Today I have the privilege of posting my review for a memoir
written by a school friend:
Train Ride to Heaven
is author Vanessa Maholovich’s heart-rending memoir about her husband Glen’s
fatal struggle with Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS) or what is better known
as Lou Gehrig’s Disease. Emotionally it was not an easy read for me, which is why I
could not put it down.
Vanessa and Glen Maholovich and I went to school together.
They graduated in 1975, just two years ahead of me, and I grew up in the same
rural Alabama-Florida panhandle communities that Vanessa so thoughtfully
details in her book.
When I think of Glen Maholovich I still picture that
curly-headed (afro curled perms were the style, but his was all natural) boy,
running off the football field after a game, grinning. Everyone knew he was
searching for Vanessa, who would be waiting on the sidelines to embrace him.
Vanessa’s memoir made me homesick for the people and places
I left behind all those years ago. It made me laugh, and it made me cry as I
reflected on those optimistic, unjaded children we once were before life
experiences -and diseases like cancer and ALS- turned us into grown-ups.
In her memoir Vanessa describes Glen as smart, imaginative,
innovative, and funny, the type of person whom everyone liked and no one had a
harsh word for; she could just as easily have been describing herself. I would
also add that they were unpretentious.
Vanessa and Glen 's Wedding 1975
They were those rare high school sweethearts that everyone
liked because both individually and as a couple they were kind, considerate,
and thoughtful to all their peers. If
Hallmark made their story into a movie it could conceivably be the first time
Hollywood actors were not more alluring than the people they portray.
Facebook did not exist back when we graduated from high
school, and prior to it I could count on one finger the number of school chums
I had kept in contact with. It had been
decades since I had seen Vanessa, but my parents still resided in the panhandle
community of Walnut Hill, Florida, and it was my good fortune to run into her
on a visit home. She expressed such joy
that we had bumped into each other and it was a pleasure to reconnect. I had no
idea that Glen had only recently died, nor what they had gone thorough until
much later, when I read her book.
Train Ride to Heaven
first came to my attention via my Facebook feed! It was such a profound moment
when the book arrived and I saw Glen’s face superimposed on the cover. It now
resides on my bookshelf alongside other books I cherish.
As someone who has a cabinet full of journals with
significant gaps in their dates, I am in awe of how Vanessa managed to juggle
her career as a professional nurse and her responsibilities as Glen’s caregiver
and still have the energy to write. I
know how tired she must have been and can appreciate how difficult it was to maintain
a journal when the plans and dreams she had hoped to chronicle vanished.
As an author and cancer survivor, I understand what
compelled her, and the resolve and commitment it took to see her memoirs
published. It is one thing to keep a
journal, but it takes strength and courage to allow the world a glimpse inside
your private pain, and her book deserves our reverence.
Glen in his prime, age 41 years
In Train Ride to
Heaven Vanessa gives her readers a blunt account of what her self-described
ordinary family goes through during her husband’s battle with ALS. She does it with humor, humility, and grace.
Despite everything Glen goes through, Vanessa makes sure his dignity remains
intact, and permits her readers to see the larger-than-life man she loved; not
an incapacitated invalid
She makes it obvious that she did not pen this tribute to Glen
to solicit pity. Instead her prose beseeches all of us to recognize the solace,
humor, and love that are found in the worst of times, and to be grateful for
them.
Train Ride to Heaven
is an inspiring read for any caregiver, and for families struggling with ALS,
or any other catastrophe. However, it is
much more than a memoir about an ordinary family’s inspirational journey with a
fatal disease; at its core this book is a love story.
April 2015
In the book's touching epilogue Vanessa addresses the poignant questions she asked herself when she realized she was falling in love again after Glen's death. Her answers- like her book- are wise and full of heart.
Despite the sorrow and inevitable outcome her memoir
chronicles, readers will be unable to resist yearning for what Vanessa and Glen
Maholovich had. They may have been ordinary people living a small town life,
but theirs was an extraordinary love story and it is evident on every page of Train Ride to Heaven.
