Tumbling After: Pedaling Like Crazy After Life Goes Downhill

By Susan Parker

"I think Ralph fell in love with the uphillness in me. I could keep up with him on windy passes and minor climbing peaks. But I never stayed with him on the downhill. He was always too fast. He'd wait patiently for me at the bottom of a black diamond run, at the end of a long, winding mountain road, or at the foot of a crag. He was happy when I could get to the bottom of anything. I wasn't with him the day he had the accident that left him a C-4 quadriplegic. Perhaps it's the uphillness in me that is keeping me with him now. It's all uphill from here. No more downhills to carve through gracefully or sail down safely; only up, up, up." -from the Introduction Suzy Parker and her husband, Ralph Hager, spent every free moment together biking, skiing, and hiking. All that changed in a split second when a freak cycling accident left Ralph permanently paralyzed below the shoulders. In that moment, Suzy's old life fell away and her new one began. In Tumbling After, Suzy chronicles her transformation from carefree outdoorswoman to full-time caregiver, and paints a loving portrait of the impromptu, oddball family of concerned neighbors and friends who become her new lifeline. With Jerry, the tender ex-con; Momma Scott, a guardian angel and force of nature in a feather boa; and Harka, the culture-shocked Nepalese, at their side, Suzy and Ralph weather the loss of old friends and learn to embrace a new way of life with hope and a healing dose of the absurd. This astonishing memoir, devoid of self-pity and told with breathtaking candor and a wry sense of humor, is an inspiring journey that is ultimately a story of survival and second chances-and the unexpected joy and love that can grow out of grief if given the slightest encouragement.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0609608568
• ISBN13: 9780609608562
• Release Date: April 2002
• Publisher: Crown Publishing Group (NY)
• Length: 283 Pages
• Weight: 1.00 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.0" x 5.9" x 8.5"

Customer Reviews

Worldview Changing and Hilarious

I picked this book up with about 15 others from the new non-fiction section at my library in preparation vacation reading. I got through my entire selection, but this is the one book that, in a truly meaningful way, became part of my consciousness. I then had the opportunity to choose a book for my bookclub, and it was a no-brainer: Tumbling After. I think the book just speaks to a place in one's heart.Although at times I wanted to shake Suzy Parker, there was never a time in the book where I couldn't relate in some way to her. Since none of us know what lies ahead in life, we can all imagine ourselves in Suzy Parker's shoes, and I would hope that I would handle any situation of the same magnitude with similar grace, honesty, and humanity. When white, middle class Suzy finds herself in the position of forming a "new family" with folks whose background and lifestyle were formerly not even on her radar, it proves beyond doubt that "love is thicker than blood". She faces up to her biases very bravely, and finds true friendship and camraderie. Lastly, but just as importantly, I laughed hysterically throughout, which was hard to explain to family members who inquired of the subject matter of such an apparently funny book (quadraplegia? - huh?). But I just loved Suzy Parker's soul.

The Real Deal

I saw Suzy Parker at a book reading in Seattle and she said, "One thing you learn being in the disabled community is that there is always someone worse off than you." And she shows us some of these people--with a clear eye and a sense of humor. What I really love about her story is its truth. There is no self-pity. Even when she says "this [stinks], I wonder if I can make," she just plows ahead. The story is accessible and never maudlin even when it is grim. And there is plenty of humor and adventure to pull the reader through the tight little chapters. This story is the real deal--a great read, a compelling story, and a few lessons along the way.

Captivating.

I was totally captivated by this book, which will stay with me. Susan's Parker life was turned upside down when her husband had a bad accident which paralyzed him from the shoulders down. This book is vignettes of her life since. Her writing reminds me of funny adventure travel writers like Tim Cahill, Pico Iyer, Bill Bryson and Doug Lansky. Her journey is not to a foreign land, but her life with a quadraplegic in Oakland, might as well be. Her description of how she built and found a new life is captivating, funny and moving.

Tumbling Ahead...and Uphill

The cover of Susan Park's "Tumbling After"calls it a memoir and, of course, it is. But much more, it's a love story, a unique story that couldn't have happened in any other environment, among a different kind of people, nor would it have been written by any one else. It is a story of personal growth, the erasing of prejudice, a new portrait of neighborhood, family and the meaning of love in all its forms and all its unexpected sources. As well as the many shapes of heroism that develop as disaster is taken in stride. Suzy writes with the brevity of a practiced columnist, but this is not a collection of her newspaper columns. The language, the sexuality, the emotion is candid, honest and unrestrained. It's an account of what is, and what is is there to be embraced. Suzy's athletic husband Ralph becomes a quadriplegic in a bike accident. His every need requires help, day and night. There is no hope for recovery, but his life is not hopeless. The reader gets the sense that something good is going to happen even though it's clear that Ralph's physical condition wont change. There is no lecture, no attempt to show bravery, no lesson consciously taught. Yet the reader feels as though he or she is a better person for having read Tumbling After. Once into this book, you may promise yourself to read just one more "column," before putting it down. Then just one more and just one more, page, until you get to the end. Each brief "story" leads to the next until the last. I couldn't wait to get to the end, and then I was sorry this rare reading experience was over. Heartily recommended to anyone who thinks that life is tough. - - - -

A must-read for all human beings

Tumbling After is the story of how a woman copes after her husband suffers a devastating injury. But it's also the story of a remarkable woman who builds a remarkable family and not only lives on, but thrives. This book is proof: we all have strength and creativity within us that may not make itself evident until we need it. It's also proof that Susan Parker is a gifted writer. The pages sing with laughter as well as pathos. The book will make you rejoice in Susan's humanity, and your own.