Give Me One Wish: A True Story of Courage and Love

by Jacquie Gordon

This is the story of a remarkable mother and daughter and their love as they make sense of life, and their relationship, in the face of a deadly disease. Jackquie Gordon cannot cure her daughter Christine's cystic fibrosis, but she can teach her to follow life's gifts wherever they lead so that she grows up eager to discover the world and her place in it. This entrhalling book gives us the intimate chronicle of a teenage girl growing up in the late 70s and early 80s. It gives us a model of courage and love under pressure. It tells the healing story of a mother and daughter who never stop trying to understand and help each other, and who succeed beyond all expectation. A selection of the Literary Guild

Genres: Nonfiction, Biography, Memoir

404 pages, Hardcover

First published February 1, 1988

About the author

Jacquie Gordon is the author of Give Me One Wish, the story of her daughter's struggle with cystic fibrosis.

Flanders Point, the winner of the Yale University Willet Prize, is her first novel. Currently completing her bachelor's degree in literature at Yale University, Jacquie Gordon lives in Connecticut.

Reviews

[Colleen Rue · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was the first book written by my late friend,Jacquie Gordon.It tells the moving story of her daughter Christine Elizabeth Nelson.Chris bravely fought cf for 21 years.She passed away three weeks after her birthday,three days after her little sister Jenny turned nine.I lost my cousin Madison to cystic fibrosis three years ago when she was just 11,so this book has meaning to me.I don't understand why this beautiful book was never made into a movie but I believe theres hope for a movie yet.Chris' dad,Muppets puppeteer Jerry Nelson recently passed away so now Jenny has rights to the book and possible film.Sadly Jacquie passed away in 2009.Should a movie ever get made Jeff Bridges would make a great Jerry,Judith Light would be great as Jacquie,and Jenna Malone would be great as Christine.I'd recommend this great book to anyone who wants to get to know a wonderful person named Christine Elizabeth Nelson,who lived life to its fullest!!!

[Laura Susan Johnson · Rating 5 out of 5]

One of the all time best memoirs of motherhood, childhood, love and tragedy ever written. It deserves to be recognized in the same degree as some of the best sellers that have gone on to be motion pictures. No cliches or preaching or Pollyanna-isms. Just an honest, unflinching look at a terminal illness and its impact on a family, and how beautifully human a person can be until the moment of death.

[E. · Rating 4 out of 5]

A very intense memoir of the life of a teenager with cystic fibrosis. Read this after I read Alex: The Life of a Child.

[Jinjer · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is probably the third or fourth time I've read this book, but the last time was so long ago it was like reading it for the first time and by the end I was a crying mess.

For some reason I just can't get rid of this book. I feel like I need to keep Christine and her Mom close. Even though Google tells me her mother died of Alzheimers a couple years ago, and her dad, the Muppet man, died a long time ago. So I guess they're all reunited.

Anyway, back on to the shelf it goes, and I'll probably read it again some day.

I do have some questions though...one of which is, when was 911 invented? It seems weird to me that her mother never called 911 any of the times she needed to go back to the hospital?

[Beth E · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book is about Christine Elizabeth Nelson, who died of complications relating to cystic fibrosis at age 21. Christine sounds a lot like a typical teenager who was very focused on clothes, music and boys. Her interests were all the more intense because she knew that she had a limited time to enjoy them in. Christine and her mother tried to make sure that Christine lived her short life to the max.

I was interested in this book because Christine's father was Muppet performer Jerry Nelson. Since Jerry and Christine's mother, Jacquie, divorced when Christine was quite young, Jerry is something of an absent, although supportive, figure in this book. The book does describe the impact that the Muppets made on Christine's life and the opportunities that she had as a result. For example, she had an appearance on The Great Muppet Caper and was able to meet the cast of Saturday Night Live and other celebrities. Christine was very proud of her father and this is sometimes described, such as her pride when his recording of "Halfway Down the Stairs" went platinum.

It is a touching book and I teared up at the end.

[Bobbi · Rating 5 out of 5]

Always being interested in the biological sciences, it was reading this book as a young teenager and putting a lovely, emotional, humourous face to the practicality of tragic diseases that inspired me to study biology and hopefully make a difference in the world. (Even if it's just a little at a time.)

I read this book as a young teenager, after the passing of a very close teacher of mine. I remember writing a piece of poetry and sending it to the publishing company, hoping it would find its way to Chris' mom. To my surprise and absolute delight, many months later I received a lettered response from her, which is treasured to this day.

[Mary · Rating 5 out of 5]

I read this book as a teenager. I could not,at the time, fathom what it was like to lose a child. Jacquie shared Christine's journals with us. It was amazing to meet someone who only existed on sheets of paper and a mother's heart. Now, being much older, I can see the courage this took to mend a broken heart. To share someone you love so much that in an instant you would die for. And then to share her with strangers, her peers.

[Alli · Rating 4 out of 5]

Jacquie Gordon Shows the emotional and physical battles of her daughter Christine who suffers from cystic fibrosis. Christine constantly battled the deadly disease, "beating" it at times... never giving up. Startlig docters on her will to survie. The book talks about her thumps, love life, and family- which is all over the place.

Soooo... read about Christines life with this deadly disease and how she got through it.

[Ashley Jones · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is an absolute favorite of mine...I can read this book over and over again. Jacquie Gordon went above and beyond in her telling of the joy and pain that her daughter went through growing up with Cystic Fibrosis. The trials and tribulations that they went through and the highs of her life made the book for me.

[karen · Rating 5 out of 5]

Really sad and moving.

[Vanessa Kefauver · Rating 5 out of 5]

fantastic