Glen Maholvich died at 4:22 PM November 22, 2011, but the legacy of his love lives on.
Authors Bios:
Vanessa Maholovich is a Registered Nurse. In 2015 she was chosen "Best of the Best in Nursing" by the residents of the Atmore, Alabama community where she worked and lived. Today she has remarried and resides in Tuscaloosa, Alabama, with her husband Barry Carden. She continues to work as an RN and is persuing becoming a Certified Caregiving Consultant.
Sherry Sapp is a freelancer who writes for newspapers and magazines; this was her first book. According to Vanessa, " I shared my story and writing with her, and she brought my words to life. I could not have done it without her!" Sherry Sapp resides in Pensacola, Florida.
If you haven't planned your Easter egg hunt or purchased your Easter basket goodies yet, there's still time!
Nothing makes an Easter basket glow like a children's book about Nuclear Power!
It goes without saying; Go Nuclear and Environmentalist for Nuclear did not bring me on board due to my engineering expertise, but rather as an
advisor for public relations/marketing and education as it pertains to nuclear
power. The technicalities and politics
of nuclear power can leave me feeling overwhelmed and under qualified, but I
have noticed some people feel the same way about PR and marketing.
At STPNG 1980's
Over the years I’ve
implemented marketing events of all types and scope, in venues as diverse as
the causes and organizations I represented.
One thing they all had in common was that they were an opportunity to
educate and inform about my cause while providing my target audience with a
good time.
Since Easter is approaching, I
thought I would share one of my favorite, least expensive, and- because most
Americans are familiar with the concept- easiest, marketing events to
implement: the Easter Egg Hunt.
It can be adapted for any age
group, used to raise funds, or promote a cause; but there’s a big difference
between holding an Easter egg hunt and nuking that Easter egg into a marketing
event that promotes your objective! It calls for careful planning, hard work,
and CREATIVITY!
Get ready to brainstorm; success hinges on your marketing
pitch. The marketing pitch is what can
take an ordinary Easter egg Hunt and what in some circles is the yawn-provoking
topic of nuclear power or any other yawn-provoking topic, and turn it into a
Nuclear Powered Glow Party.
When Nuclear Power:How a Nuclear Power Plant Really Works!was published my daughter, Tabitha
came up with the bright idea (all my puns are intentional) of making our annual neighborhood Easter party a
glow-in-the-dark Easter Egg Hunt to celebrate my book’s release.
That year the Easter Bunny got his eggs from Nukie Nuclear
Power Plant!
When we held our first nuclear powered Easter egg hunt we made our eggs glow using dollar store glow-in-the-dark wrist bands. They looked fantastic, but it is not always easy squeezing them into plastic Easter eggs. Recently I saw on Pinterest where someone used flameless battery operated tealights. This may be a quicker alternative, but which ever method you use, make sure you test it out before the Easter egg hunt.
I know my colleagues in the nuclear industry are rolling
their eyes at the cliche regarding Easter eggs or anything else obtained at a
nuclear power plant would glow in the dark.
This observation and an invitation to attend a glow-in-the
dark Easter egg hunt is just the sort of marketing pitch that can be used to
shine some light on a topic like nuclear energy!
Here’s ten ways to radiate a Nuclear Powered Easter Egg Hunt:
1.Create your Pitch
The pitch, either written or verbal, is the invitation/advertisement you use to capture your "target markets" attention to convince them that they want what you've got! Competition is fierce in today's social media savvy world. Your objective is to come up with an idea that will tie your event to your product or message in a creative way that gets noticed!
The moment your pitch leaves your real or virtual mail box you are setting the mood for your event.
Here we took a plastic hard hat resembling the ones worn at a nuclear power plant and turned it into an Easter Basket! My book's cover is adhered to the front, and I included a character from the book! You could easily insert your invitation into an egg. This would be a great way to invite a classroom or civic organization to your event.
