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Live Your Life

My Story of Loving and Losing Nick Cordero

Audiobook
1 of 1 copy available
1 of 1 copy available

Performed by the author featuring original music by Nick Cordero.

Amanda Kloots bravely reflects on love, loss, and life with her husband, Broadway star, and Tony Award nominee Nick Cordero, whose public battle with COVID-19 and tragic death made headlines around the world.

In March 2020, Broadway star and Tony Award nominee Nick Cordero was hospitalized for what he and his wife, Amanda Kloots, believed to be a severe case of pneumonia. Entering the hospital, they had every reason to believe that Nick—a young father and otherwise healthy man—would return home. After an eventual diagnosis of COVID-19 that led to Nick's being placed on a ventilator, Amanda took to documenting their journey on social media, showing the dangers COVID-19 posed to everyone, regardless of age. Her updates quickly captivated millions, inspiring people around the globe to dance each day to Nick's song "Live Your Life" and offer positive thoughts and prayer. When he passed away after ninety-five grueling days in the ICU, the world grieved for Amanda, her infant son, Elvis, and the future COVID-19 had snatched away from them.

Live Your Life is the story of Nick and Amanda's life together—of their beautiful relationship, of Nick's dramatic fight for survival, of those sudden tragic months that permanently changed her world and ours—and of their interrupted future as a family. From the confusing early days of his illness to searching for signs of hope in every update from the doctors to the healing sound of Elvis's laughter, Amanda details how she approached even the most devastating moments with the personal optimism and faith that have shaped her life. Written with her sister Anna Kloots, who was with her every step of this journey, Live Your Life explores how Amanda's willingness to accept help from an entire community of people—friends, family, and even total strangers—played a vital role in enduring this hardship. In the process, she offers a touching meditation on how even the worst times have silver linings that deepen our connections to the world around us and to the people who matter most.

What emerges is an inspiring and unexpectedly uplifting message for life in the time of COVID, a vision of courage for anyone coping with overwhelming loss or the collective trauma of what the pandemic has taken from us. A poignant reflection on love, hope, motherhood, and the transformational power of music, Live Your Life is a love letter to Nick and a reminder that, sometimes, celebrating life today is the only path through tomorrow's darkness.

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    • Booklist

      May 1, 2021
      Kloots became a widow when her Broadway actor husband, Nick Cordero, diagnosed with COVID-19, died at 41. Here she chronicles the three months the Tony nominee spent at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles and looks back at their courtship (the actor and dancer met when they auditioned for Bullets Over Broadway) and the birth of their son, Elvis. With her sister as coauthor, Kloots also recounts posting updates to her Instagram "army" and receiving help from her "quaranteam." The ravages of COVID-19 are horrific. Cordero drops from 225 to 148 pounds; his right leg is amputated, and his lungs look like he's been smoking 10 packs a day for decades. A dialysis machine runs his kidneys, a pacemaker helps his heart, a ventilator keeps him breathing, and he eats with a feeding tube. Somehow, Kloots keeps her positive spirit and her faith in "God's plan." Now a fitness trainer and cohost of The Talk on CBS, Kloots believes her husband brought people together "to cheer for the goodness of humanity at a time when we needed it most."

      COPYRIGHT(2021) Booklist, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

    • Library Journal

      September 24, 2021

      When 41-year-old Broadway star Nick Cordero was hospitalized at the beginning of the COVID pandemic, Amanda Kloots, his terrified wife, took to social media in a desperate search for support, prayers, hope, and answers. What she found was a community of strangers who eagerly lifted her up, shared their stories, and danced every day to Nick's song "Live Your Life" to bring attention to Cordero's story. Kloots, a dancer and fitness trainer, spent most of her husband's hospitalization at their new home, quarantined with their infant son Elvis and her siblings, who arrived to lend their support. Her gratitude for the worldwide support she received, along with her desire to document Cordero's life for their young son, compelled her to share their story: the early days of their romance; the compromise and patience of their marriage; the gift of Elvis; details of the horrific toll COVID took on Cordero's body; and Cordero's eventual death in July 2020. VERDICT Cordero's story sheds light on the dangers of the virus, and Kloots's remarkable attitude, infectious faith, love for her family, and ability to find joy in the worst of circumstances are awe-inspiring.--Lisa Henry, Kirkwood P.L., MO

      Copyright 2021 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

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