I am kind of stingy/picky when people ask me who would I let do something for me or work along side of me. Being in the world of MLB baseball for so many years, you get to meet all kinds: those willing to help you and others who just want to be seen with you. Ken Churilla, I have to say, is the one you want on your side. He’s creative and hard working—which is my favorite trait of anyone—but having good people skills tops them all. I know given a chance and challenge, Ken doesn’t let you down. No doubt, writing a book on anything, he would be writing from his soul and heart.
—Ron Kittle, 1983 AL Rookie of the Year, Chicago White Sox
Very few journalists are as passionate about music as Ken Churilla, and I’ve always appreciated how he approaches a story from the singer/songwriter’s perspective. This book is out of the norm for him, and I’m excited to see how he tackles this tough subject.
—Gretchen Wilson, Country Music Artist
Having read countless memoirs, research, and instructional books about grieving, and supported many people on their journeys after losing a loved one; I haven’t come across a book quite like this. No One Said It Would Be Easy is a raw, brutally honest account of one man’s traumatic loss and his struggle to put his life back together. The mistakes and triumphs this man makes are lessons for all of us. Trauma happens to the entire family system, no one escapes cancer’s path of destruction. The dying is certainly the most devastating, but the rebuilding is the most difficult. While not intended to be a manual about grieving, the author captures the range and intensity of emotions and the effect on the whole family when a loved one passes away from cancer. Self-help books tell us what to do, but this book also balances those tenets with many “do not do” scenarios. Mistakes are powerful learning tools, so reading about the consequences of Tommy’s missteps, may really help a lot of people. This book is also important because it Normalizes such a broad range of feelings, behavior, and thinking during the grieving process. Men need to hear that their pain is important and the way in which they display that pain is “Normal.” No One Said It Would Be Easy acknowledges the tremendous pain felt when losing a loved one to terminal illness. However, in the end, it is a story about courage and hope.
—Elizabeth Fazio, Psy.D. & Licensed Clinical Psychologist, Long Grove Psychological Associates
As a male whose wife had had breast cancer, and knowing other men going through life and family crises, I find this book to be helpful given its real and honest narrative. No One Said It Would Be Easy gives the reader a real sense of what is going on behaviorally and emotionally with this husband and father’s struggle with his wife’s battle with cancer. The book is also very real in highlighting 20/20 hindsight into various thoughts and actions. Raw and poignant insight into one man’s psyche and actions as he deals with his wife’s battle with breast cancer, I highly recommend this book as an effective therapeutic and cathartic tool not only for men but also women attempting to gain insight into a male’s thoughts and actions. The entire journey is very effectively narrated as if the reader is sitting across the kitchen table from Tommy as he talks about his thoughts and actions.
—Dr. Frank Tantum, Retired Child and Family Psychologist and Lecturer, Cook County, Illinois
You often hear stories about battles with breast cancer and it always hits close to home when you are a women, as we all share that risk. On the other side of that coin are the loved ones who wage that battle alongside, shoulder to shoulder, and the fear, uncertainty and utter helplessness they experience facing such a harsh reality. No One Said It Would Be Easy is a sobering, well-written and brutally honest chronicle that stands as a “companion guide” for all men caught in this war of all wars. The Do’s, Don’ts, and I Don’t Knows are all captured here in a vulnerable tale that offers to shine a light in such inevitable darkness.
—Brandy Reed, Senior Publicist, RPR Media