HOPE, HEALING AND FINDING HAPPINESS
What you see here are two prototype books of Mitchell’s Journey: Essays on Hope, Healing and Finding Happiness. For the last 6 months I have been quietly putting these together.
This isn't a ploy or an attempt exploit my tragedy – any suggestion of such is foolishness. One need only read this page [even superficially] to know I would rather give to others freely, to lift a heavy heart and love others more than anything. I take no delight in having put these together – in fact, these two bodies of work are the product of deep agony, many tears and a heart that stretches toward the heavens in search of peace. I would have given my life to never have cause to write. I just want my little boy back – and I am pained that I cannot.
Some have commented that there is no need to write a book – for each entry here would seem to suffice – at least it would seem their cup comfortably. Others respond in-kind that a book would reach others who do not use Facebook.
I am going to try to do things with Mitchell’s Journey that are calculated to bless others’ lives – and some of you may want to participate. I am not interested in income, I have a job. But I am interested in outcomes. For every heart that’s lifted, for every life that is blessed, my heart bursts with gladness. I believe the old aphorism “a rising tide lifts all boats.” And as the tide of awareness rises, others who have DMD will surely benefit.
There are still miles to go with these books. I don’t even have a publisher, yet. I approach this task with a measure of trepidation, for I am the weakest of all. I recently wrote in an earlier post that I am no teacher, I’m just a student with a heavy backpack. These books are my homework … homework of my soul. Each page soaked with salt and tears.
Between now and when I find a publisher, I will focus on the purity of Mitchell’s Journey and its message of hope, healing and finding happiness. When the time is right I’ll take the next step toward publishing. But for now, for those who are curious and have been asking, know that I am working on this – not for me, but that others may be blessed. I am also working on a few other things that I will share in due time. Things, too, I hope will bless lives.
A portion of the book sales will be donated to Parent Project Muscular Dystrophy (PPMD), the organization that raced to try and save Mitch. Another portion will be reserved to help Mitchell’s Journey accomplish its own mission, which is not only to raise awareness of DMD but to share a message that transcends life and death ... a message of love, family and faith.
There was no master plan with this journey. It was just a simple Facebook page with 80 followers who wanted to keep tabs on my son. In the grand scheme of things, this page is just a pebble in a vast ocean; certainly nothing to boast about. But if this journey can help raise the tide of awareness an inch or two, if it can lift a person out of despair, or to help someone see the world with new eyes … then it is all worth it.
I really don’t want any of this. I would rather be invisible if that meant I could have Mitch in my arms, if I could kiss his cheeks and hear his voice. That is what I want. But such was not my lot. I was given a different lot, and a heavy lot it is.
Though my heart is broken I have hope. Each day I am healing and finding happiness. I hope, through Mitchell’s Journey, others do, too.