Memory Card Full
Author: Liz Weber
Publisher: Greenpoint Press (indie publisher)
Published: September 2014
Pages: 256
ISBN 9780988696877
Genre: memoir
Source: a complimentary copy was provided by the publisher and TLC book tours in exchange for an honest and unbiased review.
A book for anyone who has loved and lost and found the space in that loss to become the person they were meant to be.
When Rufus, Liz Weber’s oddly proportioned but adorable dog dies of old age, her life begins to unravel. She is forced to let go of the one constant in her life and move forward. Memory Card Full is a memoir of her life as a bartender, model and aspiring writer in Manhattan before and after Rufus. Without him, she is alone and broken-hearted and her life spirals downward while her friends and family struggle to understand what she is going through.
Prior to Rufus’s death, Liz Weber’s life was far from dull. Whether serving drinks to a gaggle of quirky regulars at a bar or walking around in her skivvies for extra cash as a lingerie model, she fought hard to remain a self-proclaimed “professional free spirit” and aspiring writer, even it meant enduring a lush for a manager or a cranky, Israeli-folk-music-loving boss. None of it really mattered as long as she had Rufus, who taught her about unconditional love in an untraditional way.
Memory Card Full is the story of Liz’s journey through grief, which leads to an unexpected encounter with the long unheard voice of the woman inside of her. On water skis at an adult sleepaway camp, Liz realizes that there are important things in life that Rufus’ love had caused her to avoid. Embracing her power and strength, she is finally able to accept that letting go of him is the best way to go on and find love for herself and others.
Frank, funny, and deeply moving, Memory Card Full is a memoir for anyone who has loved and lost and found the space in that loss to become the person they were meant to be.
My thoughts:
A shattered mirror was the beginning of a difficult and painful journey for Liz Weber as her senior canine companion's health declined. Liz would have to put him to rest, euthanizing her precious companion who had always been her constant through bad employers, bad jobs, and poor boyfriends.
Now alone and on vacation in Mexico, the message Memory Card Full displayed on her camera becomes a minor catalyst in her life. As Liz reviews the photos, determining what can be deleted so she can take more pictures; fond memories flood back as photos of Rufus dominate the screen. She must delete some old memories to make room for the new. This is painful but it is done and Liz moves forward....a metaphor for her life.
I don't believe Rufus really held Liz back but it is evident that her acceptance of the loss of this beloved family member was a long time in coming. Life was difficult but when Liz realizes how her life has become stagnant, she give herself permission to grieve but move forward. She does so by taking a class, dating and doing what she has always longed to do...write.
“Sometimes things have to fall apart in order for us to put them back together again.” (Memory Card Full)
Liz Weber is a freelance writer living in Brooklyn. Her work has appeared online at Narratively, and Apartment Therapy. When she is not contributing to lifestyle websites, including Citypath and Bored and Thirsty or doling out dating advice to the urban female set on the popular website The Fat White Guy, she’s blogging about her past as a children’s party performer (she makes a mean balloon sword) and the time she drove her moped through a souvenir stand in Mexico. Her short story about working in a male strip club for women was featured in the 2009 Staten Island Arts Festival.
Visit Liz at her website.
I'm glad you enjoyed her story! Thanks for being a part of the tour.
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