressing love and encouragement. His business prospered in between bouts of illness, and he loved interacting with people. They had a rewarding and busy social life, and her children began to accept Bob into the family.

Jean became an advocate for people wishing to have a peaceful end to their life when they were incurable and suffering. She switched her role to work and write in that capacity. Bob remained working as a writer. They were both in their 70s when COVID struck. Jean, now age 79, had a health issue, and they both concerned about COVID affecting them in their old age. They retreated from Toronto to a wilderness cottage and made it a sanctuary for their family.

This is a well-written, honest autobiography where you can feel his emotions, joys, fears, hopes, and regrets, courage, and his longtime love for his wife. I only wish that the book had been more linear in its structure.