You Take It From Here by Pamela Ribon

Similar to its predecessors, Beaches and Steel Magnolias, Pamela Ribon’s You Take It From Here chronicles the roller coaster of a journey between best friends Danielle and Smidge, one of whom left their small southern town for LA, while the other stayed put. The story begins when the one who has remained in the tiny town confesses that her cancer has returned, and this time it is terminal. Dealing the finality of a terminal diagnosis is difficult on its own. Smidge, however, demands one last request for Danielle before she dies and that is to have Danielle take over Smidge’s life in the small, southern town by marrying her husband and raising her newly adolescent daughter once she is gone. This essentially echoes what the title of the book, You Take It From Here, implies. This major request catapults Danielle into reevaluating the importance of both her life and what her friendship with Smidge means to her.

…You Take It From Here takes us on a bumpy journey filled with hilarious moments of treasured memories for a future without a friend, frustrating moments filled with fights between friends and family, and shattering realizations of just how life-altering terminal illnesses and the looming reality of death can be.

As Pamela Ribon beautifully puts it during Danielle’s initial reflection after Smidge’s revelation, “Cancer is selfish. It rips through its victim’s body without the slightest hint of remorse…Cancer is at its most selfish when it comes to the spouses, the families, the friends. Because that’s when it mutates again. For them, it’s not their cells it destroys. It’s their dreams.” Although she initially promises Smidge that she will honor her final request, You Take It From Here takes us on a bumpy journey filled with hilarious moments of treasured memories for a future without a friend,  frustrating moments filled with fights between friends and family, and the shattering realizations of just how life-altering terminal illnesses and the looming reality of death can be.

The twists and turns in the novel’s plot symbolize the unpredictability of real life when someone is diagnosed with a terminal illness and is told they might not have as much time left as they had hoped.

The journey becomes bumpier because of the uncertainty of how long a terminal diagnosis actually is. As Danielle reflects, “With a terminal diagnosis, ‘the end’ seems at once an immediate terror pressing down and this fuzzy finish line way out in the impossible distance. When each day passes without death, you start to believe it will never come.” In one moment, the terminally ill can seem like their normal selves and in the next the illness can leave them feeling like they might be taking their last breath. The twists and turns in the novel’s plot symbolize the unpredictability of real life when someone is diagnosed with a terminal illness and is told they might not have as much time left as they had hoped.

Pamela Ribon
(credit: Wikipedia)

You Take It From Here made me laugh at the witty interactions between the well-developed characters and it tore at my heartstrings during those painful, gut-wrenching moments of revelations and realizations. My only complaint is that the narration could be confusing at times. While Ribon starts the story with Danielle writing a letter explaining everything to Smidge’s daughter many years after Smidge dies, there are several instances where it is unclear whether the situations are part of the letter or if Danielle is talking directly to readers rather than to Smidge’s daughter.

Overall, I enjoyed this book immensely and I would highly recommend it for anyone who has been through a terminal illnesses with a loved one. This book is a great read for anyone who has ever experienced a bond that transcends friendship into the realm of family. You Take It From Here will make you question how far you would go for someone you truly care about, especially a best friend in desperate need.

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