Falls, Fails, Fears, and Favors

FALLS:

Tuesday, May 17th, was an unfortunate day. My father was taking my mother for a walk in her wheelchair when he hit a rut in the road. In attempting to keep my mother from spilling to the ground, he held firm to the handles and flipped over landing on his side, shattering his Apple watch, and bruising his ribs. They wondered if my mom had broken her shoulder in the fall, but x-rays revealed no break. 

They were both quite sore for a while, yet still managed to drive over to Orlando to visit with my sister and her family and my older brother, Mark, and his family, all vacationing there at the time. I was green with envy seeing their little reunion over our favorite pizza, Giordano's:

(My parents, brother, and sister are all at the far end of the table. Look at that pizza! Yum!)

FAILS

Also on Tuesday, May 17th, Trevor had an accident while in his weightlifting class at school. Both Trevor and Sean have been intensely committed to the weightlifting program. Trevor is in the "1000 club" and Sean in the "900 club." Trevor is one of the best lifters at his school and they hound him constantly, wanting him back on the football team. But with a job at Culver's and a girlfriend, he feels he doesn't have time for football.

Trevor was maxing that day, lifting 495 pounds, when he failed. The safety bars were set too low, so he landed on his rear and, in going down, heard his knee pop. He arrived home limping, convinced that it was merely a torn meniscus and nothing to worry about. But, we were concerned enough to take him to the doctor on Wednesday, where he had x-rays.

FEARS

Although the x-rays revealed no bone breakage, the doctor was pretty sure it was a torn ACL or PCL ligament and would require surgery. We were so disheartened, having been through that whole ordeal with his broken leg back in 2018. The prospect of more pain medication terrified us. We immediately began praying over the situation. On Thursday, he had an MRI. On Friday, they called to inform us that the MRI showed no harm to the meniscus or the ACL/PCL ligaments. Apparently, just like in his broken leg, he had a cyst in that spot. The cyst popped and the fluid caused the swelling, pain, and inability to fully straighten his leg. What a praise! No surgery! No 6-12 month recovery time! No lengthy restrictions on lifting. We were so relieved.

FAVORS

My poetry book, Watching the Wayward: Psalms for Parents of Prodigals, has been out in e-book format for almost two months. In the initial publicity, for a week in April, it garnered the #1 new release in Religious and Inspirational poetry. 

Then it dipped, but later rose again to #33 in Religious and Inspirational Poetry. 

Slowly, I've been accumulating a few reviews and on May 26th the book ranking jumped back up to #25. I so appreciate the individuals who took the time to leave a review.

Now, the paperback is set to release on June 7th. The week prior to this release is of utmost importance. Amazon will schedule the book's availability through their site based on the number of clicks and purchases made prior to that release date.

So, the favor I am asking: please take a moment and FOLLOW THIS LINK to the book's listing, to drive up the interest markers and aid in the availability of my book to those who wish to purchase it and have it readily available. Of course, if you are interested, I would love an actual purchase, either from Amazon or directly from my publisher. 

Just a reminder, you can easily access sample pages from the Amazon page or seven sample poems in pdf form from my author website. And, if you know a parent of a prodigal, please pass the word along about this resource. It is an extremely isolating road to walk and just knowing someone feels your pain speaks volumes to distraught parents. If you bought the book and are willing, please leave an honest review on the Amazon page. Thanks in advance for any action you take to improve the prospects of my book launch.