I usually pitch the media via e-mail. If possible I always include a visual with my pitch. You have about 15 seconds to grasp their attention!
A Pretty Blue Bird ,
a White Lab Rat, and Red-furred Cat
who got their Easter
eggs from Nukie Nuclear Power Plant.
Nutcracker Publishing
invites you to: Hop on Over!
We are Cracking Open
Easter eggs that Glow in the Dark.
Join us for a Nuclear
Powered Easter Egg Hunt that Radiates Brilliance!
2.Target your Market
What is it that you really want to do?
Educate your Community
Let people know your company/product exists
Raise Awareness
Raise Money
Who do you want to do it to?
Pro Nuke Colleagues
Anti-Nuke Neighbors
People on the Fence
Media…who will reach all of the above.
Parents at 1980 STPNG Easter hunt
Inviting children to your Easter Egg Hunt does
not necessarily mean you’re targeting children.
One of the first things I observed while working in the nuclear industry
is that parents would use their children as an excuse to educate themselves
about nuclear energy. The elementary
school program I created was frequently requested and presented to community
civic clubs.
An Easter Egg Hunt that begins after dark can easily be
adapted into an adult party.
If your objective is to raise awareness go ahead and invite
your anti- nuclear neighbor! BUT if you
are trying to raise money DO NOT invite or ask for a donation from anyone who
does not support your cause!
If you are targeting the local media, find out if they have
children or grandchildren. When you
contact them with details about your event invite their children to participate
in the egg hunt.
If you had to work weekends wouldn’t you appreciate an
assignment where you could bring along the kids?
3.Figure out your Budget
Only you know what you can afford, but the thing I love
about an Easter Egg Hunt is it does not have to cost a fortune. Plastic eggs along with glow-in-the-dark
sticks can be obtained at the Dollar Stores.
You can ask volunteers or even the people you invite to bring
cupcakes/cookies/plastic eggs etc.
It’s been my experience that when you’re hosting a neighborhood
or community event open to everyone that people are grateful that someone is
doing all the planning and legwork. They
are happy to donate eggs YOU can stuff and hide.
Seek out a sponsor who supports your cause and ask them for
donations. Easter supplies are not
expensive, and it is easier to ask for and receive Easter eggs or bunnies than
money.
If asked, local businesses will often donate their products
or service in exchange for advertising.
Your goal is to be
Memorable not Expensive.
4.Recruit Volunteers
Talk to the local school/college/church. In today’s competitive world I’ve found that
high-school or college students are often happy to do a volunteer gig that
earns them a letter of recommendation that can be listed on a college
application or resume. Don't overlook younger children. They complain less than adults! As you can see from the photo above they enjoy helping.
Make the big decisions BEFORE you recruit anyone to help
you.
There will be plenty of opportunity for disagreements on the
smaller decisions- like cupcake flavor.
The more planned out your event is before you recruit your
volunteers the smoother it will go. This
will make your job look easy, fun, and glamorous to anyone on the outside, who
is wondering how you managed to work yourself up to such an enviable
position. With luck, next year you will
be able to congratulate them on their promotion as chairperson and let them
head up your Easter Egg Hunt.
5.Pick your Date/Time/Venue and Pick your Rain Date/Time Venue
Notice I placed this after recruit.
Easter often coincides with Spring Break so it’s a good idea
to make sure the majority of your volunteers will be able to make the
date/time/ venue of your event, and are not in a condo on the beach somewhere.
Once the arguing has subsided and your date, time and venue
has been programmed into everyone’s smart phone, you need to come up with a
rain date. Perhaps it will make you feel
better to know that despite always doing this, I have never had to use a rain
date for an Easter event.
Snow is not a deterrent for a nuclear powered glow-in-the-
dark Easter Egg Hunt! It might even be
an advantage. You will not need to wait
until dark to hide your Easter eggs! If
you do not bury them too deep, they will radiate that nuclear glow right
through the snow.
