You can’t actually Buy the Book at this point–but as you can see, I’ve watched way too much Oprah. You could say this is my high tech “vision board.”
I’m visualizing this story about our funny, beautiful boy getting published and sitting on bookshelves (make that flying off bookshelves; might as well dream big). Of course, that may never happen; still, I’m glad I wrote Nathan’s story. I’ve joked on occasion that I’ve saved the family a fortune in therapy bills by writing this memoir, but there is a better reason for chronicling a journey like this.
My main reason for writing our story was for Nathan. We managed to keep him preoccupied with Sunday School, Awanas, new toys, trips–whatever we could think of–during our nerve-wracking search for a surgeon with experience in his particular condition. We wanted him to be oblivious to the storm swirling around him. So when Bryan and I have gone on to glory (that’s Southern for “died”), I want him to know how much he was loved and how hard we fought to do the very best for him.
Published or not, I couldn’t resist sharing a fantasy cover. My brother, Tom Parker, designed the “cover” using a photograph taken by a friend of mine, Rachel Craig. It shows Nathan’s first stint as ring bearer at the wedding of his Sunday School teacher, Miss Mary Ellen Payne, now Mrs. Pete Neil.
The picture is special to me because, beyond being a heart patient, Nathan also endured a “brutal” spinal fusion surgery for Congenital Kyphosis. The adjective, “brutal,” was cited by a doctor at Children’s Hospital in New Orleans, as he attempted to prepare us for the realities of this particular surgery. For the purpose of wearing a tux in style, he was allowed to forgo wearing his fiberglass body brace for a while, so he was in heaven when Rachel snapped this shot. Friends who are familiar with Nathan know he’s a character (see My Informercial Baby). He did not disappoint on this day. He danced and flirted with the ladies–that’s why he’s smiling so big. I also love how the window and the porch rails form a perfect cross next to his face.
So, thanks for indulging me. But who knows? Fantasy could become reality one day. I just need to keep visualizing…
* * *
Read Chapter One.
