A story that lifts the value of every person’s life.
Sometimes a tragedy, often a comedy, daily a wonder, and always a love story.
Read excerpts below…
A Needed Life… excerpts
Chapter 1
We leave on a Tuesday morning, canoe strapped to the roof of the truck and the back filled with gear for the week ahead: tent, sleeping bags, clothing, paddles, life vests, flashlights, food, and cooking utensils. The six-hour drive to the north woods of Wisconsin is the longest leg of this journey. Yet it is nothing more than an inconvenient prelude to the trip we have anticipated for several months—a five-day journey on a quiet and scenic winding river.
Chapter 9
Altering his gaze between the water and the warming sun, Kevin seems content in the canoe. He occasionally chuckles when the canoe leans one way or the other. Because I am behind him, it is hard for me to see his expressions or get a better sense of how things are going. There are no bugs to bother us while we are on the water. Only passing dragonflies that skim the water’s surface and perch on the canoe’s gunwales for brief moments.
Chapter 15
There was always an eagerness to find meaning in the syllables he put together. As a part of his speech therapy, he was taught an abbreviated form of sign language, expecting he may make more use of that method. It proved to work a bit. With frequent repetition over several years, he could use his sign for “eat” in context. American Sign Language teaches a hand with the tips of the gathered fingers pointed toward the mouth. For Kevin, it was his open hand pressed to his mouth, or his nose, or his chin.
Chapter 29
Others in the group assist Kevin out of the canoe and start up the stairs as I am still stepping onto the shore from my position behind him. No one was assigned to do this. It wasn’t planned or coordinated. Just two people showing up on either side of him in the way of . . . well, in the way of something you just do. No need for request. No need for a plan.
Chapter 22
Predictably, Kevin’s interest in pedaling equaled his interest in paddling. He enjoyed riding the trike but didn’t contribute to its forward motion. In his position in the back seat, with his cycling helmet securely strapped and his bike shoes clamped to the pedals, he appeared as engaged as the driver in front with the same gear. As I pedaled, his feet and legs moved at an equal speed. We appeared as an efficient and capable team. We enjoyed this trike and used it often.