6.Props, Prizes, Food, Entertainment
Get ready to spend your budget money.
Props
You will want as many plastic Easter eggs filled with glow
in the dark items that you have the funds, time, and energy to stuff and hide.
Here is how we “nuked” our eggs. We purchased glow-in-the dark bracelets, activated
a bracelet and then inserted it into a plastic Easter egg. I got eggs and glow sticks from the dollar
stores. Making the eggs glow was not
expensive…
OR EASY!
The glow will not last forever, so we had to wait until just
hours before our hunt to activate the bracelets and stuff our eggs. Also the bracelets were a tight fit inside
the egg. So nuking (stuffing) our eggs
took longer than expected. So find the
largest eggs and smallest glow item you can, and check out the tealight alternative I mentioned earlier.
I have noticed that today you can purchase glow-in-the dark
eggs, but I would advise doing some research and reading the reviews before you
do.
When it comes to decorative props I usually purchase items
that will decorate my venue, but later I can hand out during and after as
prizes. Such as: Easter baskets, large stuffed Easter bunnies,
floral arrangements, decorative jars filled with jelly beans, even Easter
flags.
Prizes
Whatever you purchase to decorate the premises with can
usually be used as a prize that participants can win. People love to win. Spread the love and opt for a lot of
inexpensive prizes vs. one big ticket item.
Even adults can guess how many jelly beans are in a jar, or
participate in the Bunny Hop or Raw Egg Toss.
Children love to see their parents participating.
Sometimes guests will show up without an Easter basket to
gather their eggs in. Make sure you have
some sacks or plastic buckets with your company logo on them that can be used.
Food
My favorite thing about any party is the food! So when I plan a party I plan on giving
myself an excuse to eat all those fattening treats I usually avoid. However, some people have will-power and /or
health concerns. It’s a good idea to
have diet drinks, gluten free something and anything that might illicit an
allergic reaction labeled.
Even if the party is for children, you need to feed and
satisfy the adults as well.
Entertainment
The competition of the hunt itself is usually entertainment
enough.
However, you will also need something that will keep
everyone occupied while waiting for dark, and your volunteers hide those
nuclear powered eggs.
Like pin the tail on the bunny, and dancing to the bunny
hop.
Or the video you see here.
It’s entertaining, educational,
and self-promoting.
This is your opportunity to get your message out in a way
that is fun. If you squeeze it between your video and a dance party; make it fun, call it a game, and offer prizes
to the winners you will find that no one minds a dose of self-promoting Trivial Pursuit or nuclear fun-fact Jeopardy.
7.Costumed
Characters/ Visual Interest
Whether it’s the Easter Bunny, a company mascot, or a
storybook character like Tickles Tabitha,
Someone is going to have to dress up and that’s all there is
to it!
Plan far enough in advance to make sure you get the Easter
Bunny and not the Easter Chicken.
Journalists and especially TV journalists want to see both a
compelling story and colorful visuals. Let them know you can provide both when you
send them your pitch.
A costumed character provides a great video and photo
opportunity. When they are posted on
Facebook it will help get the word out about your organization.
I would suggest creating a backdrop out of an old sheet that
has your company logo/ and or website address.
Strategically place a bench where the bunny can sit in front of it and
have pictures made with attendees.
8.Competition
Easter Bunny Competition.
I will never forget my first corporate Easter Egg Hunt. We failed to mention that the grand prize was
random and NOT going to the kid who collected the most eggs. It was a parent
free-for -all as they literally ran over each other’s children to make sure
their own child got the most eggs. I
was twenty-something, child-less, had zero tolerance and much disdain for those
parents. It took about a decade and
having two children of my own before I had any empathy.
Even if you are having a friendly neighborhood fundraising
event, announce your ground rules prior to the hunt and make sure you have
volunteers stationed to enforce them.
Here is the way I have handled the stampede. Let the youngest participants go first and
every minute or so let another age group join the hunt.
The cat won!
9. Marketing your message: Nuclear powered eggs should be served
over-easy!
