Writing Therapy Writing Book Helped Richardson Work Through Her Feelings After Husband’s Long, Tragic Illness

Jessica Richardson’s story is a genre all its own: a romance with a tragic ending.

In sorting through the meaning behind her grief, she has written a book. Called “The Ring and I,” it chronicles her love affair with Philip Richardson, their 54-year marriage, and the mystery and sadness with which it ended.

It is a remarkable accomplishment for an 80-year-old woman who launched into her book with no writing experience, no publisher, and no idea where to begin.

It has culminated in a selfpublished book, which sold in Spokane briskly over the holidays and will be the center of attention at a book-signing at Auntie’s Bookstore at 1 p.m. Saturday in downtown Spokane.

Bill Stimson, a journalism professor at Eastern Washington University, provided advice as Richardson wrote her book.

“I wish every student I had had that kind of pluck,” he says. “As it turns out, she’s a perfectly fine, expressive, clear, natural writer.”

Soft, white clouds of hair frame Jessica Richardson’s face. She wears pink lipstick and speaks with a British accent.

Her story begins with her childhood in England. She met Philip Richardson, a young baker, there, and together they moved to the United States.

In Spokane, they became wellknown as the owners of The Cake Box bakery, where Philip relied on his Old World training to create multitiered, white-lace wedding cakes that sold briskly to Spokane’s wealthy families.

But a productive, happy life, with three grown daughters and a strong marriage, took a mysterious turn shortly after Philip received a swine flu vaccine in 1976.

“He got sick within three days and never did feel better again,” Richardson says.

Soon he was suffering memory loss and brain seizures. He died in 1992.

During his long illness, Jessica Richardson began to search for answers. She and her husband flew to doctors in Seattle, Los Angeles, San Francisco and Portland. She endured intimidating doctors and conflicting diagnoses.

Eventually, a Portland neurologist explored the possible link to the swine flu vaccine. His report made a stronger case for Richardson’s present belief that, after receiving the vaccine, Philip suffered encephalitis, hydrocephalus, Guillain Barre syndrome and aphasia.

Philip spent the last three years of his life at St. Luke’s Extended Care Center, where his wife continues to volunteer twice a week.

Richardson’s search for medical answers culminated in this book, which became a tribute to her husband after his death.

While the link to the swine flu vaccine was never proven, she is certain it was the culprit.

“I just know,” she says. “I was there from the very start and I know every pain and thing he went through.”

She hopes the book will warn others to scrutinize vaccination consent forms carefully, and demand stronger warnings about possible adverse reactions.

Others might have sued the government, which pushed the vaccine with a campaign headed by President Ford. Not the Richardsons.

Philip Richardson didn’t believe in lawsuits. He once told his wife, “We were in business ourselves, Jess. You don’t sue people like that.”

Instead, after his death, Jessica Richardson began to write. She typed out chapter after chapter, reexperiencing all of the sadness of her husband’s 16-year illness.

On a recent morning in her North Side apartment, pink and white balloons bounced along the floor.

Cards from Richardson’s 80th birthday celebration were displayed on top of the boxes of her books stacked in the living room.

Life continues. Now Richardson hopes to sell the rest of her books, and recoup the $7,500 it cost to have them printed. Perhaps she’ll even be able to take a trip to England in the spring.

But money has never been the point.

“If I made all the money in the world,” she says, “it wouldn’t bring Phil back.”

The books may be ordered from “The Ring and I,” P.O. Box 7477, Spokane, WA 99207. The cost is $19.95 for hardcover, $12.95 for paperback.