It has been almost two months since my last posting. In that time I have intended to print the Journal using my copier and place the pages in a three-ring binder. I even bought the binder and printed several of the messages to see how they would look. I never found the time, or made the time to accomplish the task.
Unknown to me, Scott and Sue set about to have the Journal published as a hardbound book using some publishing software they downloaded from a service specializing in self-publication. On Christmas morning, after opening presents, Scott asked me to go to the back room and take a look at the computer screen. I was sure there was some internet purchase on backorder. Instead, I sat down to an image on the screen with the words "Simple Gifts" hovering over it. Scott opened a "page" and I immediately saw the title of one of my blogs and realized that what I was being shown was a "copy" of the published Journal. A surge of emotion brought tears to my eyes and I wept openly. I couldn't help it. I cried intermittently throughout the morning because of the memories.
The books were on backorder and finally came on New Year's Eve day. They were real books...I had actually been published (LOL). Anyway, the books were beautiful and tastefully done. I think the "most special" feature is the dedication written by Scott Hamrock in which he explains the significance of the cover image. That image is a ghostly and abstract photo of my heartbeat as it appeared on one of the heart monitors hours after my surgery.....a "new" heart beating strongly and out of danger.
Here is what he wrote:
I honestly think that there is no better image to put on the cover. It speaks to the message of the journal, Dad's journey, the truths he has uncovered...it even echoes his love of music and evokes
images of the mountain ranges he found himself in on his little sabbatical. The fact that it is an
abstract treatment of his new heartbeat is intrinsic to the many meanings it conveys: it is ethereal, mysterious...and fleeting. Finite. But with it he has returned to a truer version of himself. And that is the simplest gift of all.
Yes...the simplest gift of all.
Stephen
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