An Easter Egg Hunt may provide a captive audience of excited
participants, but it is not the time for a lecture on the technicalities of
nuclear power or any other lecture.
While most local reporters enjoy attending and reporting
fuzzy bunny tales like your Easter party, it is not a breaking news event.
Make sure someone writes, films, and photographs your
party. So later, if the media is a no
show, you can express regret that they missed a great party, and send along
your own stories and photographs for publication. Most will appreciate it, and often will
publish something you have sent.
If the local media does not, the social media experts
attending your hunt will! Thanks to
Facebook just about everyone is a social media expert these days.
As any five-year-old knows the best parties are the ones
that give the attendees something fun to brag about later to the kids that
didn’t go, and a yummy goodie bag to take home.
The same can be said for grown-up marketing events.
So give your participants a memorable event, and send them
home with a goodie bag filled with conversation provoking marketing materials...like maybe a picture book about nuclear power!
Wink, wink.
10.Follow up
This is the section of marketing 101 that distinguishes a PR
expert from a marketing amateur. It contributes to how people perceive you,
your company, and your message. It will make it easier to keep or recruit
volunteers for the next event. It
indicates your level of professionalism.
It will help promote your
message.
Saying THANK YOU!
Say it, write it, and most of all mean it!
I was horrified to discover a story I sent a journalist
several years earlier, that I thought had never been published, had made
several regional papers where I lived near Raleigh, NC. It was the second time that journalist had published
a story on me, and probably would have been the last- even if she had not left journalism for another job. She did
me a huge favor and I had not bothered to say thank-you. I didn’t become on expert on any of these
tips without making my own mistakes along the way, and I hope you can benefit
from my mistakes.
Although it is the final step on my blog, it should be at
the top of a “To Do” list. Even for an
informal event I have written down a verbal thank you to say the day of, have
composed thank-you notes, and a letter of recommendation that can be
personalized with the names of volunteers who helped out.
Thank everyone publicly during any welcome speech the day of
the event, including the people who show up to hunt eggs.
Say a private verbal thank-you to volunteers afterwards.
Post your thanks on your own and their social media pages.
E-mail a thank you to colleagues.
Write and deliver a letter of thanks and recommendation on
your company’s or organization’s letterhead for your volunteers.
If the media attends send them a thank-you via whatever
social media you used to contact them ASAP. After your story is published or
airs send them a handwritten thank-you note. If possible, one that pictures your company’s
logo.
Sadly, the only time some people adhere to this advice is
when they’ve spent mega bucks to hire a PR consultant who offers up what my
mama told me free of charge: Use your
manners, show some class, and say Thank you!
So….thank-you, for reading through my rather lengthy nuclear
powered Easter blog.
Instead of
leaping over the file of unpublished manuscripts cluttering my office space I
decided that since I now have an in-house illustrator I would attempt to
publish one of them.
All creative writers
have their muse and mine happens to be milk chocolate candy accompanied by a
cup of coffee.
Consequently what I
would really like to leap over is Lent. This year in support of my vegetarian
daughter I gave up meat along with chocolate candy for Lent.
My Lenten sacrifice has
nothing to do with religion. If it did I wouldn’t be posting it on this
blog. My own personal belief is that
posting your pay it forward good deeds and self-sacrifices all over social
media does not impress Heaven. It only
annoys us heathens.
I’m giving up meat and
chocolate candy to impress myself and annoy other people by proving that I can! It could also mean dropping a few pounds due
to healthier eating habits-unless you’re me. Read on….
Since I would be
spending some of Lent at my parent’s home in Florida, I knew better than to
classify fish or seafood as a meat. Giving up meat was sin enough as far as
they were concerned. I grew up on a Protestant farm and the cows that still reside
there are not being groomed for the petting zoo. Their future is in fast food, if
you know what I mean.
