The moment when Patty Dann's husband was diagnosed with terminal brain cancer, she felt as though the ground had dropped out beneath her. Her grief, however, was immediately interrupted by the realization that she would have to tell their three-year-old son, Jake, that his father was dying. The prognosis gave her husband just a year to live. In that short time, the three of them--Patty, Willem, and Jake--would have to find a way to live with the illness and prepare for his death.

Written with disarming honesty, courage, and humor, Patty weaves together a series of vignettes that chart her...