“I feel like i’m traveling and traveling with nowhere to go back to”

It was July, the summer of 1996 when 15 year old Sally was struck mad on the streets of Greenwhich Village. Sally is on a bench in the Bleecker Street playground where her vision suddenly hits her triggered by two little girls she sees playing. Sally believes that everyone was born a genius but as we grow out of childhood we lose our genius. She feels the urgent need to let everyone know of her vision, she has to make everyone understand her so they can see it to. She desperately tries to get complete strangers to understand her at one point even shaking them causing the police to show up and her friend Cass who witnessed it to tell all to her father Micheal.

At first Micheal denies that there is a problem and insists Sally has just taken some drugs and it will pass once the drugs wear off. But his wife Pat knows better and finally convinces him to take her to the hospital. At the hospital he is pulled aside and told she needs to be admitted into a psychiatric clinic. Still unable to believe it Micheal keeps thinking drugs has something to do with it until he goes back to the examination room to talk to Pat and finds Sally hysterical and yelling at a nurse who accidentally dropped a drop of blood on her dress demanding the nurse clean it. Sally is then transported to the psychiatric clinic where she will undergo treatment for acute psychosis.

Hurry Down Sunshine is about a young girl who is suddenly stricken mad out of nowhere and her fathers struggle to accept she is sick and battle his way through everyday life after his daughters breakdown. Greenberg describes in stunning detail what is was like for him and also what it was like for Sally. I think that’s what really made this book so powerful the fact that you hear not only his side of what happened but also Sally’s. He also shows us what a psychiatric clinic is like so vividly it’s as if your there with him seeing it with your own eyes. His words have so much emotion in them that sometimes i found myself having to stop for a moment to recollect myself.

I have witnessed illness first hand my entire life through my mother, my father and myself, which is why i tend to read these kind of books. I can relate in a way to the emotions of seeing someone you love go through something so hard and so scary and going through hard times myself with illness. One of the illness’s i suffer from is depression while not on the same level as Sally i still know how hard it can be to battle. Greenberg really gave you a full description down to the finest details of how much your life can change so quickly you barely have time to even register what is happening and what happens as you deal with your emotions and the realization of what has happened. Hurry Down Sunshine is such a well written book that will touch you in ways you never expected. I don’t think i could forget Sally and Micheal’s story very easily not when you could feel the love this man had for his daughter pouring out of the pages and into your heart.

book written by Micheal Greenberg

I have been so darn busy that i am just now having time to sit down and relax and it’s 12:05 am. I am tired and ready for bed but i figured i would at least come online before i went to bed to post on my flickr & update here. Here’s how my weekend went starting with Friday.

Friday: I went to the Science Center with my sister & nieces. When we got there we were informed that there would be 1,800 kids inside from different schools. First thing i thought of was “OMG this is like a H1N1 breeding ground” i spent the entire day trying to remind myself not to touch the banisters as we walked and to wash my hands periodically because i am petrified of the H1N1 flu. There were so many kids i was dizzy. I was glad when it was around 2pm and they started to leave. After all the kids left it was a lot of fun. It allowed us more time to do things and see things that were taken up before hand. We also went into the USS Requin Submarine which was like the highlight of my day because i have always wanted to go see something like that. I got some photos of it i’ll have to process and post.. if i remember! When i got home i cleaned a bit then had to run to the book store to try and find my niece some of the other Charlie Bone books to start her on the series. I found 1,2,4,5 and had to order 3 from amazon.

Saturday: Oh Saturday was a mess! We were running around all day trying to squeeze in everything we had to do in one day. We were supposed to go to my sisters to have cake and ice cream for my nieces birthday but we never made it. There wasn’t enough time in the day to do all we had to do. Laundry, paying bills, food shopping, supply shopping, hockey game.. etc. We did get a new tv stand though out of all the chaos which i was happy we found one because we needed one! By the time we got home it was like 9 pm and we had left at like noon.

Sunday: We went over my sisters to visit and give my niece her birthday presents which were all books of course (others besides Charlie Bone) and some other little things i picked up for her. She is like a mini version of me and i just adore her! I can’t wait until she is old enough for us to trade books After we left my sisters we went to see my daddy. I got sent home with tons of stuff. He’s slowly been giving me and my siblings things that were my moms, grandmas and great grandmas. It means so much to me to have things that were theirs especially my mom. She meant the entire world to me so i cherish the things that i have from her. It’s like having a part of her to hold on to… sigh Well my eyes are getting heavier by the second so until next time, Goodnight!

