Michael
I was thinking
about writing a book about a remarkable young man who lived to the age of
forty-two with a disease called neurofibrometosis. That was about thirty-nine
or forty years longer than predicted. The reason I knew him so well was that he
was the son of a lifelong friend of mine. It wasn’t until I attended the
funerals of the young man and a few months later of his father, my friend that
I decided to do it.
Having no idea of
how to begin or what to say in my book, I let it write itself as it were. Of
course I had to protect the identity of my friend an his son, so I decided on a
fictional flight of fancy, inserting as much of their personalities and
activities into the narrative as possible. It took a few months to get it all
done, because the story kept taking unexpected turns and I could literally do
nothing except try to keep up with it. I wasn’t sure of what I had written when
it was complete until I started editing.
Each time I went
through the book I discovered new revelations I hadn’t even realized. One of
the most striking things I discovered was the tremendous contribution to
society made by people with “disabilities” to the community as a whole. Doctors
and nurses and caregivers of course make their living serving these people, but
aside from making a living, the benefits that accrue to them as a result of
this work are monumental. And the volunteers, often considered the heroes of
social services are tenfold beneficiaries of the lives of the people they
serve.
You could say that
if anyone can make the world a better place, it would be people with
“disabilities” and not the world leaders as we might expect. It kind of turns
the world on its head and makes a mockery of the “top down” system of
benevolence.
As a bit of a
fatalist, I am grateful to be chosen to write this narrative an hope that I
have given it a credible effort. I sincerely hope the reader will find the same
revelations I did.
The eBook is
available now at Nemsi Books http://www.nemsi-books.com/PubCompany/,
and I’m sure that if you ordered the book in print, it will be available
shortly.
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