Help! I can't understand these paragraphs from a book.

"I wanted, in this last year, to close the loop with Mom and Dad. To heal the rift that formed as I explored my birthparents, something that did not diminish my love for them.
I understand now that moment will not occur. We will not talk our way to understanding. It's just not in their nature.
And as ALS reminds me each day, you can't fight nature.
Rather, I embrace the small things. Like the words of a friend who talked to Mom and Dad the day after an article about my illness and book deal appeared in the newspaper.
The friend had been mentioned, so Mom went to get him the article. She had fifteen copies of the newspaper, in a neat stack in a cabinet.
“Give this to your mother,” she said, handing him one.
Not to just anyone: to your mother.
Because your mother is the person who loves you. Who has always loved you. Who is proud of you, even if she keeps those feelings locked away in a drawer.
I took many journeys over the course of the year with the people I love. I never even considered a journey with Mom.
Rather, I traveled 3000 miles to California and found peace with the person who had been one mile away all along."

I cannot understand this part for several questions.
a. in the fourth paragraph, what does embrace mean? In the second sentence, what's a book deal. Why is it on a newspaper. Does it have anything to do with "my illness"?

Embrace here means to welcome, accept. A book deal is a contract with a publisher to publish the book. It was written about in a newspaper. No, it has nothing to do with the illness.

b. in the fifth paragraph, why did Mom get the friend the article? Because :The friend had been mentioned, so Mom went to get him the article."

c. in the sixth paragraph, why did Mom want the friend to give a copy to his mother? For what? The content in the newspaper? What content then?

The mother had 15 copies of the article about her son, indicating she was proud of his achievement. Because her son's friend was mentioned in the article, she wanted him to have a copy, as well as one for HIS mother, so she would be proud of him, too.

Could anyone help me answer the questions above?
Thank you very much!

a. in the fourth paragraph, what does embrace mean?

In the second sentence, what's a book deal.

Why is it on a newspaper. Does it have anything to do with "my illness"?

b. in the fifth paragraph, why did Mom get the friend the article?

c. in the sixth paragraph, why did Mom want the friend to give a copy to his mother? For what?