I read Susan Fox's book RING OF FIRE a couple of years ago and have never
forgotten the story or the excellent characters she drew.
The heroine, Lark, is a single mother of a young boy who has
Cerebral Palsy. Lark is the fire chief of the local fire dept. Her mother lives
with her and helps care for her son, Jaden. I fell in love with this little
guy.
The hero is Major Eric Weaver. Eric is suffering from PTSD. He
lost his leg and his best friend to an IED explosion in Afghanistan.
Both Jaden and Eric are attending Sally Ryland's Riding where they
are taking therapy horseback riding lessons, to help with their respective
disabilities.
The author portrays Jaden's disease, Cerebral Palsy, so as not to
over whelm the reader, but so one gets a clear idea of what this child goes
through on a day to day basis. Jaden reaches out to Eric and they become
buddies.
Eric and Lark's love story is dealt with in a respectful way. As
an amputee, Eric has to learn that he is still a man in every sense of the
word.
When an accident happens on the horse trail, it is Eric who gives Jaden
the responsibility of going for help. And Jaden blooms as the hero of the day.
Every bit of this story is believable. Well worth reading.
Personally I have a few people in my life who are disabled in one
way or another. I live with two of them. One is my 91 Yr. old mother. She is
deaf, but do to a cochlear implant she had done in February she is learning to
hear again. She uses a walker and has lots of back and leg and knee pain, none
of which can be helped. So good days are few and far between.
My husband has been on disability for about nine years now. He has
severe problems with his spine and knees. This is a man who loved to hike the
mountains for hours carrying a backpack for camping.
He could carry shingles up a ladder to re-roof a roof job he was
working on or carry his aluminum canoe to the lake from the parking lot. Now he
can’t do any of that. He can’t paddle a canoe or kayak anymore because of lung
issues. Ten strokes and he is done. He pushed the garbage cans out to the
street, and came in to the house out of breath.
Needless to say my big strong husband has trouble adjusting to not
being the man he was, and this brings on depression issues. He’s in his 60’s,
but said he feels 90.
For me, I’m physically okay. Living with two people who have
issues sometimes brings on blue days for me.
Do you have a mentally or physically disabled person in your life?
