Jo Vamos Honig

Tears of Sadness, Tears of Joy: One Couple’s Journey Through Love, Faith, and Mental Illness

ISBN: 978-1-887043-65-6 paperback, $20.00; 978-1-887043-66-3 ebook.

April 2020

In the summer of 1956, when Jo met charismatic young preacher Bill Vamos
at a Vacation Bible School conference, neither could possibly have predicted the decades-long journey they were about to embark on together. It was a journey from courtship to marriage and beyond that would take them everywhere from the colorful bazaars of India to the cornfields of Indiana. It would bolster—and test—their faith in ways they never could have anticipated. Jo Vamos Honig tells the frank and captivating story of their life together, navigating the triumphs and the sorrows with humor and grace. The joyful moments of building a life and a family are explored alongside the struggles of navigating a partner’s mental illness. We travel with Jo and Bill from the sanctuary of the church to the cold hallways of the psych ward and back again, witness to both their sadness and their joy.