Book Excerpt
Excerpt 4:
August 19, 1985
Dear Diary,
Tomorrow I’ll
have my surgery. I am afraid. I have been praying like crazy. I know God will
make it okay. I just need to keep asking. If it is His will, it will be done.
He wouldn’t have given me this baby if it wasn’t His will. So I will keep
praying for Him to keep this baby safe.
I hope I can
raise this baby here in an environment like I was raised in Drake Falls. I
would love so much for my child to be as happy here as I was there. Drake Falls
will always be like a fairy tale for me. I pray this home can be the same for
my child.
I fully believe
Drake Falls was such a wonderful place because everybody lived the same
economic existence. It was also wonderful because my extended family didn’t see
me much because we lived so far away. It was a time when I could relax and feel
as though no one would hurt me. I didn’t have to look over my shoulder and
wonder whether someone was going to take me into a room, shut the door, and
hurt me. I didn’t have to live in constant fear. I could breathe a sigh of
relief and shove the past deep within myself.
I spent a lot of
time in my room. I loved to stare out the window. There was a big oak tree
right outside and I would gaze at it while I sat on my bed. My room was a place
of healing, peace, and rest.
I remember once
when a few extended family members visited us there. But nothing bad happened
and it was a short visit. I was very grateful for that.
The only really
bad thing that happened at Drake Falls was when a kid in school told me he
didn’t like me, and said he was going to beat me up. It was a kid in one of my
classes that had an attitude against me for a while. I usually ignored him but
this day I didn’t.
We were standing
in the classroom in the middle of the day right before recess.
“I’m gonna’ beat
you up at recess,” he told me.
“Go ahead,” I
said. “Beat me up. I don’t care.”
I don’t know what
possessed me to tell him to beat me up. I guess I didn’t think he would really
do it.
When the recess
bell rang, I headed outside. As I was walking down the hall, the kid ran up
behind me and started punching me in the back. Luckily, my teacher saw him and
ran quickly over to us, restraining him and yelling to another teacher. Soon
both teachers were next to us.
“Are you alright,
Joan?” one teacher asked me.
Crying, I
answered between sobs, “I’m...okay...”
“Why did you hit
Joan?” the teacher restraining the boy asked.
“I don’t like
her,” the boy said.
“Well, just
because you don’t like someone doesn’t mean you can beat them up,” the teacher
said. “Come with me. We’re going to see the principal.”
They disappeared
down the hallway and around a corner. The principal never asked me what
happened. I guess the teacher filled him in. The strange thing about it is that
the kid who beat me up moved away shortly after the incident. A couple of
months later he moved back. He must have been pondering about what he had done
to me.
I will never
forget how surreal it was when he walked up to me and told me he was sorry. I
remember thinking to myself, “I wish everybody would say they were sorry when
they hurt someone.”
~~~~
Life
Lesson
If
everyone would say they were sorry, this world would be a much better place.
About the Book
Title: Breaking the Silence
Author: Diamante Lavendar
Genre: Women’s Fiction
Based on a true story, a new novel from Diamante Lavendar. Joan Eastman was born like any other girl. However her life would prove to be a life of great pain… Growing
up, she was treated differently by family members, powerless to defend
herself against their sexual and psychological abuse. Feeling she had
been dealt a wicked hand by the “powers that be”, she spiraled into
substance abuse and troubled relationships. She became a victim of
addiction and self-hatred. Not giving up, she becomes aware of a greater
spiritual being that protects her and she begins to heal. Then she
finds herself pregnant. She learns to understand nothing is hopeless;
that with a changed view and self discovery, there is real hope in every
situation, no matter how difficult. As she and her husband look forward
to the birth of their child, she writes in her diary as a way of
expelling all of the evil memories. On bed rest for the duration of her
pregnancy, she endures tests and tribulations that at first she couldn’t
begin to understand. But no matter how high the hurdles in Joan’s life
are, she doesn’t look back, and pulls the pieces of her life
together…for herself and her unborn child. This inspirational story
speaks of Joan’s gradual self acceptance and healing of her body, mind
and spirit. It speaks of the possibilities of the future and the
fulfillment of the dream of love and family. And it speaks of jumping
the hurdles in life without looking back, no matter how high those
hurdles may be
Author Bio
Diamante Lavendar has been in love with
reading since she was a child. She spent many hours listening to her
mother read to her when she was young. As she grew older, she enjoyed
reading novels of all genres: horror, fantasy and some romance to name a
few.
She began writing in college and
published some poetry in anthologies over the years. After her kids were
older, she wrote as a form of self expression and decided she wanted to
share her stories with others.
Most of her writing is very personal and
stems from her own experiences and those of her family and friends. She
writes to encourage hope and possibility to those who read her stories.
Diamante believes that everyone should
try to leave their own positive mark in the world, to make it a better
place for all. Writing is the way that she is attempting to leave her
mark—one story at a time.
Links
Buy the Book:
B&N: B&N
Amazon: Amazon
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