CRUEL HARVEST: A MEMOIR
written by Fran Elizabeth Grubb with Bryan Reardon
I had a hard time choosing which novel to request from Booksneeze.com this past month .. there were so many i wanted to read! I finally decided on another memoir. This one is of a girl and her family, their alcoholic father and rough times.
I would not recommended this book for those who get upset easily over sensitive issues such as physical and sexual abuse..emotional trauma and much more. It was a hard read due to the content simply because it is to imagine that any human being is capable of treating another (especially his own family) in the way that Fran's daddy treated them.
Through a deep dark road, Fran takes us through her past exploring how her life was at home with her family, how they had to hide from their father many times especially when he was drinking. Almost never could she remember him without a bottle in hand or the smell off his breath when he arrived home. Living in shacks, most of Fran's life was spent pulling cotton in the fields with her family, never allowed to miss a piece of cotton without her father's vengeful force catching her.
A new baby in the family , came and Fran was saddended knowing the life it would have here in their home with her father. Slowly , Fran watched as her family snuck away from her and her father...watching the abuse happen with her daddy and her older sister. When her sister left she was worried he would come after her. Soon with the help of a neighbor, Fran managed to get away FINALLY, for good she thought. Until her father came along and kidnapped her from the safety of the orphans home...he played a good trick she thought. He came with his brother putting on a good show and recieved a 2 week visitation right. The girls thought great, but what will happen? He kept on driving and the abuse started and he never brought her back when the weeks were up.
As Fran struggles in her later life, with the help of her husband slowly she finds almost every single one of her family members. Other than her "step-sister" and her mother. Meeting up with the family she hadn't seen in years was difficult but after their father's passing on Fran needed some closure and to know that everything she went through was real as it seemed so surreal. There is sooo much in this story it's hard to review without giving away too much detail but for me the one phrase I have come to learn in life definatly fits with Fran's life and that is "Thou who walks through the valley of death..." for soo many times Fran was knocking on death's door after a spat with her father or she was watching her sisters or mother be beaten to near death . She stood strong and made it through and got away from his evil grasp.
Fran takes us on the horrific journey of life but shows light on the other side. Happiness and strength is possible if you just keep pushing on and never let anyone regardless of their relation walk over your heart /mind/body!!
Sunday, August 26, 2012
Friday, August 3, 2012
Book Review: Mondays with my old Pastor
Mondays With My Old Pastor : sometimes all we need is a reminder from someone who has walked before us written by Jose Luis Navajo
While reading this novel, it took me back to a time when my grandmother was still alive when we would sit in the evenings and listen to her tell stories of when she worked in the nursing homes and the tuberculosis treatment center. Just the way Navajo, sits with his old pastor listening to his words of wisdom from the past helping him through one day at a time during a rough depression.
Mondays with my old pastor, takes us through a struggle of a young man Jose Navajo , (who is also the author of this particular novel), and his struggle. Falling into a depression of sorts and debating leaving the ministry he works so closely with, Navajo doesn't know where to turn until his wife suggests he pay his old pastor a visit. The pastor had helped Navajo follow his dreams into the ministry at a young age, of course he would love a visit from his past student.
Navajo's wife had not been sleeping in fear of where his depression was coming from and upon agreeing to meet with him on Monday, the two slept much more at peace than they had been. So, the following Monday Navajo got dressed and went to the Pastor's home. The two men spent the afternoon chatting and talking about lost times and then Navajo opened up to the pastor about how he was thinking about quitting the ministry that he worked so hard to get into. To his disbelief, the pastor told Navajo that it was perfectly normal to feel this way. Unchallenged, at a standstill and unsure what to do next. Once arriving at home, Navajo felt much more at peace but still had so many questions left unanswered, it only seemed normal that the following Monday, Navajo made a trip to the pastor again.
