Listen To Me: How My Down Syndrome Brother Saved My Life by Lynne Podrat
Publisher: LP Press (August 19, 2021) Category: Non Fiction, Memoir, Special Needs, Disabilities, Down Syndrome, Siblings Tour dates: March 14-April 14, 2022 ISBN: 978-1737666806 Available in Print and ebook, 128 pages
Description Listen To Me by Lynne Podrat
This memoir was written to honor my youngest brother’s influence over my life, the good, the bad, and the ugly of living with a Down Syndrome sibling. It tells the story of the children in my family, despite our parents’ frailties, remaining committed to each other through life’s many changes and separations. Who I am today is directly related to the who I needed to become.
My Thoughts Listen To Me by Lynne Podrat
In the late 1980’s-early 90’s I went back to university and changed my major from accounting to social work and literature. I quit my accounting job and took a huge pay cut to work in a group home with four guys who had a developmental disability. I worked full time and went to school full time, burning the candle at both ends.
I loved working in the group home and was especially close with one of the guys, Bruce, who happened to have down syndrome. We went to aqua fit together every Saturday. Even when I graduated and got a job, I went most Saturdays to visit the guys and go with Bruce to the pool. Bruce is no longer with us but I still think of him often.
Flash forward to 2022 and I received an email from Lynne Podrat, asking if I could help her put together a virtual book tour for her memoir, ‘Listen To Me: How My Down Syndrome Brother Saved My Life.’ Of course, I jumped at the chance, this is not just business but personal and near and dear to my heart. So, I also agreed to read the book and post a review. Note: even though I do review books for tour that I coordinate sometimes, I only post fair and balance reviews. If I love it, like it, or hate it, I share that in my reviews. I am only paid to coordinate tours, not to review books.
When I first started reading, ‘Listen To Me’, I was fist shocked to learn that Lynne’s brother’s name was Bruce as well. What a coincidence! It turned out Lynne and Bruce enjoy doing some of the same things Bruce and I did together. Reading books, listening to music, writing, etc. However, that is not why I am highly recommending this book.
I recommend it for the beautiful writing and tribute to a man that seemed to live larger than life, despite his disability! Even when he had to go through kidney dialysis, he seemed to do so with grace. I believe much of that has to do with Lynne’s dedication to him. She was 13 years old when Bruce was born. Her parents told her that they he was not coming home but instead was going to live in a state-run institution. Please don’t judge them for this. Back then doctors strongly recommended it and said it was for the best.
Lynne urged them to bring Bruce home and she even went to her grandparents and begged them to help. They did intervene and they helped raise Bruce, at home. I can’t help but be in aw of Lynne, as a teenager to take such a protective interest in her little brother! She then followed through and really helped him and shared a special bond with him throughout his life. He passed of pancreatic cancer in 2017.
5/5 stars!
I received the eBook for my honest review.
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.
This giveaway is for 3 print copies, one for each of 3 winners and is open to the U.S. only. This giveaway ends on April 15, 2022 midnight, pacific time. Entries accepted via Rafflecopter only.
Listen To Me: How My Down Syndrome Brother Saved My Life by Lynne Podrat
Publisher: LP Press (August 19, 2021) Category: Non Fiction, Memoir, Special Needs, Disabilities, Down Syndrome, Siblings Tour dates: March 14-April 14, 2022 ISBN: 978-1737666806 Available in Print and ebook, 128 pages
Description Listen To Me by Lynne Podrat
This memoir was written to honor my youngest brother’s influence over my life, the good, the bad, and the ugly of living with a Down Syndrome sibling. It tells the story of the children in my family, despite our parents’ frailties, remaining committed to each other through life’s many changes and separations. Who I am today is directly related to the who I needed to become.
