God's Only Mistake:

Becoming a Man in My Father's Eyes

 

In 2006, I got a call from my parents for help. My father was about to have open heart surgery, my mother didn't drive, and neighbors we few and far between. So, they wanted me to come and help nurse my father back to health. They had retired to a remote town in the backwoods of Maine, almost 600 miles away, and they wanted me there as soon as possible.

 

The problem with this is that I am agoraphobic and have a hard time leaving the house.  I also have social anxiety disorders that can be crippling at times. And, to complete the perfect storm of anxiety, I don't travel well, suffering from acute motion sensitivity.

 

To make matters worse (as if those weren't enough), I would be taking care of my father, a man who believed that all doctors were quacks, megadoses of vitamin supplements were the key to immortality and that rules, orders, and directions didn't apply to him.

 

No doubt about it, this was going to be fun.

 

This book chronicles the three weeks I spent in Maine with my mother and father. To steal a line from Dickens, it was the best of times and it was the worst of times. It is the true story of overcoming fear and anxiety, enduring family idiosyncracies and life-and-death tribulation to earn the love and respect that I so sorely needed.

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This book is crammed with the laughter and tears that is family life.