Last Things A Graphic Memoir of Loss and Love

Last Things is the true and intensely personal story of how one woman coped with the devastating effects of a catastrophic illness in her family.

Using her trademark mix of words and pictures to sharp effect, Marissa Moss presents the story of how she, her husband, and her three young sons struggled to maintain their sense of selves and wholeness as a family and how they continued on with everyday life when the earth shifted beneath their feet.

After returning home from a year abroad, Marissa’s husband, Harvey, was diagnosed with ALS. The disease progressed quickly, and Marissa was soon consumed with caring for Harvey while trying to keep life as normal as possible for her young children. ALS stole the man who was her husband, the father of her children, and her best friend in less than 7 months.

This is not a story about the redemptive power of a terminal illness. It is a story of resilience – of how a family managed to survive a terrible loss and grow in spite of it. Although it’s a sad story, it’s powerfully told and ultimately uplifting as a guide to strength and perseverance, to staying connected to those who matter most in the midst of a bleak upheaval. If you’ve ever wondered how you would cope with a dire diagnosis, this book can provide a powerful example of what it feels like and how to come through the darkness into the light.

Last Things is one of the most amazingly poignant and honest memoirs – graphic or otherwise — I’ve ever encountered. This book – which I read in one insatiable sitting — tore my heart in two. Moss handles the material with such a delicate sensibility, both with her drawings and her text, I couldn’t help but let her carry me along on her journey of love and loss. —Katie Hafner, contributing writer to The New York Times and author of Mother, Daughter, Me: A Memoir