Praise Listen To Me by Lynne Podrat
“As the intertwined life stories of the author and her brother Bruce emerge, the story takes on a new tone. Bitterness and rancor are replaced with a gentle kind of mellowness and a roaring-fire-on-a-cold-winter-day kind of warmth. This is underscored when the author writes that her plans for Bruce were “to open and enrich his world.” In the end, however, she realizes how being with Bruce “accomplished so much more.” She realizes how this “sweet small man” and “Bruce’s” capacity to love and to “just go on because there was no other choice” profoundly influenced her life. And how Bruce opened and enriched her world. Oh, and the title? You’ll have to read the book for yourself to figure that one out. Flavored with gentle humor and tongue-in-cheek wit, Listen to Me isn’t a long read. At about 30,000 words, you can finish it in an afternoon. But the reflections and insights will reverberate much longer.”- Kristine, Pages and Paws
“This book is a touching story about the unconditional love between an older sister and her brother, Bruce. The prose is uplifting and inspirational, without the traces of ableism that can be found in other such works. The overall message is a plea to see people for who they are, not their diagnosis and aims to increase disability awareness.”- Laura Quinn, Laura Quinn Writes
“This memoir is exactly what I needed. It made me laugh and cry and helped me appreciate the people in my life even more than I already did. Bruce’s love for his family, friends, and favorite rock ‘n’ roll idols lives on through this book. His larger-than-life personality left such an impression on me; I can honestly say that I feel like I know him without ever having met him. I think about him from time to time and his essence inspires hope in me, showing me how precious it is to have an innocent view of life at any age. This book means so much to me. Lynne Podrat is a true artist with her words and the life she created around the people she loves. Her tenacity and devotion to her family—and herself—is unparalleled. She is a badass. If I could just accomplish half of what she has, I would be happy.”-Sandi, Proof Reader Sandi
Interview with Lynne Podrat
Teddy: Please tell us something about ‘Listen To Me’ that is not in the summary. (About the book, person you particularly enjoyed writing etc.)
Lynne: Although you learn about my middle brother, David from references within the stories and come to appreciate his devotion to Bruce, I tried very hard not to tell his story within our story. I could guess the effect Bruce’s life had on his, making David the big brother and the middle sibling, having attention taken away, watching parents struggle while a young child himself, but the writing of this was so much more than a sibling story. This was written to honor Bruce’s life and how love and advocacy can turn anyone into SOMEONE.
Teddy: How did growing up with your brother, Bruce impact being a mother?
Lynne: What a good question. Initially, I had no desire to have children as I had already been a caregiver. However, once pregnant there was no turning back. Downs can be hereditary so I did have an amniocentesis with my son and a CVS with my daughter, as I was 37, the same age as my mother when she had Bruce. I didn’t think I could bring another special- needs child into the family having witnessed the heartbreaking reactions of my parents and grandparents.
Also, my unwavering belief in parents being the safety net for children became apparent when my father passed, and even stronger when my mother passed and my son’s family was with us in Colorado when we received the news. While my son was discussing funeral arrangements with his Rabbi in Florida (we belong to the synagogue in Vail) the Rabbi asked how we were handing the news, travel back and Shiva. His reply, “My mom is OK so everyone else is OK. She laughs, we laugh, she’s quiet, my daughters rally around her. She is a force to be reckoned with.” Bruce passed while I held his hand in the hospital. My nieces discussed with my children, how best to support me while I “fell apart” at the loss of my baby brother. While my daughter has always ensured me I could fall apart, lose control, or be inconsolable, and the children would be OK, that will never happen no matter their age. Why? My son said it best. My mom is OK so everyone else is OK no matter who is falling apart around them., I have always been and will continue to be the strength on which they can draw.
Teddy: Can you tell us 3-5 positive things that came out of your relationship with Bruce?
Lynne: This is easy; The pure joy of being loved unconditionally; My patience for how others learn; overcoming my shyness to ask for things for myself as I gained confidence asking for others; my extended family, sister Janice, and others working at KenCrest; My moral compass of justice and fairness.
Teddy: How long did it take you to write ‘Listen To Me’ from concept to fruition?
Lynne: From actually sitting down to create the manuscript from my written notes to the launch date, 11 months.
Teddy: Where did you get the inspiration for your cover?
Lynne: Prior to any serious thought to cover design, I knew the flower would be included on the cover as it was what my brother had chosen for his funeral. My team at Social Books Agency had me research colors, pictures lettering and fonts of other memoirs and autobiographies so my top 3 choices of color scheme, matching the flower, font and lettering were solid prior to even formatting the book. I wanted a picture of children on my cover, none resonating for me. Pure luck had me finding old pictures when we were young that had been stuck in photo albums I had taken from my mother’s apartment after her passing. I hadn’t looked at these albums and thought, perhaps, something would catch my fancy. There we were, in black and white, at the beginning of our journey together. Shading was added to blend with the flower, white instead of beige to accent the blues and blue lettering instead of black for softer blend of color.
Teddy: Which actor/actress would you like to see playing yourself and Bruce, if ‘Listen To Me’ were to be made into a movie or TV show?
Lynne: Thank you for asking this as quite a few people have mentioned they would love to see this as a TV movie so they can “hear” Bruce’s and my conversations.
As the adult me, Sandra Bullock is my size and can be funny, which we learned from Ms. Congeniality. Teen age/college and young adult, perhaps Maddie Ziegler (dancer and athletic) or Millie Bobbie Brown, has my coloring. Not a clue about my 13 -year -old self.
