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Listen To Me Reviewed by Bee Lindy of Bookleasures.com
- By Bee Lindy
- Published April 8, 2022
- Biographies & Memoirs
Bee Lindy
Bee Lindy has been writing book reviews since she was a child. Her notebooks are full of reviews that she wrote before she had her first personal computer.
Before the advent of the Internet, Bee had her first personal computer, and has been saving reviews on computer files ever since.
Her first reviews appeared in her high school and college news papers many moons ago.
More recently she has written reviews as a guest reviewer on various book blogs.
Professionally, she is a fundraiser for various non-profit organizations which entails a great deal of writing. Bee lives with her husband and two dogs.
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Author: Lynne Podrat
Publisher: LP Press
ISBN: 978-1737666806
“I would eventually realize this was the beginning of the end of our parental safety net. We were to become two ships adrift, my parents in one and the three children in the second, the only tie being Bruce, our new handicapped baby.”
When their newborn baby was born with down syndrome, Lynne Podrat's parents were confused and terrified. The year was 1967, and a lot less was known about the condition than is known now.
Lynne's parents were unsure if they would be able to care for the baby at home, and unhappy with the idea of having to care for him for the rest of his life. Thus, they quickly decided to give custody of baby Bruce over to the state, so that he could be raised in a care home, the usual practice of that time.
Lynne was incensed. She already loved Bruce and already thought of him as her baby. Taking it upon herself to protect Bruce from being raised away from his family, she brought in her grandparents and eventually successfully argued for keeping Bruce at home.
What may seem like a teenager's passing folly ended up being a lifelong commitment to the care of her brother, and something that Lynne would always be grateful for. Lynne and her other brother David, cared for Bruce in the way her parents shied away from, including him in all of their holidays and seeing him frequently even after he did eventually go to live in a group home.
Bruce had a big personality, and because of this he was well loved in his community and known by everyone from the nurses at their local hospital to the baristas at their local coffeeshop. To know Bruce, was to love him and everyone in his life knew and loved him without hesitation.
A beautiful memoir and one I highly recommend, Listen To Me: How My Down Syndrome Brother Saved My Life, is a five-star book in a small package!
About Lynne Podrat
Lynne Podrat graduated from the Pennsylvania State University and then spent fifteen years in the Fashion Industry as an Assistant Buyer and Department Manager with Bloomingdales Department Store before returning to school to receive her educational degrees from Arcadia University and Gynedd Mercy.
A retired educator and Administrator from the Philadelphia, Pennsylvania School District, she taught English, literature, composition and history in elementary and secondary schools.
She has secretly been a writer and poet her whole life, but has only recently chosen to share those talents with the world. Lynne now lives with her husband in Palm Beach Gardens, Florida, spending winters dragon boating where her heart races and summers hiking the Rockies in Vail, Colorado where her heart sings.