Tag Archives: Chapter excerpt

Today is Hypertrophic Cardiomyopathy (HCM) Awareness Day 2.28.24

4 minute read

About HCM and the Hypertrophic Cardiomyopathy Association:

Hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HCM) is a common genetic disorder that affects people regardless of gender, ethnicity, age or geographic location.

The HCMA (Hypertrophic Cardiomyopathy Association, https://4hcm.org) is the preeminent organization improving the lives of those with hypertrophic cardiomyopathy, HCM, preventing untimely deaths and advancing global understanding.

Founded in 1996, HCMA is committed to providing support, education, advocacy and advancing research, understanding and care to those with HCM.

Lisa Salberg, founder of the HCMA, was and has been really helpful and forthcoming with information since Sam’s (my 9-yr-old son) sudden death caused by HCM.

Contact the HCMA

If you’re in need of info or help regarding HCM, this is the go-to organization.
Phone: 973-983-7429; Email: Support@4hcm.org

Continue reading “Today is Hypertrophic Cardiomyopathy (HCM) Awareness Day 2.28.24”

Chapter 1. Sam’s heart

3 minute read

in this chapter

So much happens in Chapter 1 Sam’s heart. So I’ve pulled out a few pieces for you to sample. And you can read the rest once your book is delivered (wink wink).

Continue reading “Chapter 1. Sam’s heart”

Chapter 2. Living normally

4 minute read

Willower: Rewriting Life After Unimaginable Loss was published on October 17 (2023). Which, and this wasn’t planned, happened to be Reggie’s birthday (10/17/2003). Reggie who? Reggie Jackson Little Dude, that’s who—Sam’s puppy.

Reggie, Sam’s puppy, 10/17/2003 – 5/25/2021

Funny story: Once, while in Tampa to see a Yankee spring training game, we saw the Reggie Jackson in the hotel lobby. Excited, David said hello to him and then, pointing to the boys and the skinny pigeon-toed Chihuahua standing with them, proceeded to tell Mr. Jackson that we named our dog after him. (Insert head smack emoji here.) I wanted to hide. It was a pretty awkward moment. I mean, if we had named our son after him, but . . . that funny-looking knock-kneed dog?

about this chapter

In Chapter 2. Living normally, we travel to Boston Children’s Hospital (May 2003) after deciding that BCH has the best “picture taker” in the world.

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Chapter 3. Courage

3 minute read

about this chapter

In Chapter 3. Courage we continue living, while trying to conquer our fear, in those years leading up to Sam’s ninth birthday. The theme and the title of this chapter came the fortune cookie Sam opened after eating dinner at our favorite Chinese restaurant:

Courage is not the absence of fear; it is the conquest of it.

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Chapter 4. Monday

4 minute read

First, you may be thinking, Why would anybody want to write about the death of their child? It’s certainly not for everyone. But for me, it was the only thing I could do. Over the years, while I was writing this story, or talking with a friend, or a grief therapist, or singing (screaming and crying) at the top of my lungs while driving alone . . . I was also re-learning how to live with these details that are forever etched in my memory.

about this chapter

Chapter 4. Monday is the day (April 30, 2007) when the unthinkable happens.

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Chapter 5. Still here

4 minute read

I’ve been processing my son Sam’s death now for several years. You may be seeing/reading this story for the first time, and so it may be shocking or uncomfortable for you. But I hope you’ll be brave and read or share Willower: Rewriting Life After Unimaginable Loss with someone you know who is trying to process their loss.

about this chapter

In Chapter 5. Still here, time, a recurring theme throughout the book, keeps moving on despite what has happened. I hate time for that, for moving only forward, for not stopping and allowing me to go back, to bring Sam back.

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Chapter 6. Searching

3 minute read

Here are a few more snack-sized appetizers from my book—so you can get a taste of my writing style. (And by the way, the green boxes with orange text that you see throughout these posts are actual excerpts from my chapters.) Bon appétit!

about this chapter

Chapter 6. Searching is about the pain, the sleep deprivation, and the lunacy that follows loss.

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Chapter 7. Rewriting

3 minute read

Note: The featured image you see of Officer Twisdale and Sam over his shoulder was created by the Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office for their newsletter in which they published part of Sam’s Story.

about this chapter

Chapter 7. Rewriting, as you can tell by its name, is a major theme in the story. It was during a grief counseling session when I got the idea of rewriting my story stuck in my head.

Continue reading “Chapter 7. Rewriting”

Chapter 9. Migrating

3 minute read

I hope you’ll read my book Willower and/or share it with someone you think it may help. I know a grief memoir might not be what you had in mind for your next read, but haven’t you been averse to other things, like Brussels sprouts, but you tried them anyway? Good storytelling, no matter the subject, is just plain good storytelling. And like Brussels sprouts, reading a good book also has health benefits. And, when you do read it, you’ll also be keeping my son Sam’s memory alive. So . . . No pressure.

about this chapter

Chapter 9. Migrating moves through the years after Sam’s death (2007), from 2010 to 2018.

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Chapter 10. Seeing

2 minute read

about this chapter

Chapter 10. Seeing is set in May 2018, eleven years after Sam’s death.

In this chapter, I realize I’m coming to the end of our story, yet I question why it is I can never seem to finish it. I continue to search for meaning, an answer, a reason, a mathematical solution, anything that might be something, some connection to Sam. But . . .

I keep getting lost, ending up back at the beginning again, starting over, never finishing.

(from Chapter 10. Seeing: crazy math)
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