As for Bruce, quite a few down syndrome actors could play him as an older teenager and adult. I am not familiar with younger down syndrome actors.
Teddy: What are you currently working on? Is there another book in your future?
Lynne: I am back to focusing on my first completed manuscript, a children’s book, My Sister Wants An Elephant, looking for an illustrator with whom to partner.
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.
This giveaway is for 3 print copies, one for each of 3 winners and is open to the U.S. only. This giveaway ends on April 15, 2022 midnight, pacific time. Entries accepted via Rafflecopter only.
Finding Sisters: How One Adoptee Used DNA Testing and Determination to Uncover Family Secrets and Find Her Birth Family by Rebecca Daniels
Publisher: Sunbury Press (September 14, 2021) Category: Non Fiction, Memoir, Genetic Genealogy, Adoption, Family Reunion, Extended Families Tour dates: January-February, 2022 ISBN: 978-1620065587 Available in Print and ebook, 125 pages
Description Finding Sisters by Rebecca Daniels
Where does she come from?
Who are her genetic parents?
Who is she?
Does she even want to know?
With almost no information of her genetic heritage, adoptee Rebecca Daniels follows limited clues and uses DNA testing, genealogical research, thoughtful letter writing, and a willingness to make awkward phone calls with strangers to finally find her birth parents.
But along the way, she finds much more.
Two half-sisters.
A slew of cousins on both sides.
A family waiting to be discovered.
With the assistance of a distant cousin in Sweden and several other DNA angels on the internet, Daniels finally comes face to face with her birth mother just months before her passing. Join in on this author’s discovery of family and self in ‘Finding Sisters: How One Adoptee Used DNA Testing and Determination to Uncover Family Secrets and Find Her Birth Family.’
My Thoughts Finding Sisters by Rebecca Daniels
Rebecca Daniels has known from a young age that she and her younger brother were adopted. However, she always felt loved by her adoptive parents and didn’t think much about who her birth parents were.
One day, quite some time after her parents died, a friend, told Rebecca that she was going to have DNA testing and that Rebecca should as well. After giving it some thought, she decided to do it. Her main objective was to find out about any genetic health problems in her birth family.
After submitting her DNA, lots of results started coming in. A bunch of distant cousins, including one in Sweden, Thomas. It turned out to be excellent that she reached out to him as he was really into ancestry and genetics, himself and was very knowledgeable. Via email, he was able to lead Rebecca down the path of finding closer relatives. She eventually found her birth mother who was still alive and living with Rebecca’s half sister. Rebecca arranged to meet them and spend time with them. They lived in a different state. Eventually, she goes on to find more connections including a half sister on her paternal side.
Rebecca shares a lot of information about the steps she took in her search but in such a way that it never got boring. In fact, I couldn’t put the book down and read into the wee hours of the morning. I am a huge fan of the television show ‘Long Lost Family’ so, when I found out about this book, I knew I had to read it. If you enjoy well written memoirs, this book is for you. If you are interested in ancestry and DNA testing and results, this book is for you! I give it 4.5/5 stars and highly recommend it!
I received the eBook for my honest opinion.
Excerpt Finding Sisters by Rebecca Daniels
Excerpt from Chapter Two: I Think We Might Be Related
While I understood exactly what Thomas was talking about, I still didn’t want to move too quickly. I wanted to give Glenna an out in case she really didn’t want to be found, so when I finally wrote that letter, it didn’t say, “I think you’re my mother!” Instead, the phrase I used in my letter was, “I think we might be related.” I decided on a short, hand-written note that told her I had been doing some research into my birth family, that I knew I had been a Baby Jane Doe G—, and that I was wondering whether she was the same Glenna G— who had married Arthur H— in Bremerton less than three months after my birth in the same town.
During the time I was working on exactly what to say to Glenna in my letter, Thomas continued to do research on Glenna’s family and discovered that her adopted mother, Flora, had a sister in Washington State, which made me even more certain we were on the right track. I wrote him back immediately:
That makes a lot of sense to me and is a very exciting development. I’ve been trying to figure out how and why a girl from South Dakota would go to WA State to have her baby, and this information helps a lot. From what I know of illegitimate pregnancies and how they were generally handled in the 1940s and 50s, girls were often sent away when the pregnancy began to show, usually to live with another female relative [ostensibly to help them with something that the parents could comfortably say they are having difficulty with . . . losing weight, doing better in school, getting her emotions under control, etc.], to have the baby there, and then give it up for adoption, before returning home as if nothing out of the ordinary had happened, except that the girl was now more tractable and socially appropriate.
