Like Any Normal Day

"Like Any Normal Day" by Mark Kram, Jr.

A very interesting book, one that I don't necessarily agree with but, gets you thinking.  This is the story of Buddy, who is an all-star high school football player. He has it all going for him, friends, girls, athleticism, and personality.  It took about 30 seconds to change all that.  At a football game he was tackled, flipped upside down and landed on his head.  He lay facedown on the field, believing these were his last moments.  Now this happened in 1973, before all the precautions against injury were in place.  He was flipped onto his back, lifted onto a stretcher, and placed into an ambulance with the assumption he had a broken leg.  Buddy ended up with a broken neck that left him paralyzed.  The brunt of his care was shouldered by his mother. Buddy was in constant pain from spasms that left him weary.  He was extremely worried about what would happen to him once his mother was too old to care for him, and that time was fast approaching.  He felt guilty for the huge burden that he was to his mother.  Buddy wanted his mother to be able to live her own life before it was too late for her.  He had an incredible bond with his youngest brother, Jimmy.  Jimmy lived to see Buddy laugh.  He also shoulder Buddy's emotional well being.  One day Buddy had had enough of his suffering and asked Jimmy if he would take him to Dr. Kevorkian.  Buddy made all the arrangements and Jimmy agreed.  Jimmy felt like so much had been taken from Buddy that he deserved to have this one thing.  This is a story of hardship, struggle, brotherly devotion, and unending love.  It is a story that tells of how tragedy affects so many.  

Cutting For Stone

"Cutting For Stone" by Abraham Verghese

This is a good book, long, slow to start, some hard words but worth the read.  I love a book that keeps me reading and that doesn't quite fit with how I think it should go or end for that matter.  This is an ending you will never see coming.  This book is about twin brothers that were born in Ethiopia and left orphaned by their mother's death and their father's disappearance.  The story involves, medicine, poverty, death, revolution, love, betrayal and miracles.  "The greatest sin is not finding it, ignoring what God made possible in you."  We all have special gifts and when we don't use them, I think, everyone misses out.  We are called to use our gifts for His glory, and what wonderful things can happen due to those gifts and Him using us.  "We are all fixing what is broken.  It is the task of a lifetime."  "God will judge us by what we did to relieve the suffering of our fellow human beings.  I don't think God cares what doctrine we embrace."  I love that statement.  Sometimes I think doctrines are the very thing that separates us instead of helping those in need to bring us together.  "All sons should write down every word of that their fathers have to say to them.  I tried.  Why did it take an illness for me to recognize the value of time with him?  It seems we humans never learn."  Value the people in your life that you have been given, you don't know how long you will have them.  "A mother loves her children equally...but sometimes one child needs more help, more attention, to get by in the world."  This was such a poignant book, I highly recommend it.