Solomon's Happy Hill Farm Cattle
Watching the cows graze did
nothing to diminish my resolve to go without meat. Also it helped that the Florida
Panhandle where I’m from has some of the best southern fried seafood you’ll
ever eat. This trip I went to David's Catfish House!
Doing without meat is
not so bad when you have fried seafood as an option. It has been rather unfortunate for my husband (who
did not give up meat) and has been cheated out of his ritual BBQ pork meals
that his wife no longer feels obliged serve.
It’s not the meat, but
the chocolate covered Valentine’s and now Easter candies on every store shelf I
shop that’s really teaching me the meaning of Lenten sacrifice.
I was afraid it would be
after Easter and a dozen or so of those Cadbury bunny eggs before my creative abilities
would flow ever again. Luckily I found a bakery the next town over from my hometown
here in Tennessee!
It’ll take a few more
trips to decide, but I think the cream horns may be even more productive and
muse worthy than a Hershey bar. I’ll let you know….
“Your odds are good, but I wouldn’t go to Vegas if I were
you,” said the oncologist with the best bedside manner NEVER… At least
according to some patients – but he and I shared the same perverse sense of
humor!
Twenty-two years later… I’m thinking I should have gone to
Vegas!
January is my Breast Cancer Anniversary.
Before the movie popularized the term “bucket list,” I had
one! Luckily, I had checked the really death-defying ones – sky diving, for
example – off early. Back when I was young,
invincible, and coordinated –and before a husband, children, and a reason to
live!
This year I decided to celebrate life in 2016 by stepping
out of my comfort zone and doing something fun once a week – or at the very
least once a month. The only thing that’s kept me off the couch and out the
door so far is my daughter Tabitha.
One week we hiked and
last week we went ice skating for the first time in years.
It is becoming clear to me that the longer I live the more
death defying things I used to consider fun have become. Even hiking my neighborhood is beginning to
make me feel like a wuss. Not just the actual hike – which is the equivalent of
walking up the black diamond of a ski slope – but the wild animals my neighbors
keep reporting they’ve seen! Anyone else seen, The Revenant?
In 1994, I remember bartering with God and suggesting he let
me live long enough to see Tabitha get married.
She’ll turn 26 in April. Perhaps this sheds a little light
on why her mom, unlike my own mother (who never missed an opportunity) has
never ever demanded she catch the bridal bouquet.
Yesterday we had our first snow, and the roads off our
mountain were impassable. Snow days make it easy for me to stay home and write;
unless I’ve found a lump in my breast and I’m scheduled for a biopsy.
In January 1994, that
is exactly what happened. The snow could
not melt soon enough that year.
I recall lying on the examination table of the doctor’s office
where I had gone for my biopsy. Thank goodness he had removed the needle, before
I heard Tabitha howling in agony!
My husband had dropped me off and taken our children to get
some breakfast. Tabitha had insisted on
a chocolate (no shock here as she’s my daughter) milkshake. It was still freezing
cold outside and her fingers had stuck to the milkshake cup.
Nope, she was not wearing gloves, and more than likely she
had argued about wearing a coat too. Her
argument being that the inside of it was too cold.
I’m sure every woman between Mickie D’s and the Doctor’s
office swooned at how adorable it was that my husband let her get away with
this sort of thing. However, I can tell
you, I would have and did receive the stink-eye every single time I allowed
either kid to win one of these arguments.
Present-day, Tabitha has been assisting me with the
manuscript of a children’s book I wrote for her years ago. I had all but
forgotten about it, but it was one of her favorites. It is a feminist fairytale about a hard-headed
princess and her adoring father.
How did I ever come up with that idea?
There was no Queen in the story. One can assume she died from breast cancer.
Lucky for me, my life was not a fairytale, but more like a
sitcom. Long live the Queen!
Chubby the white lab rat
has been dismantled and Tickles Tabitha's Christmas costume packed away. It felt a little sad to wave goodbye to the tail end of Chubby, and the year 2015.
A lot can happen in a
year.
