When Hannah was an infant, I had the night
feedings. I loved it because it was she and I. After changing her diaper, I would
feed her the bottle while her tiny fingers held onto my forefingers. Her eyes,
almost frowning, studied my face. At times I would have to wake her up so she
could finish her meal.
Emily was bigger baby and we could never
feed her fast enough. Kim did most of her feedings with the bottle. I had my
moments with her, though. When she could walk and when she was tired, she would
wander over to me, climb onto my lap and fall asleep. I was like her teddy
bear. While she slept, I would hold her tiny hand in mine.
Fingers small, hands tiny.
Soft as velvet.
My mom died when she was 99. We had hoped
she’d make it to 100, but she died nine months shy of her birthday. Because of
arthritis, her hands and fingers were wrinkled and bent. Yet, soft to the
touch, loving when she touched. My sisters and I share the arthritis and we’re pretty
certain ours will become wrinkled and bent. We hope that ours will still be soft
to touch, and loving when we touch.
When Wil was little, about seven or eight,
we lived in California. Hannah was an infant. Shortly after we had adopted him,
we traveled to Tijuana with my brother Jack who had come out to visit. Like
many impoverished places, there were street sellers and some beggars. I think
Wil was reminded of where he had come from and the life he had left behind.
He clung to Kim’s hand as we walked down the
street. His eyes straight ahead, but we were sure he saw and took in
everything. As he got older, he never spoke to us about that experience or what
he felt. Kim and I and my brother were fairly certain he was frightened, maybe sad
as memories flooded back to him. His life hadn’t been kind to him at all.
Touch conveys so much, doesn’t it?
I think many of us can remember a spanking
or two. Maybe more. Perhaps a pointed finger when one parent or the other
admonished us. When sad or hurt, arms held us, fingers pushed bangs out of our eyes
or ran through our hair. I know I did that with our kids. Soft fingers wiped
tears from our eyes, washed a wound, applied a bandage or two.
Hands held us, encouraged us. Moved us
forward when we dawdled or were uncertain and needed someone else’s confidence
in us. Hands held us back when we tried to cross the street at an ill-advised
time.
Hands played catch with us. Hands taught
us how to make paper airplanes. Hands helped us fish and held us as we learned
to swim.
As we got older, there were other hands
that shoved us, hit us, punched us, pushed us away and wouldn’t let us join.
Those hands hurt us in ways beyond the physical, didn’t they? Sometimes, much
more so.
Along with a smile, hands were the first
form of communication we understood. Smiles, tears. The tone of voice came
before the actual meaning behind the words, except for perhaps the word, “No!”
For many of us, today is a holy day. It is
a day of reflection, of recognizing that our lives are owed to something and
someone bigger. If you are not Christian – and I make no judgment at all - we
are still part of humanity, and as a part of humanity, our lives are still owed
to something and someone else.
Can each of us, this day and this weekend,
consider our meaning behind how we communicate to one another, both in word and
in touch? Can we decide today to be more gentle, more kind, more compassionate
and considerate? Can we think of others and their needs, their concerns before
our own- just for today (maybe for days to come)? I hope so. I pray so.
Something to think about . . .
Live Your Life, and Make A Difference!
To My Readers:
My new book, Betrayed, will debut Nov.
12, 2020! It is a contemporary psychological thriller using some of the
same characters from my previous work. It takes place on the Navajo Nation
Reservation in northeast Arizona. I will post parts and passages on my author
page on Facebook. I picked up three great advance reviews from three awesome
authors:
“Adopted and bonding as a family, with
histories of death, destruction and for some...abuse, these boys band
together—ready to lay down their life for their new family—in order to find a
missing friend before dangerous gunmen find them.
A whirlwind of adventure, relationships,
protecting family, hair-raising situations, and cold betrayal.”
—Tina O’Hailey author of
When Darkness Begins
“A boy goes missing in Navajo Nation, a family
is killed. Onto the next adventure for three brothers, including one who grew
up there, to search for him. As to be expected, danger awaits, but these are
not ordinary teens. They have faced harrowing situations before, and now they
will rely on the skills and experience they’ve developed to get through this
one.
