Vita's Will, Real Life Lessons about Life, Death & Moving On

At age 23, Debbie Gisonni had everything. She was on her way to becoming one of the youngest top paid executives in Silicon Valley; had found true love; and could make a mean lasagna!

Then in 1984 Vita, her mother, got a brain tumor and became permanently disabled. A few years later, her younger sister suddenly took her own life. Three months after that, her father was diagnosed with bone cancer. And then her favorite aunt got breast cancer.

Vita’s Will chronicles Debbie’s riveting experiences as she weaves a unique combination of coping strategies, humor and sorrow into the horrors of hospitals, the lost dreams of her parents, and the shock of her sister’s suicide.

Through these four deaths, Debbie tells us how she stayed sane through it all by squeezing the sweetest wine from a bunch of sour grapes without wallowing in self-pity. Her advice works for any challenging life situation. You’ll be moved to tears and laughter by her 44 inspirational real life lessons and her nightly chats with God.

“The book is a fascinating look at Gisonni’s transformation from a high-powered Siicon Valley player to an empowered community contributor.” San Jose Mercury News

“Besides a skillfully written, compelling narrative, what elevates Vita’s Will above the ego-tripping triteness often found in self-published memoirs is Gisonni’s remarkable candor about her own emotional torment” San Francisco Chronicle

“Another marvelous text to extend our insights.” Palo Alto Daily News

“It's a self-help book that reads like a piece of fiction. All that is purely intentional.”
The San Francisco Peninsula Independent