This is a photo I posted last year, I
was sitting on this same sofa, looking out these windows, realizing how lucky I was to have such a beautiful view. I was home alone, in a new house, in my new home state... simultaneously pensive and restless. Some of the new neighbors I had
met had been talking about their young (in some cases not so young) adult children
who had moved back home for one reason or another. Even though they definitely were not bragging about it I felt the slightest twinge of envy.
My children had been on their own and loving it for a couple of years by then. I would have predicted Hell to freeze over before predicting that either one of them would move back in with me.
Yes, having to do this might be one of the reasons living here got called Purgatory.
Hell didn't happen- but Purgatory sure did! First my son Jordan, and then my daughter Tabitha
asked to move in with us here in Tennessee, or as Tabitha labeled it to Purgatory, while they navigate the next course of their own lives.
Life is like that- just
when you think you’re headed one direction someone hits the brakes and you’re
taking a detour.
I’m happy that now Frahmhaus will also have been home to my children as well and not just their
parent’s house.
My children are not the
freeloading Millennials you see stupefied
on an episode of Dr. Phil. They’re smart,
independent, and definitely more worried that living in their parent’s basement
will go from temporary to forever than I am.
Tabitha and Jordan
Now I have someone handy to do those embarrassing side gigs for Nutcracker Publishing, and to give me all sorts of ideas and material to vent write about. I can't wait to share one of the many humorous and heart-warming stories my son likes to provide, to any future grandchildren he has. FYI: The possibility of my demise before grandchildren is why I have a bookcase full of journals! Wishing all of you a Happy
Nu(clear) Year! Clear of stress and
without mental meltdowns!
Part two: The Perils of a Small Independent Children’s Book Publisher and Author.
Despite the power failure that blew out the lights during
our first public appearance in East Tennessee, the Nutcracker Publishing
Company’s children’s book characters still radiated! The city of Kingston,
Tennessee’s City Council awarded Nutcracker Publishing Grand Prize, or what
they called the Mayor’s Award, for our parade entry.
We invested the prize money we received from our award in a
larger, more powerful inverter and prepared to shine our literary brilliance on
the Secret City of Oak Ridge, Tennessee--
A pro-nuclear city if ever there was one!
We arrived early and got to work transforming my son’s green
jeep into Chubby the white lab rat. This
time, my husband Randy was our driver. He’s also our in-house electrician, and
he was going to make sure the lights did not dim on this parade!
So, of course, after wrapping the jeep in Christmas lights,
we plugged in our super-sized inverter and it DOES NOT work! I should be writing TV sitcoms instead of
children’s books, because this is the sort of thing that always happens to us.
Randy rushed to the store where we had purchased our
inverter and where I’m sure the guys empathized with his need to appease his
crazy wife and bring back an inverter that actually WORKED! This would be the
fourth time he got me an inverter and he wouldn’t leave the store until they
tested it out and he was sure it would light up a tractor-trailer-- not to
mention a jeep.
By the time he got back to the parade venue, my daughter Tabitha
and I had Chubby dressed, Tickles Tabitha ready to wave, bookmarks and enough
parade candy to sicken Santa ready to distribute. We watched as Randy connected
the inverter and turned on the lights… which glowed magnificently!
Tickles Tabitha climbed onto the rooftop of our jeep (a.k.a.
Chubby the nuclear lab rat) and just as I had hoped parade bystanders in the Secret
City of Oak Ridge were blinded by nuclear literacy radiance--
Got my table Christmased and Hilary Clinton and Donald Trump taped to the back of my dining chairs. Usually it's moments like this when I get an unexpected guest at the door like the new neighbors, the UPS guy, or most recently the electrician who wired our house.
They never ask, or say anything, but I can tell they think something is seriously wrong with me.
Train Ride to Heaven
is an inspiring read for any caregiver, and for families struggling with ALS,
or any other catastrophe. However, it is
much more than a memoir about an ordinary family’s inspirational journey with a
fatal disease; at its core this book is a love story.
