Summary and Reviews of I Found My Tribe by Ruth Fitzmaurice

Three-year-old Sadie says that Dadda talks with his eyes. An eye gaze computer sounds less romantic. I'll ask his eyes she says when she wants something. He loves me! she exclaims like a surprise present. Love like a present is the gift we share from him. I hold it fiercely. His magnificent heart. My husband is a wonder to me but he is hard to find. I search for him in our home. He breathes through a pipe in his throat. He feels everything but cannot move a muscle. I lie on his chest counting mechanical breaths. I hold his hand but he doesn't hold back. His darting eyes are the only windows left. I won't stop searching. My soul demands it and so does his. Simon has motor neurone disease, but that's not the dilemma, at least not today. Be brave.

I am sitting in my car in Wicklow town, looking out on the harbor. I'm watching these yacht masts dancing. Their heads are swaying to and fro, warbling along to Joni Mitchell on the radio. Wicklow harbor is nice. It...

Please be aware that this discussion guide will contain spoilers!

1. Consider the memoir's epigraph, "I must be a mermaid, Rango, I have no fear of depths and a great fear of shallow living." What would Ruth consider to be "shallow living"? How does Ruth combat shallow living?
2. Discuss the members of Ruth's "tribe" and how they support her physically and emotionally. Before Simon's diagnosis, her family was her tribe; she writes: "We knew nobody at first but didn't need anybody. Friends were secondary. We were our own tribe" (49). But as Simon's symptoms worsen, Ruth realizes her tribe needs to grow. They move back to Greystones, and she begins to assemble new members. Her friends, her children, and her cove all become a part of Ruth's tribe. How does each tribe member ...