Henry Detamble is a librarian with Chrono-Displacement Disorder, a disorder that causes him to time travel. He disappears out of thin air without much warning landing in places at random in his past or future often running into people he knows and cares about. It’s dangerous and can be painful and it’s not something he enjoys. Every time he time travels he cannot take anything with him clothes included so he ends up in his birthday suit sometimes in public places having to find ways to get clothing, food and shoes. The time traveling seems to happen from his emotions like when he is nervous, stressed or has a lot of anxiety. The place he most frequently time travels to is a meadow where he meets with a little girl named Clare.

“How does it feel?
It feels exactly like one of those dreams in which you suddenly realize that you have to take a test you haven’t studied for and you aren’t wearing any clothes. And you’ve left your wallet at home.
When I am out there, in time, I am inverted, changed into a desperate version of myself. I become a thief, a vagrant, an animal who runs and hides. I startle old women and amaze children. I am a trick, an illusion of the highest order, so incredible that I am actually true.”

Clare Abshire is actually already Henry’s wife when they meet for the first time but she has no clue. Clare is just six years old the day Henry shows up at the clearing in the meadow behind her family’s home. She doesn’t believe him at first until he offers her a list of the dates he will show up in the future and she sees for herself it’s true. He continues to visit with her through her childhood sometimes telling her bits and pieces of their married life together as she grows up. Knowing her future with Henry and already loving him Clare continues to wait for the day they will finally meet up in her present so they can have a life together.

“Long ago, men went to sea, and women waited for them, standing on the edge of the water, scanning the horizon for the tiny ship. Now I wait for Henry. He vanishes unwillingly, without warning. I wait for him. Each moment that I wait feels like a year, an eternity. Each moment is as slow and transparent as glass. Through each moment I can see infinite moments lined up, waiting. Why has he gone where I cannot follow?”

I never expected what i found in this novel. This book has sat on my shelf until recently when i thought it would be a good idea to read it since i plan to see the movie. I wish i would have picked it up earlier so i could of enjoyed it a long time ago. This was a love story like no other. You don’t have the conventional romance story with lot’s of mush and gush what you have here is two people who love each other with a deep, real, and unconditional love. Their love is very believable. The struggles and hard times they face in this story are of course different because of the situation but also the same. I think that’s what made these characters come to life. It wasn’t just a beautiful love story it had real life struggles thrown in so you could feel a connection to them not just as characters in a book but as people. I liked that it was from both Henry’s and Clare’s point of view it gave me the chance to really get to know them and understand them not only as a couple but as individuals. I really enjoyed this book and i cannot wait to see the movie! I would recommended this to just about anyone who is looking for a unique but good story. I won’t forget this one anytime soon.

Tired of living with depression and guilt from his past 36 year old Travis Cornell travels to the San Anas Mountains on his birthday to where he last knew happiness to end his life but as fate would have it he is stopped. A golden retriever stops him on his way up the mountain and won’t let him continue on. The dog is persistent that he follow him back down the mountain and he soon finds out why when he hears a noise in the brush. Overcome with unexplainable total fear for his life Travis obliges the dog and takes off down the trail as fast as he can. Not wanting to leave the dog behind he takes the dog with him with the plan to just feed him and not keep him but this dog isn’t your ordinary dog. He has human like behavior and can understand everything Travis says. Intrigued he keeps the dog naming him Einstein.

Einstein saves another life. Nora Devon is a 30 year old shy woman who has been sheltered her entire life by a maiden aunt who believed the whole world was bad. Her aunt filled her head with her beliefs leaving Nora scared and anti social. After her aunts death Nora finds herself wanting and needing change. She decides to go out and venture around on a long walk. Nora is really enjoying herself until she sits in a park to eat the lunch she brought with her. She never knew she was being followed by Art Streck a man who came to fix her TV and has since been stalking and harassing her on the phone. He now has her hand in a tight grip and is demanding she go along with his plans. Einstein and Travis are nearby though and Einstein senses something is wrong and darts away from Travis straight to Art saving Nora and uniting her and Travis.

