I didn't die, but damn it was close

By Ms. Jody DeFilippo

I Didn't Die, But Damn It Was Close

A stroke at thirty-eight wasn't the end of her life - it was the violent, disorienting beginning of a new one.

In this raw, sharply funny, and emotionally unfiltered memoir, Jody DeFilippo tells the story of surviving a medical crisis that shattered everything she thought she knew about herself. One moment she was a single mother holding her world together by sheer force; the next, she was fighting to remember words, routines, and the woman she used to be.

This is not a story wrapped in inspirational clich s. There is no tidy redemption arc. There is no "everything happens for a reason." What Jody offers instead is something far more real: a portrait of survival stripped down to its bones.

Through vivid storytelling and unflinching honesty, she explores the grief of losing the version of yourself you loved, the invisible aftermath of brain trauma, the exhaustion of rebuilding a life no one else realizes has collapsed, and the quiet strength found in slowing down. She writes about motherhood, identity, resilience, and the complicated beauty of learning to live again in a body and brain that no longer follow the old rules.

This is a book for anyone who has ever survived something they weren't ready for. Anyone who has rebuilt themselves from ruins. Anyone who needs to hear that being different doesn't mean being broken.

I Didn't Die, But Damn It Was Close is not a happy-ending story. It's a human one. And it will stay with you long after the last page.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: B0GWNW5KG7
• ISBN13: 9798255507573
• Release Date: April 2026
• Publisher: Independently Published
• Length: 34 Pages
• Weight: 0.10 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.1" x 5.0" x 8.0"