So Far In The Book...

life events made livable...

As some of you may know, I’m the proud father of two adult children. Justin is thirty-eight and lives two blocks from us in this small Vermont town. Jessica is forty-six and lives in Yonkers, NY, in a group home. Both are the wonders of my life. We get to see Justin and his wife, Abbey, often, as they’re the reason we moved up here from Westchester County, NY. The family unit has now expanded to include our two marvelous grandchildren, Lucy Lola (going on six) and Michael Magnus ( relishing his third year).

Jessica had a difficult birth and is one of those exceptional individuals you meet on your life's journey. She’s needed lots of support in her life, challenged by motor and cognitive disabilities, but has persisted despite what she has faced. I’m writing a book about Jessica and her family that is being serialized in Exceptional Parent Magazine.

Here are the installments released so far from “Are You Happy? Lessons Learned from Living with an Exceptional Person.” Just click on the installments below, and it will take you directly to the piece.

• Part I - Introduction

• Part II - Beginnings

• Part III - Getting Help

• Part IV - Challenges

• Part V - My “Bruddah: and Other Family Members

• Part VI - School Days

I’ve been writing this book to memorialize Jessica and our family’s journey with her. Time provides perspective, and each installment has a “Lessons Learned” segment at the end that summarizes what we’ve learned from our experience. I hope this effort will help others on similar life journeys and encourage all readers to appreciate Jessica and others like her, all of whom are genuinely exceptional.

Exceptional Parent Magazine is a valuable online resource that offers a wealth of helpful information in each issue. I encourage you to take a moment and view the magazine’s Archived issues HERE.

I’ll be updating this list as more installments are released.

I would greatly appreciate input from my readers on my work and kindly ask that you share it with others who might benefit from this reading experience.

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