A wonderful non-fiction story written by the wife of a military man who is deployed for 13 months and the truthful insight into raising 3 young boys on her own for that period of time. I found this book to be educational for a civilian who can't really relate to the circumstances. Sarah's honesty about the trials and tribulations of being a temporary single Mom was very heartwarming--she was able to expose the family's interaction without seeming judgmental. Their decision to host weekly dinners with various people (sometimes friends, other times more well-known guests) to fill their Dad's seat at the table is a testament to making a difficult situation into a learning experience. Sarah Smiley is raising 3 young boys and her husband is getting ready to leave on his 3rd deployment and will be gone in Africa for 13 months. They decide to invite a new person or people to dinner once a week to help pass the time until her husband returns. Keep some Kleenex handy as there are some sad and some funny stories of their dinner adventures and what it's like to have their dad gone for a year
Too much crying. The concept was interesting, but the storyline just didn't come together for me.
—Lisa
This is a great book about an all American family and how they live a year separated
—samantha
Enough already.
—hmcclure
