What Alice Forgot

This book was recommend to me by a friend, and I was warned there was language, however I was under the impression it was used by Alice who wakes up in the gym having forgotten all the memories from the last 10 years of her life. But I don't actually remember her using bad language except in her thoughts remembering other people using it towards her and wondering why, etc.  There are quite a few f-bombs and especially right upfront in the beginning.  This almost turned me off from reading it.  I read a couple of chapters and then wasn't going to finish it because of all the language!  However, over the course of the week I discovered some friends of ours had gotten divorced in the past couple of months.  This was such a shock to me and left me feeling so sad that for some reason I was drawn to this book again and other than trying to avoid the bad language, I really enjoyed this book.  It left me thinking about who I am, and what my decisions lead me to become, and if I'm becoming who I want to be.

Alice wakes up in the gym after falling off her bike in spin class and believes herself to be 10 years younger newly married and expecting her first child.  So imagine her shock to find out she is turning 40, has three children (none of whom she can remember) and is divorcing her beloved husband Nick!  They had bought an old home with plans to fix it up...and she goes home to find out all the things they had planned for their home have been done!  Now she has a beautiful home, has gained some fashion sense, lost weight, eats healthy, and is busy, busy, busy!  She finds out she doesn't seem to like who she become 10 years later, having lost touch big time with her family, friends, neighbors, and even her husband.
She longs to get back together with Nick, who reassures her when she gets her memory back, she won't want that anymore. Through the course of the book she questions and wonders what drew them apart, only to find out it wasn't just one thing but maybe a whole bunch of little things. She told her personal trainer that her marriage was failing because of lack of sleep. I also noticed it seemed to be the things they noticed.  They started focusing on the negative instead of the positive, joyful things...so that was all they could see until they turned that into disgust for each other that was reflected in how they spoke to each other, how they looked at each other.  It made me think of how I treat my husband?  Do I belittle him for not doing things right when he helps around the house or with the boys?  Do I thank him for things he does?
I thought of our friends who got divorced...if they could have gone back in time 10 years and seen themselves now through that perspective, would they still have chosen what they did? Would their younger selves fought harder?  Our marriages and our families are the most important things in this life.  Nothing from this life can go with us after we die, except for the things we have learned...and our families if we have kept our covenants.  This book made me think of a song I love, particularly the lyrics "Will my life become a legacy of the things that matter most to me?  Will my fire of faith burn bright as I grow old?  And will I want to be the person I've become, when all is said and done?"

The final verse of that song says "When all is said and done when my eyes can finally see, will I glory in the sweet release and will mercy fill my soul with peace, will I kneel in wonder at the Savior's feet?  will I hear him say 'well done' when he sees who I've become, will I live with him when all is said and done?"
My favorite scripture is Moroni 7:48...it talks about when Christ comes again  that when he shall appear we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is; that we may have this hope; that we may be purified even as he is pure.

That is one of the things I want most--to be like Him.  This book made me think about how I am doing that.  It's not just a grandiose idea, it is a reality in everything I think and say and do every day I am becoming more like him or father away. I want to like who I am because I am becoming more like Jesus Christ and drawing others to me, not pushing them away because of selfish desires.