Lois Wells Santalo’s Oops,
I Lost My Sense of Humor depicts Santalo’s life story, from her childhood
during the Depression, to her surgery later in life, to the present. At age
eighty-one, a doctor gives her two options to cope with her pancreatic cancer:
To opt for surgery resulting in an extremely painful recovery, or a bypass
which will not cure the cancer, but will lesson her pain temporarily. Santalo
is very offended by these options. She feels the doctor is not recommending the
surgery because she believes, at age eighty-one, Santalo has had her fair share
of life. Santalo does not agree. There are so many things in life she has yet
to enjoy, or wants to continue to enjoy, such as listening to her beloved opera
singer Jose Carreras and writing stories. She chooses the surgery, endures
through a difficult recovery, and then thanks herself for making the right
decision. She continues to spend time doing the things that she loves and
encourages her readers to embrace and fight for life as she does.
Santalo told her
life story with confidence and precise prose. She made it obvious to her
readers she will not let anything get her down, and she would push on to follow
her dream of writing no matter what it takes. She chooses life in order to
spend every last day on earth writing the stories that claim her mind and
heart. Her passion for writing is apparent in the way she presented her story,
the words flowed beautifully. Her memoir is easy to read and equally as
inspiring. Throughout her life, the drive to write creatively has led her
through life’s hardships, including two broken marriages and a few bouts with
cancer.
The way she
presents her life story sparked my interest as a reader and writer. As a
creative writer myself, this book sparked fresh inspiration and motivation for
my own work. She tells of the sacrifices she had to make as a writer, turning
away from it to take care of her family, but she never gave up on it. Although
she wrote many novels that were not accepted by her agent, she pushed on, not
because she wanted to get published, but because writing is a part of her very
soul; she simply cannot get away from it. “Writing is my Magic Theatre,” she
said, “my way of exploring my mind.” Her determination to pursue her dream
amidst the distractions of life, especially being a wife, inspires me to
continue in my efforts and be disciplined. It refreshes my own resolve to be
consistent with my writing, and not let life’s demands and expectations get in
the way of what I’ve always known I was meant to do.
Santalo’s memoir
is for those who have lost the simple joy of living and the ambition to live
out their dreams. It is to encourage those who have struggled or are struggling
with illness. It is to motivate women who are caught up in their wifely duties,
which are still expected today, to pursue their dreams. The 2011 reprint
includes an addition, in which Santalo proudly informs readers it has been ten
years since the surgery which saved her life. Because of these ten years, she
believes her life was prolonged for a purpose, which she aspires to comprehend.
She believes there is some sort of a God or higher being, which continues to
grant her life to work on her novels. She also emphasizes her love for
literature, which began in her childhood, and continues throughout her life.
She believes writing from her heart is more important than writing what is
merely sellable in the current literary market. At the end of the book, she is
reunited with her sense of humor, and promises to push on amidst the belief
that her age deems she has already lived a full life. She plans on writing and
publishing many more books, listening to and attending plenty more operas, and
fighting for more time in a world she continues to try to understand and love.