. . .
While I was working on my letter to Glenna, I also started looking for April on Facebook. Luckily for me, she had her privacy screens set so that I could see a few photos of her, and she had also included a couple of images of her parents, Dorian and Glenna, on her page. I wrote to Thomas immediately, but while he had a basic profile, he was not a regular Facebook user, joking that he might be the last person on the planet who is not, but when I sent him the photos I had downloaded from April’s Facebook page, along with a couple from my own page, he replied almost immediately:
April really looks like Glenna. And so do you! You are a young version of her. These pictures are more than I could hope for. We are lucky that you look like Glenna and April. April could have looked like Dorian, but she obviously looks like her mother. The same holds true for you. You seem to have gotten most of your facial features from Glenna’s side. After seeing Glenna’s and your portraits side by side, I am as convinced as I can get that your birth mother is found. The only thing that can make me even more sure is after you have been in contact with Glenna and got it all confirmed with her.
I also sent the photos to a friend here in Massachusetts and asked her if she saw the resemblance. Her reply? “These are your people; this is your tribe.” So, all that remained for me to do was to send that letter to Glenna, and this new information did nothing to change my strategy for what I wrote in the letter. The evening before my birthday, I wrote out a card by hand and got it ready to mail on the morning of March 17, 2015. That same evening, I got an email from my new cousin, Barbara, who had received my letter and wanted to set up a phone conversation the next day. I immediately sent a note to Thomas, telling him about both Barbara’s email and my note to Glenna:
I wrote a short note to Glenna, one that says, “I think we might be related,” so she can finesse the situation if she’s never told April about the adoption [presuming the circumstantial evidence is correct]. I’m nervous but excited to hear from her, but everything I’ve been reading about the post-WWII adoptions tells me that she could have been keeping this secret for 60+ years, and she might not want to open that can of worms at all. Or she might be thrilled to find her daughter, finally. Or anything in between. I didn’t write to April. I’m going to let Glenna tell her whatever she wants to tell her . . .
Thomas wrote back to say he was excited and happy for me and would be squeezing his thumbs for good luck about these contacts I was making, also telling me he appreciated me keeping him informed about the situation, but he did want to disagree with me about one thing:
I think you handled the contact note with Glenna perfectly. Of course, she will understand who you are, and in the same time, you really show her and April all the possible respect. Well done!
There is only one thing I do not agree with—at all—to call your situation a can of worms! You are gift!!! You were a gift 66 years ago that your birth parents, by reasons we do not know, were not able to take care of. No doubt it was your birth mother’s hardest decision during all her life to give you up. Then you became a gift for your parents. And now you might be a most unexpected gift, 66 years later.
I hoped he was right, that my message to Glenna would be welcomed, though I had no further expectations than that. Frankly, it was all I could manage at the time, emotionally speaking. I had initiated contact with some close members of my probable birth family, and now, less than a month after my first interactions with Cousin Thomas, and thanks to his genealogical expertise and enthusiasm, I was standing on the verge of moving from research to reality!
About Rebecca Daniels
Rebecca Daniels (MFA, PhD) taught performance, writing, and speaking in liberal arts universities for over 25 years, including St. Lawrence University in Canton, NY, from 1992-2015. She was the founding producing director of Artists Repertory Theatre in Portland, OR, and directed with many professional Portland theatre companies in the 1980s.
She is the author of the groundbreaking Women Stage Directors Speak: Exploring the Effects of Gender on Their Work (McFarland, 1996, 2000) and has been published in multiple professional theatre journals. After her retirement from teaching, she began her association with Sunbury Press with Keeping the Lights on for Ike: Daily Life of a Utilities Engineer at AFHQ in Europe During WWII; or, What to Say in Letters Home When You’re Not Allowed to Write about the War (Sunbury Press, 2019), a book based on her father’s letters home from Europe during WWII.
She had always known she was adopted, but it was only as retirement approached, and with a friend’s encouragement, that she began the search for her genetic heritage through DNA testing. Finding Sisters explores how DNA testing, combined with traditional genealogical research, helped her find her genetic parents, two half-sisters, and other relatives in spite of being given up for a closed adoption at birth.
She is currently working on a new memoir about her late-in-life second marriage and sudden widowhood titled Adventures with the Bartender: Finding and Losing the Love of my Life in Six Short Years.
This giveaway is for 1 print copy and 1 pdf copy. Print is open to the U.S. only and pdf is open worldwide. This giveaway ends on February 26, 2022 midnight, pacific time. Entries accepted via Rafflecopter only.
Listen To Me: How My Down Syndrome Brother Saved My Life by Lynne Podrat