While Travis and Nora continue getting to know each other building a friendship a search is being done of the mountains to find what is known as “The Outsider”. Escaping from a top secret government lab the outsider posses a dangerous threat to society and needs to be found immediately. Already taking the life of a Wes Dalberg National Security Agent Lem Johnson knows he has to work quick and do whatever possible to catch this murderer before more lives are taken. The longer the outsider is at large the more deaths that will occur. They believe the outsider is after Einstein and won’t stop until he finds him and kills him. Einstein is from the same secret lab but does not posses the anger and need to kill like the outsider in fact he’s completely different. Einstein is friendly and loved, he’s considered the success story. The outsider feels just like his name an outsider. He could see the difference in the way Einstein was treated and the way people treated him due to his appearance and now he’s out for revenge. but Nora and Travis love Einstein so much so they are willing to risk it all to save his life. Will it be enough? Can they really stop the outsider before it’s to late?

Love alone is capable of uniting living beings in such a way as to complete and fulfill them, for it alone takes them and joins them by what is deepest in themselves.

- Pierre Teilhard de Chardin

What a gripping and thrilling story this was! Towards the end the suspense was almost to much to bare. I found myself reading frantically wanting more needing to know. From the moment i started to read until the very last page i never once lost interest. There were no dull moments in this story. It was so well written and so well paced that the suspense just kept building, bubbling and kept me locked into the book. Calling it a page turner wouldn’t do it enough justice it was more like a heartbeat hammering away page by page thumping in your ears. The characters were all so well thought out and perfectly placed in the story. Here you have a dog who can understand what you are saying and can actually communicate back! Imagine that. I loved Einstein from the very beginning he’s just to intriguing and loyal not to love him. The sequence of events flowed like a stream out to the sea with perfect harmony. I can’t find one bad thing to say about this book. I don’t think it could have been written any better then it was! I would recommend this book to everyone. Doesn’t matter why type of books you like i can guarantee you will love this one.

Bec is like any other 21 year old college student she likes to have fun and party. She lives in an apartment with her childhood best friend and works as a waitress at night time. In between school and work she is having an affair with a married professor named Liam. Summer break comes along and Bec starts to look for daylight work to replace her night shifts she no longer wants. Looking through ads she finds a job as a caregiver for a woman with Lou Gehrig’s disease. Looking up to her best friend for her volunteer work in a nursing home she thinks it might be a good thing for her and the job pays well so it’s a win win situation for her.

The more time that passes the closer her and Kate become so when Kate’s marriage falls apart due to infidelity Bec is there to step it up and make sure Kate has the care she needs. Even with Kate hiring on another care giver Bec knows the new care giver won’t be ready when her school starts back up so she drops a class to fit in the extra hours. As she begins to see the effects of Kate’s marriage falling apart she becomes more and more distant with Liam eventually just breaking it off with him. As the months go by Kate’s disease starts showing signs of progression and Bec finds herself not wanting to leave Kate’s side. Being so close to Kate she’s prepared to do whatever it takes for her even if it means going against her own feelings.. Kate comes first.

{ “Im not going anywhere.” I said. Finally i knelt next to her on the bed, my body folded over and my face only a few inches to the side of hers. I wanted to be closer to her, closer than this. I gathered up her hands in mine, and they felt cold and clayey, the bones shifting beneath my grip. I pushed her hair, still warm and roughened from sleep out of her face. }

Wildgen touches your heart and opens your eyes to what it’s like being a mid 30’s young woman living with a serious illness. In this story we learn what it’s like for Kate day to day and how her Lou Gehrig’s disease effects her quality of life not just physically but emotionally as well. She’s still a young woman and still has the need to take care of her appearance disease or not she tries to live as normal as possible. You will learn of her struggles, her strength and her will to try and live life to her best ability even with her marriage falling apart. Wildgen also touches on what it’s like to be a caregiver and what struggles they face along with the person they are caring for. You’ll see Bec grow from an wild college party girl to a much more mature adult. Her attitude changes completely as her eyes and heart are opened. I don’t think she knew just how much this job would change her life. Sometimes it takes something so serious to open someone’s eyes to see how they are living and where they are headed. I don’t think anyone around Bec could truly understand the relationship she had with Kate and what it took for her to be able to stick by Kate through it all. Bec became the one person Kate could always depend on.

This was a honest book with all the good and the bad of what living with a disease like Lou Gehrig’s. I think it really gives readers a clear view of what everyday life is for someone with a serious illness. You have your good days and your bad days. Sometimes you laugh, sometimes you cry, sometimes you just don’t want to get out of bed this is what it is like for someone who battles an illness everyday of their life. In reading this book i learned a few things, cried a few tears and laughed a good laugh at times. It’s a very good story and i would recommend it for anyone who is prepared to take the bad with the good. I would not recommend it to young readers though. It’s more of an adult book.