Weeding Out the Tears - A Mother's Story of Love, Loss and Renewal - Jeanne White with Susan Dworkin, Foreword by Phil Donahue
"A celebration of the unflagging spirit of a woman who has survived life's biggest sucker punch and who remains determined to ensure that her son is remembered not for how he died, but how he lived." --Phil Donahue
Published to coincide with Mother's Day, National AIDS Awareness Day, and the seventh anniversary of Ryan White's death, this is the extraordinary memoir of a woman who once considered herself ordinary. Jeanne White was catapulted into the spotlight when it was discovered that her son, Ryan, a hemophiliac, contracted AIDS from a tainted transfusion. What followed was a media circus and a mother's worst nightmare--Jeanne watched her son endure the rejection of friends and neighbors, fought the scorn and ignorance of a terrified public, and finally watched her son waste away.
Told in her down-to-earth manner, this is Jeanne's story of how she survived and rebuilt her life: her happy new marriage to the man who had become a father-figure to Ryan and who helped her through the worst times; how she fought to provide her daughter with a stable home; and how she became an activist testifying before Congress on behalf of the Ryan White Care Bill.
Ryan White, appearing on the DONAHUE Show.
President Obama Signs Ryan White HIV/AIDS Act. Jeanne White (standing to the right).