I am extremely pleased to have been invited to introduce myself and my book, Our Special Child: Jason’s Story. I thank you Chris for this opportunity.

It was eight years ago on December 22, 2006 when my son Jason passed away. Jason was twenty-eight at the time. His body was slowly deteriorating for several years. His death was not a shock to me, and I felt it in my heart his time in our world was ending. You see…he was born two months premature in 1979 as a twin and he developed a hemorrhage in his brain one week after birth. He was left with cerebral palsy and later, he was diagnosed with spastic quadriplegic cerebral palsy which left him trapped in his own body. However, his mind was completely intact and was smart as a whip.

After mourning for him for a long time I began thinking about his life and how his world was so limited as far as he could see in his wheelchair. I wanted the world to know he was a wonderful son, a great brother, good friend and overall, one special person. This is why I decided to write this book. As I was writing it, it also occurred to me the need to help others, especially young parents who are dealing with their own struggles with their special needs child.

The book is dedicated to all families of special needs children.

The book was written and I now had the dilemma of making a decision. I wanted it to be a “real” book, not an e-book. I wanted a publisher who would help me as a first time author. I researched the internet, found several potential publishers, and checked out their sites. I decided to send an email to Tate Publishing. They responded and asked me to send a few chapters, which I did. They liked my book and asked me to join their team. I was scared, not knowing anything about the world of publishing, but I was determined and went for it. I was lucky to find a local author who published a few books with Tate and she gave me a good review as well. Now I had a publisher.

I retired in 2010 and I found myself, for the first time in many years, off of the “treadmill” so to speak. I needed to find a way to supplement my retirement and keep me busy. I decided to open an online art business. I taught myself how to create mixed media paintings utilizing online classes, YouTube videos, magazines and books. I started creating paintings with inspirational quotes and words. I wanted to find a way to “pay it forward”, the inspiration, confidence and spirituality I learned from my son. I also love to knit and crochet and now include these fiber art designs as well. I am working hard to build and create customers who see the world the way I do in my spirituality. At the same time, I created a blog. I realized how much I love to write and now I have a forum to write and spread my inspiration and spirituality to the world within my blog postings.

The book is an emotional roller coaster. This means it isn’t entirely sad, depressing or forlorn. It can’t be because Jason was a happy child and he had a smile that would light up a room. It tells a story of a young mom who was desperate to get the best care and how she needed to jump many hurdles to get what she wanted. I opened my heart and soul in this book with the hope that maybe I can reach a young parent today and teach them the skills of advocating for their special needs child like I did.

The book will be available for pre-order from 6th March.

Please find and join me at the following places:

Website – Blog – Facebook – Twitter

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