The Monday visits between Navajo and the pastor became regular meetings. Each meeting the pastors wife would make the men a treat of cookies, or spiced bread and tea or coffee. On the third Monday, Navajo was greeted at the door by the pastor's wife instead of the pastor himself. The pastor had fallen ill but still wished to see Navajo. He awaited his visits like nothing else. As the weeks continue, Navajo notices that the pastor is getting weaker, more tired and not quite himself and one day the pastor's wife called Navajo, to cancel their meeting for that week. Another phone call a few days later, was the pastor's wife requesting Navajo to stop in the next Monday, that the pastors illness was actually cancer.
The weeks continue to go by, with the pastor noticeably getting weaker and weaker as time passed, but never giving up an opportunity to speak of the bible or to share his stories with Navajo. Some afternoons their visits were cut short and sometimes they spent time just lounging, enjoying each others company. Until that day, in which the pastors wife made the call that the pastor had unfortunately passed on. Before his death, the pastor had left a chest filled with pages of words to be given to Navajo. It was a keepsake of sorts, a memoriam of their Monday visits, each week, 15 in total left a lesson to be learnt. The pastor had took note of each visit and each topic they covered creating 15 principles to live by. 15 principles to memorize and live by , 15 principles to pass on as knowledge to those younger, an end of a chapter with Navajo's pastor and a beginning of a journey with Navajo's young disciples for futures to come.
While reading this novel, it took me back to a time when my grandmother was still alive when we would sit in the evenings and listen to her tell stories of when she worked in the nursing homes and the tuberculosis treatment center. Just the way Navajo, sits with his old pastor listening to his words of wisdom from the past helping him through one day at a time during a rough depression.
Mondays with my old pastor, takes us through a struggle of a young man Jose Navajo , (who is also the author of this particular novel), and his struggle. Falling into a depression of sorts and debating leaving the ministry he works so closely with, Navajo doesn't know where to turn until his wife suggests he pay his old pastor a visit. The pastor had helped Navajo follow his dreams into the ministry at a young age, of course he would love a visit from his past student.
Navajo's wife had not been sleeping in fear of where his depression was coming from and upon agreeing to meet with him on Monday, the two slept much more at peace than they had been. So, the following Monday Navajo got dressed and went to the Pastor's home. The two men spent the afternoon chatting and talking about lost times and then Navajo opened up to the pastor about how he was thinking about quitting the ministry that he worked so hard to get into. To his disbelief, the pastor told Navajo that it was perfectly normal to feel this way. Unchallenged, at a standstill and unsure what to do next. Once arriving at home, Navajo felt much more at peace but still had so many questions left unanswered, it only seemed normal that the following Monday, Navajo made a trip to the pastor again.
The Monday visits between Navajo and the pastor became regular meetings. Each meeting the pastors wife would make the men a treat of cookies, or spiced bread and tea or coffee. On the third Monday, Navajo was greeted at the door by the pastor's wife instead of the pastor himself. The pastor had fallen ill but still wished to see Navajo. He awaited his visits like nothing else. As the weeks continue, Navajo notices that the pastor is getting weaker, more tired and not quite himself and one day the pastor's wife called Navajo, to cancel their meeting for that week. Another phone call a few days later, was the pastor's wife requesting Navajo to stop in the next Monday, that the pastors illness was actually cancer.
The weeks continue to go by, with the pastor noticeably getting weaker and weaker as time passed, but never giving up an opportunity to speak of the bible or to share his stories with Navajo. Some afternoons their visits were cut short and sometimes they spent time just lounging, enjoying each others company. Until that day, in which the pastors wife made the call that the pastor had unfortunately passed on. Before his death, the pastor had left a chest filled with pages of words to be given to Navajo. It was a keepsake of sorts, a memoriam of their Monday visits, each week, 15 in total left a lesson to be learnt. The pastor had took note of each visit and each topic they covered creating 15 principles to live by. 15 principles to memorize and live by , 15 principles to pass on as knowledge to those younger, an end of a chapter with Navajo's pastor and a beginning of a journey with Navajo's young disciples for futures to come.
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