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| Kristin receiving one of many Chemo treatments |
It has been 263 days since my last post. During that absence I
have gone though quite a few life changes and overcome some tough hurdles in my
life. Needless to say, in spite of my blog’s title and theme, I did not do a
good job of defying procrastination - that is until recently.
The biggest hurdle I stumbled over was learning that my
youngest daughter had decided to give up her first child for adoption – my first
grandchild. Although I offered my support in her decision, I did not agree with
it. Secretly it ate at my insides like a festering cancer. It was like losing a
child.
I think adoption is a wonderful gift, and have come across
many people in my life that have benefited from it, but for me, in this
situation, I couldn’t help but feel immensely hurt. I would never be able to
hold my little grandson in my arms - squeeze him, tickle him until he begged me
to stop, teach him how to throw a football, share family photos and memories
with him, watch his eyes light up at Christmas, take him to his first ballgame,
read bedtime stories to him, witness his first little league game, or never ever
hear the words “Papa,” or “Grandpa” come from his little mouth.
I was devastated.
Life has thrown many tough hurdles in front of me throughout
my life, so I was a veteran at dealing with the pain – so I thought. I swallowed
my despair and kept going. What I didn’t realize was how the misery inside me
was affecting those around me, specifically my home life. I was making everyone
around me miserable too. I was finding every excuse under the sun not to write,
even though deep inside words begged to be put to virtual paper, and so I
languished.
This internal battle went on for several months unconsciously
until it was brought to my attention by someone close to me. It wasn’t until then that I had a moment of
clarity and fully understood that I was suffering from depression.
After a few counseling sessions and some heart to heart
talks, the weight - the burden laboring on my troubled heart was lifted. My
vision, my lust for life returned, and so did my passion for writing.
However, the feelings of adulation and pride were short-lived
when I learned that my close friend Kristin had been diagnosed with Stage 3 HER2
breast cancer. There was no way I could be happy for myself when I knew that
someone that I loved and cared about so deeply was in for the fight of her
life. That, and my recent personal battles seemed pale in comparison to what
Kristin was going through.
I wanted to do something special for Kristin and her family,
and was fumbling for ideas until late one night while lying in bed – it hit me.
It seemed that it was fate that October, the designated Breast Cancer Awareness
month, was just a few days away. So I decided to dedicate my book to Kristin
and donate all of the profits from it to her and the National Breast Cancer
Foundation.
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| Link to Kristin's National Breast Cancer Foundation page |
The following days were a whirlwind of activity, and few
hours of sleep, as I prepared for the re-launch of my eBook on Oct. 1st.
Everything went off without a hitch and I’m proud to say that with generosity of
the community at large, at the time of this posting, “Her Special Day Shoes,”
has skyrocketed from the top 200k downloads to the top 35k downloads at
Amazon.com in under 24hrs.
Thank you to everyone who has or will purchase this humble
little book, or has helped me spread the word. Please continue to do so.
Please help me spread this video. Thank you!
SOME IMPORTANT LINKS
Amazon Link to “Her Special Day Shoes”: http://www.amazon.com/Her-Special-Day-Shoes-ebook/dp/B00EZEXN74/
Kristin’s National Breast Cancer Foundation page: http://www.stayclassy.org/herspecialdayshoes/
Kristin’s Story and her Caring Bridge page: http://www.caringbridge.org/visit/kristinkrizowilliamso
Tribute video to Kristin from me: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M7ciLlW5md4
Chiz over at Chiz Chat: http://chiz-chat.blogspot.com/2013/10/her-special-day-shoes.html
Daniel over at Nest Expressed: http://nest-expressed.com/two-eighty-six/
Michael A. Walker
Defying Procrastination
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