Once again, author Joseph Lewis has
written a fast-paced psychological thriller mystery that immerses readers into
a dark world few encounter.”
— Joan Livingston, author
of the Isabel Long Mystery Series
“Betrayed is at once an emotional chapter
in author Joseph Lewis’ continuing coming-of-age story and an intriguing
thriller. Following both law enforcement and a group of teens searching for a
missing boy on Native American land, Lewis’ latest also provides a unique view
into Navajo culture. A layered story that explodes into a bullet-riddled
climax.”
— Rick Treon, award-winning
author of Deep Background and Let the Guilty Pay
Connect with me on Social Media:
Twitter
at @jrlewisauthor
Facebook
at: https://www.facebook.com/Joseph.Lewis.Author
Caught in a Web is now available in Audio
format. You can find it at https://www.beaconaudiobooks.com/audiobookreleases/high-school-drug-rings-gangs-and-revenge-are-all-encompassing-in-caught-in-a-web-by-joseph-lewis
Spiral Into Darkness:
Named a Recommended Read in the Author
Shout Reader Awards!
He blends in. He is successful,
intelligent and methodical. He has a list and has murdered eight on it so far.
There is no discernible pattern. There are no clues. There are no leads. The
only thing the FBI and local police have to go on is the method of death: two
bullets to the face- gruesome and meant to send a message. But it’s difficult
to understand any message coming from a dark and damaged mind. Two adopted
boys, struggling in their own world, have no idea they are the next targets.
Neither does their family. And neither does local law enforcement. https://amzn.to/2RBWvTm
Caught in a Web:
A PenCraft Literary Award Winner!
The bodies of high school and middle
school kids are found dead from an overdose of heroin and fentanyl. The drug
trade along the I-94 and I-43 corridors and the Milwaukee Metro area is
controlled by MS-13, a violent gang originating from El Salvador. Ricardo
Fuentes is sent from Chicago to Waukesha to find out who is cutting in on their
business, shut it down and teach them a lesson. But he has an ulterior motive:
find and kill a fifteen-year-old boy, George Tokay, who had killed his cousin
the previous summer.
Detectives Jamie Graff, Pat O’Connor and
Paul Eiselmann race to find the source of the drugs, shut down the ring, and
find Fuentes before he kills anyone else, especially George or members of his
family. The three detectives discover the ring has its roots in a high school
among the students and staff. https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07CKF7696
Book One of the Lives Trilogy, Stolen
Lives:
Two thirteen-year-old boys are abducted
off a safe suburban street. Kelliher and his team of FBI agents have 24 hours
to find them or they’ll end up like all the others- dead! They have no leads,
no clues, and nothing to go on. And the possibility exists that one of his team
members might be involved. http://tinyurl.com/Stolen-Lives-J-Lewis
Book Two of the Lives Trilogy, Shattered
Lives:
Six men escaped and are out for revenge.
The boys, recently freed from captivity, are in danger and so are their
families, but they don’t know it. The FBI has no clues, no leads, and nothing
to go on and because of that, cannot protect them. http://tinyurl.com/Shattered-Lives-J-Lewis
Book Three of the Lives Trilogy,
Splintered Lives:
A 14-year-old boy knows the end is coming.
What he doesn’t know is when, where or by whom. Without that knowledge, neither
he nor the FBI can protect him or his family. http://tinyurl.com/Splintered-Lives-J-Lewis
The Lives Trilogy Prequel, Taking Lives:
FBI Agent Pete Kelliher and his partner
search for the clues behind the bodies of six boys left in various and remote
parts of the country. Even though they don’t know one another, the lives of FBI
Kelliher, 11-year-old Brett McGovern, and 11-year-old George Tokay are separate
pieces of a puzzle. The two boys become interwoven with the same thread that
Pete Kelliher holds in his hand. The three of them are on a collision course
and when that happens, their lives are in jeopardy as each search for a way
out. http://tinyurl.com/Taking-Lives-J-Lewis
Photo courtesy of Cristian Newman and Unsplash
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Thank you for your comment. I welcome your thought. Joe