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    Driving Miss Norma: One Family's Journey Saying ""Yes"" to Living
    Driving Miss Norma: One Family's Journey Saying ""Yes"" to Living
    Driving Miss Norma: One Family's Journey Saying ""Yes"" to Living
    Audiobook7 hours

    Driving Miss Norma: One Family's Journey Saying ""Yes"" to Living

    Written by Tim Bauerschmidt and Ramie Liddle

    Narrated by Christopher Grove and Nan McNamara

    4/5

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    About this audiobook

    When Miss Norma was diagnosed with uterine cancer, she was advised to undergo surgery, radiation, and chemotherapy. But instead of confining herself to a hospital bed for what could be her last stay, Norma—newly widowed after nearly seven decades of marriage—rose to her full height of five feet and told her doctor, “I’m ninety years old. I’m hitting the road.”

    Packing what she needed, Norma took off on an unforgettable cross-country journey with three professional nomads—her retired son Tim, his wife Ramie, and their Standard Poodle Ringo—in a thirty-six-foot RV. Driving Miss Norma is the charming, infectiously joyous chronicle of their experiences on the road—a transformative journey of living life on your own terms that shows us that it is never too late to begin an adventure, inspire hope, or become a trailblazer.

    As this once timid woman says “yes” to living in the face of death, she tries regional foods for the first time, zip-lines through a former stranger’s yard, and reaches for the clouds in a hot air balloon. With each passing mile (and one educational visit to a cannabis dispensary), Miss Norma’s health improves and conversations that had once been taboo begin to unfold. Norma, Tim, and Ramie bond in ways they had never done before, and their definitions of home, family, and friendship expand. Stop by stop, state by state, they meet countless people from all walks of life— strangers who become fast friends and welcome them with kindness and open hearts.

    Infused with this irrepressible nonagenarian’s wisdom, courage, and generous spirit, Driving Miss Norma reminds us that life is beautiful and precious, and that family, fun, and self-discovery can happen at any age.

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherHarperAudio
    Release dateMay 2, 2017
    ISBN9780062674241
    Author

    Tim Bauerschmidt

    Tim Bauerschmidt and Ramie Liddle are professional nomads who retired by age 50 to travel full-time in an Airstream travel trailer with Ringo, their Standard Poodle. They have explored every state but Alaska, and consider Mexico’s Baja California Peninsula the closest thing to home. They continue to say ""YES!"" to living and have traded in their motor home for a boat, and will be cruising America's 6,000-mile Great Loop aboard M/V Miss Norma. 

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    Reviews for Driving Miss Norma

    4/5

    52 ratings5 reviews

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    • 5/5
      This book is inspiring and touching. I highly recommended this.

      1 person found this helpful

    • 5/5
      Very inspirational! Page turner, with many unexpected twists and turns! Makes a good companion book to Atul Gawande's, Being Mortal: Medicine and What Matters in the End, which I read a couple years ago.
    • 5/5
      This was such a wholesome, funny, tender, wonderful book! It taught me how important it is to embrace life and live one’s last days with curiosity and gusto. I loved the book!
    • 4/5
      I really liked this cross country, end of life, road trip. Inspirational, charming woman with her courageous son & daughter-in-law go off to spend her last year or so of life, living it, instead of going through the traditional medical rollercoaster of cancer treatments.
    • 5/5
      Driving Miss Norma is an absolutely fantastic read. In the midst of these trying times, this book restored my faith in humanity and had me either laughing or crying the entire time I was reading it. When I started reading Driving Miss Norma, I was unfamiliar with the Facebook page that chronicled 90-year-old Norma’s extended journey across the United States with her son and daughter-in-law, Tim Bauerschmidt and Ramie Liddle, and their dog Ringo. I chose not to seek out the Facebook page but instead read the book and let the story unfold as I read. If you are not familiar with the story, I would encourage you to do the same. There were so many fun surprises and entertaining tales, and I was very glad that I had not spoiled the book by checking out the Facebook page first.Norma, Tim, Ramie and Ringo visited a wide range of locales. We frequently road trip as a family so I enjoyed reading about Norma’s experiences at places we have visited ourselves like South Dakota. It was so fun to hear Norma’s thoughts on Mt. Rushmore, Wall Drug, the Corn Palace and the Black Hills. I also added a number of places to our travel list after reading about them in this book. Facebook created a platform for Norma’s story and allowed so many kind people to open up their homes and towns to Norma, Tim and Ramie. I do not want to spoil the book so all I will say is that Norma brought out the best in people across the country. Time and again, I was amazed and impressed with the treatment she and her family received as she traveled.The authors chose to alternate chapters which I felt was a very effective way to relay their tale. While much of the book focuses on the places they visited and the people they met, I was glad that Ramie also addressed their role as caregivers and how difficult that job can be, especially if you are traveling in an RV with a 90-year-old woman. My one complaint about the book was that no pictures were included. I read an ARC so that may be one of the items that will be added before publication, but photographs would really enhance the story.I think everyone should read Driving Miss Norma; it is such a beautiful story. Thanks to HarperOne for the chance to read this ARC in exchange for an honest review.