Life is just a roll of the dice.
Surviving childhood is a crapshoot in itself. Grow up, find three or four of-a-kind friends to rely on, get things largely straight for yourself, and you might one day have a full house. Or, as in the new book, “The Luckiest Unlucky Couple” by Alicia C. Shepard, if you throw right, you’ll at least have a good, solid pair.
Alicia “Lisa” Shepard had seen loss before.
She’d watched her father die when she was just ten years old. She’d been “blindsided” by a divorce from a long-term marriage, and when her mother was dying of lung cancer, Shepard took care of her until her death.
And so when David, “the love of her life,” was diagnosed with Stage 4 melanoma that had metastasized to his brain and elsewhere, she had a small inkling what she was in for. Still, as a writer, storyteller, and researcher by profession, she instantly began digging for deeper information and reaching out.
That’s somewhat how she met David in the first place.
She’d been happy with her life as it was after the divorce, but friends urged her to find romance online. Shepard tried, hated it, tried again, dated a little, and then began what she thought was just a friendship with David, who didn’t mind taking things slow. In time, texting and talking blossomed into something more.
And then David noticed a “bump” on his head that led to an brain MRI and other serious tests, increasingly terrifying doctor visits, surgery, and eventually, what was a happy cure. As he got better, Shepard began to breathe again and she looked forward to the years ahead.
But there was a cough she’d had for awhile that needed attention, and there was a lump.
Initially, her doctor “tried to tamp down [her] panic” until tests were run.
“But we all knew.” says Shepard. “We knew it was cancer. None of us would say it out loud.”
Though you might think that “The Luckiest Unlucky Couple” would be sadder than sad to read, here’s a surprise: it’s really rather not.
More than anything, author Alicia C. Shepard very well conveys the terror that comes with a cancer diagnosis, the chaos that treatment necessarily causes, the shreds of hope one clings to, and the total cosmic unfairness when a caretaker receives a similar pronouncement. That is a lot, but it’s countered with a shining sense of joy and gratitude that may astound readers who are more prepared for despair. Shepard’s storytelling is funny, too, sometimes, and you’ll be glad she shared some of her adventures, with David and without.
It’s not a spoiler if you know that this books’ prologue was written by Shepard’s son, and the epilogue by her husband, after she died.
The tips for surviving both caregiving and diagnosis round off this book nicely, but that’s not probably why you’d come for it. No, you want a story of life and love and for that, “The Luckiest Unlucky Couple” is a safe bet.
By Terri Schlichenemeyer
“The Luckiest Unlucky Couple: A Medical Love Story” by Alicia C. Shepard
c.2026, Bloomsbury
$28.95
203 pages
