Overview A searing portrayal of a mother’s anguish over the sudden hemorrhagic stroke of her son—devoted father of two young girls—rendering him a quadriplegic in the prime of his life. An intimate glimpse of a world shattered by stroke, in which each poem not only illuminates, but reimagines life with hope and acceptance. Introduction Any stroke is a tragedy. Strokes, sudden bolts of lightning, can strike seemingly well people of all ages. The results can range from mild for the lucky ones, to the devastating, like the massive brain bleed that changed our son’s life forever. And not just his, but all his loved ones. Courage in the face of such an event is easy to recommend, but mustering it is a heroic feat that takes every shred of psychic, emotional and physical power—every single minute, every single day. One must possess not only optimism that the future will be better, but a faith in science, God, or both. One must consciously decide to be a survivor. In the darkest days, when my son’s life teetered in the balance for weeks, then months, I was a roiling cauldron of emotions; writing helped. Somehow, pouring out my heart made the burden more manageable. I kept writing through my son’s ordeal. Eventually, the collection of poems found its own arc. I hope it tells a story of a mother’s emotional struggle, the son’s courage and his small physical achievements. To a healthy person “graduating” from nothing by mouth to a few tiny ice chips is nothing, but in an epic fight to live, such tokens of progress feel like towering feats. If this little volume eases the stress—even a tiny bit—of watching a loved one on the brink, than the sea of tears will not have been entirely in vain. “Everyone can master grief, but he that has it.” William Shakespeare