Climbing Back

After her son, a Harvard sophomore, suffers a potentially devastating brain injury, Elise Rosenhaupt and her family find their orderly world turned upside down. Climbing Back chronicles their extraordinary, transformative journey of realignment and recovery—illuminating mysteries and miracles large and small, laughter’s restorative power, and the natural world’s vital relationship to healing. “There is a robust technical literature on brain injury …. There is one voice, however, that is largely missing, and that is the voice of the person and the family who are actually experiencing it. Now, Elise Rosenhaupt has given us that voice. In a memoir that is both profound and thorough, she somehow found the courage and the discipline to look this event straight in its horrible eye, and to take notes. The result is Climbing Back, the record of her son’s brain injury and its unfolding as it affected his life and the life of his family. ".... Thus begins a journey no one would ever choose, but one which this young man, and his family, managed to finally engage on their own terms, with grace and dignity, and ultimately with a sense of victory. How they do it will be compelling reading for any professional in the field, and especially for those enduring the injury itself. And along the way, we learn truly invaluable clues and lessons about how to navigate through the complexities and ambiguities of a family’s recovery….  “[The author] concludes, ‘Knowing that nothing can keep us safe, how do we live? ... I watch Martin in the way he has of being absolutely present in his joy at being with those he loves, and I feel as though, knowing that nothing can keep any of us safe, he knows how to live.’ And now, having read this remarkable document, perhaps we will know better how to live as well.” Joseph S. Ratner, M.D., Chief of Psychiatry, New England Rehabilitation Hospital. “Elise Rosenhaupt weaves together an unexpected shattering event, a life hanging in the balance, and a resourceful, tight knit family into a riveting, powerful true story. This is a wonderful, surprising, rewarding book. I loved it.” John Jay Osborn, Jr., Author, The Paper Chase and The Associates."Climbing Back is very well written, powerfully honest and direct.” Elizabeth Lakind, Ph.D., M.D. (neurologist). “Elise writes with not only the love of a parent for her injured son, but with great insight into her own process of navigating the world of hospitals, rehabilitation and recovery. As a health care professional, I found it beneficial to be reminded of the complexities of this journey and the dynamics of family and community that were affected by one person’s injury.” Christine Wismer, Physical Therapist, Guild Certified Feldenkrais Practitioner. “I started the book yesterday and just finished it. I, literally, could not put it down. I am so moved by the intelligence and heart of the story.” Morty Simon, Labor Studies Teacher, Civil Rights and Employment Lawyer.