The Summertime of Our Lives: Stories from a Marriage

Darlene Sayers Kardatzke, M.D., discovered her life’s calling as a pediatrician while a college student in the city of Anderson, Indiana. This book recounts her journey as a doctor, wife, and mother through years she called the summertime of life. Her example of living life to the fullest in the face of her struggle with cancer later in life is an inspiring tale of love and commitment.

Darlene herself coined the term, the summertime of our lives less than a year before she died of metastatic breast cancer. Her childhood and school years are told as well as her decision to enter the field of medicine. There are stories of tent camping with her husband and their experiences as relatively old first-time parents. As a pediatrician, Darlene was deeply committed to the well-being of infants and toddlers, especially those with developmental issues.

Some stories are funny. Others are grim as the realities of cancer treatment are told. Her cancer journey will be especially meaningful to cancer survivors and to friends of current and past cancer patients.