drsawzall

Some serious changes look to be in the works!!

One has to hope they escaped Doc's consumption... “How is his – cough?” “He has his bad days now and then. But mostly, it’s not so bad. You know Andy, works like a mule, nothing slows him down.”

It is clear to me, that you write from experience...it shows in the way you frame the story and the inhabitants therein. We all don't get the TV sitcom family, life is to real and raw, yet through all of this...you find unique ways to show that. As an example of the 7 year old boy, finding out that his birthday present was an enormous pile of horse dung out in the driveway, looking up at his parents exclaiming..."Look, there has to be a pony somewhere!!' In all honesty, your take...writing...is all too real and brutally honest and a breath of fresh air!!! DO NOT be afraid to write what you know!!!

Wow...it just gets better and better, I don't disagree with any of the comments above, but have to say that Salvaging The Road To Redemption, is what made me take a flyer on this story. For what it is worth, writing is a form of catharsis, and if you truly listen and think on what Gavin says you may find some inspiration there. This chapter flowed so seamlessly and was sooo well done...If I had a/the vote(s) for this years promising author, you'd win hands down!!

I had to go ahead and wonder what was ahead for our boys and tempt the fates, including our intrepid author... Y'all think after this little nugget things were gonna get any easier??? I laughed when Marcus said this, and I shook my head, “So that is the reason for your recommendation with the extra vets staying so that we can have more time together down at the complex?” I asked, and Marcus winked and smiled, “Yes, maybe,” he replied. “I must admit, we have been working fairly damn hard lately and yes, it is nice to be able to relax some more in regards to vet work, but now that we have the staff village and the shopping complex, that is still going to keep us on our toes,” I said to my husband. Zoiks...here's hoping everyone is ok!!

Interesting chapter to say the least, can we all agree that Zoel is the weakest link???

I think you forgot the former olympian, ex-stepdad or still a stepdad, who was a he, now a she who still looks like a he...

Well done and the following truly resonated with me... I look at my hands And see my dear grandmother Rubbing her age spots

I continue to be amazed to the overall quality of this story, it reaches depths, as @weinerdog , @Summerabbacat @Jjeffalch and @Gary L along with others have pointed out. Rather than go with the trite and obvious, you have found, and are mining a motherload of nuances seldom seen. There is a richness and quality to your work that shines in it's originality...thank you!!! The following nearly broke me along with what happens afterward... Jacob nodded. “Yeah I do, and I think I understand what you’re saying. I don’t want to be that person I was turning into, and I want help.” “You’re every therapists dream Jacob. I want you to keep in your mind what I said. You’re worth saving okay? I’m also going to write you a prescription for something to help take the edge off that will help you sleep. I don’t think you’ll need it in the long term, but in the short term it will help you and everyone else in your recovery is that alright?” Gavin asked. Jacob finally smiled and it almost melted Gavin to the core. “I would appreciate that thank you.” “Alright then, let’s write it up and get you out of here.” Gavin finished. The ride home from Gavin’s office was filled with discussion over what he had talked about over the session, Jacob had no intention of keeping his mother out of the loop on anything. Right now she was his rock, his comforting presence. She asked questions he answered honestly. “I’m sorry I never got you help after your father left, I had no idea.” She said as they edged closer to home. “Honestly mom, I didn’t know either until the dreams started. I thought I was over it too.” He replied. “Still…” She started. “Mom, please don’t beat yourself up over it. Gavin taught me a thing or two about guilt today, and he said we can’t fix the past all we can do is move forward.” Jacob offered in an attempt to sooth his mom. “Maybe I should book an appointment with this guy as well.” She said thoughtfully. “You should. He’s something else.” “I’ll look into it. Thank you Jacob.” She said finally. “No mom, thank you.”

O my...to be that young again....

From what Seth tells us, the divorce settlement was financially beneficial and the family, considering Mother Dearest has a well paying job, it becomes very clear that someone as @Summerabbacat mentioned, someone needs to slap Stacey not only into next week but into the drivers ed class and get her frigging drivers license... From the way Mommy ignores Seth and his needs may be a clue as to why his parents got divorced... What are the odds that Craig tries to boink Seth...and soon??? Will Seth go back to the hospital once Craig goes home...inquiring minds need to know... BTW...did Seth pay for his car and insurance???

Wow....just hoping everyone will be ok and the gunman(men) are apprehended. Was it Jonah or Martyn who issued the warning...or someone else??? “Danger, get inside,” but it wasn’t in English, it was in Nepalese, and both Kerwin and I reacted right away, turning and sprinting back towards the administration building, we heard footsteps behind us but we didn’t stop or look back to see who it was.

A limerick that covers the things you may have missed out on in your "Faiths of the Civilized World" class... A humorous look well worth the read!!!

