Early on in this achingly beautiful story， Royd Tolkien proclaims， “I love hugs。” That bold， emotional statement is indicative of his open hearted storytelling in the pages of “There’s a Hole in My Bucket”。Royd weaves multiple timelines together while telling the story of his brother’s valiant battle with Motor Neuron Disease， （ALS）。 He takes a detour from life to become Mike’s primary caregiver and this is their story。Beginning with a terrifying bungee jump， Royd starts the story by sharing one Early on in this achingly beautiful story， Royd Tolkien proclaims， “I love hugs。” That bold， emotional statement is indicative of his open hearted storytelling in the pages of “There’s a Hole in My Bucket”。Royd weaves multiple timelines together while telling the story of his brother’s valiant battle with Motor Neuron Disease， （ALS）。 He takes a detour from life to become Mike’s primary caregiver and this is their story。Beginning with a terrifying bungee jump， Royd starts the story by sharing one of the 50 bucket list adventures left for him in Mike’s “will”。 It’s thrilling and a grown up， Kiwi version of Huck & Tom。 The antics of these brothers will bring laughs and smiles far more than tears。Chapters are short， there’s 45 of them， like scenes in a movie。 That makes sense since the not-so-ghost writer， Drew， is from that industry。 He was a cameraman assigned to Royd。 The three of them became good friends and he’s instrumental to telling this story and accomplishing the bucket list。 We get to know Mike and Royd as young boys， teens and as young men while the story unfolds around the discovery of Mike’s illness and their daily battle to manage the healthcare system and still live a full， rich life。Parts of this story are tough to read。 Anyone who has had the privilege of going thru hospice with a loved one will recognize honesty on the pages。 There’s far more joy and humor than pain and sadness and the overall spirit of this offering is uplifting。There’s a few mentions of these brothers being the great grandsons of J。 R。 R。 Tolkien and some “Lord of the Ring” movie notes but that’s definitely not a major factor this book。 “There’s a Hole in My Bucket” is about the relationship between these two brothers; how they loved and cared for each in life and in death。 It’s inspiring & sad， heartwarming & heartbreaking but above all， it’s about love; unconditional， messy， painful， rewarding and glorious love between two brothers📚 。。。more