Brilliant...simply freaking brilliant!!! This and "If Dr Seuss Had Written Leviticus" should be required reading at any book burning party, or cleansing our libraries of porn, trashy romance novels, demoncrats, actual history, and gasp...racism!!!!!

Yikes...

I'd like to echo the comments above by, @weinerdog, @Summerabbacat, @Jjeffalch, and @Gary L All were spot on and I could not agree more. Like the others, I was wondering how the events in this chapter would play out. Let's face it...it was/is a difficult subject to honestly write about given Tyler's state of mind and the conclusions he is coming to, without it becoming mauldin, sappy, or overbearingly using sentimentality... I found the following, along with the rest of the chapter to be very powerful...BTW Travis is a rockstar...sorry Ozzie or was that Oswald, the new guy in accounting... explanation below the quote.. He nodded and made a few notes and put down his pen. “Generally, when people such as yourself come to me for coming out, or being victims of what you went through it takes a while to get to where we’re at right now. I don’t often get to see the strength and resolve from my patients like I do you. Don’t get me wrong we still have some work to do because you need to be able to see past your guilt, and accept that you didn’t deserve what happened to you. I don’t see any trauma in you as a result of this, right now. However if that changes and it very well could, anything such as nightmares, anxiety, or panic attacks I want you to make note of those for me for when I see you again. And I do want to see you again in two weeks, if that’s okay with you.” “Yeah, I’m good with that. I kind of feel better about getting some of this off my chest.” I said as I stood up to shake his hand. “Another question for you, normally since you’re a minor I share basically what you’re state of mind is with your parents as part of the process, without actually getting into what was said here. It seems like you have a very healthy and open relationship with them. Would you at all wish for me to share some of what was spoken here today, maybe to help start a conversation at home? I’m willing to bet you would like it if they had a better understanding of where you’re coming from on some things.” I thought about it for a moment. I know Gavin would keep what we said between us if I insisted but I didn’t feel like hiding anything, “actually I think it would help. Sometimes I don’t think I’m good at properly expressing my point of view.” I admitted. Gavin gave me a heartfelt smile. “We will work on that too. I figured I could offer this to you, since you guys are that close and it will help some of the worry they express when it comes to how you are dealing with all of this.”

Danged if you do, and danged ifin you don't...communication is a two way street and it needs to start very soon...At this point I would be making noises about going back, something like...take this quest and shove it...

Now back and settled into the routine of daily life, wonder if any new surprises await our boys!!

Oh my...a cliffhanger...what could possibly go right...wrong??? Let's hope only fisticuffs are used...

Ain't that the truth brother!!! When you don't talk to each other but...at each other!!!! I suspect Jacob won't be able to escape the harsh consequences that society will insist he face, regardless of Tyler's forgiveness or advocacy...It will be interesting to see how they walk the long road towards redemption together...

What a fantastic chapter and so glad to see more coming!!

Great chapter, the following was spot on... “Is it serious?” He asked cutting me off. “Oh no, it’s not medical. It’s my therapist.” I replied. Gus gave me another one of those penetrating stares. “Therapy, workforce job training, and the kind of work ethic from someone used to getting their ass beat from goofing off. You’re in The System, aren’t you?” He asked sitting back in his chair. I quickly closed the office door and turned to face him, “yeah I am.” “Foster family or Group home?” He asked. “Group…” I replied with a sigh, “please don’t tell anyone I don’t want Josh to know.” “Why?” This was getting uncomfortable, “because I don’t want him or anyone to feel sorry for me and I don’t want anyone to…” My voice faltered a little as my face fell. “Because you think your a throwaway.” Gus said hitting the nail on the head. I didn’t say anything as Gus opened a drawer in his desk and pulled out a bag which I’m guessing had the bank deposit in it. He pulled out eight twenty dollar bills and put them in an envelope and handed it to me. “Take it. Consider it a sign on bonus.” I took it because I knew arguing with this man would not be productive. I turned to leave his office feeling a little dejected. “Benjamin.” He said as I was about to open the door, I turned to look at him. “You aren’t a throwaway, don’t ever think like that in this building you got that?” His eyes where on fire with that statement as he looked at me, something had happened before and I could see it on his face, a pain he didn’t want to relive.

So nice to see that love will find a way...thanks for sharing!@

Looks as if Mateo might have a bright career and future ahead of him...looking forward to more!!

What will be most interesting is to follow the changes that are bound to be coming their way as other survivors are found/discovered...Garrett has gone, like everyone, from a form of pure hell and it remains to be seen how he copes. The old adage "Size Matters" is never more true in this instance, in this case...just how large a group will the farm accommodate, knowing at some point, one more is too many?