The Message that Families Impacted by Addiction Need to Hear: You Are Not Alone
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When Christine Naman says that her daughter is “doing well,” the caution in her voice is palpable. Addiction recovery is a work in progress — not a quick fix — and Christine has learned to celebrate each day for the tiny victory that it is.
Her daughter, Natalie, was just 15 years old when she became addicted to heroin. They were everyday people, living everyday lives, and then the floor dropped out.
“It’s exactly where you don’t want to end up,” Christine said in a recent interview. “I was caught flat-footed, and I’m embarrassed to say that.”
Christine traces her daughter’s years-long battle with addiction — and her own struggles with denial — in About Natalie, a gripping, cautionary tale of how a child can suddenly end up on the wrong path, meet the wrong people and get lost in the unthinkable.
About Natalie takes readers deep inside Christine’s emotional and mental turmoil as she grows into her new, unfortunate role as the parent of an addict. She steps on syringes left on the floor and wrestles one from the family dog’s mouth. She lives the nightmare of finding an unresponsive child on the floor and uses Narcan to revive her. She chases away a drug dealer and stays up all night waiting for her missing child to come home. She rejoices during periods of recovery and hope and is devastated during relapses. When her daughter suffers, Christine suffers right along with her.
Interwoven with Christine’s reflections are Natalie’s brilliant poems that share her personal pain and the unvarnished truth of her struggle.
Full of compassion, understanding and hope for addicts, About Natalie is a story of fighting for — and right alongside — the ones we love, no matter how difficult the circumstances. It is a story of keeping the faith, battling hard and never giving up.
Bestselling author Christine Pisera Naman is a wife to a beautiful man named Peter and a mother to three fantastic kids named Jason, Natalie and Trevor. In her free time, she enjoys crocheting, which she does poorly; painting, again poorly; and volunteering at her local hospital, which she hopes she does well. She is the author of the Faces of Hope series of books that are now housed in the 9/11 Memorial Museum in New York City. Her other works include Caterpillar Kisses, Christmas Lights, The Novena and The Believers. About Natalie is her heart poured onto paper.
She hopes that by sharing her family’s difficult story she can bring understanding and knowledge to those who do not know the problem firsthand as well as provide comfort to those who know the nightmare of addiction all too well.
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“About Natalie is groundbreaking. It doesn’t preach or pretend to offer a panacea. Instead, it offers a refreshing, authentic look at one family’s struggle with addiction, easily the most powerful book published on the subject in the 21st century.” — Dr. Maryel McKinley PhD, Addictions Expert, Former Co-Host, “All Talk Recovery Radio,” Los Angeles, Ar-bitron rated No. 1 in Southern California
Like the band that played on as the Titanic sank, Christine Naman unpacked the groceries and made a meatloaf — the simple act of normalcy distracting her from an unthinkable reality: addiction was pulling her daughter under.
“Even with the picture of the situation coming more clearly into focus, I clung to denial like a kayaker who has been thrown from his boat would cling to a branch lying across the water,” Christine says. “It is amazing how deep into denial a person can go and how strongly they can hang onto it before reality smacks them around enough so that they let go.”
Christine traces her daughter’s years-long battle with addiction in About Natalie, a gripping, cautionary tale of how, in spite of a loving family and a comfortable life, a child can end up on the wrong path, meet the wrong people and get lost in the unthinkable.
About Natalie takes readers deep inside Christine’s emotional and mental turmoil as she grows into her new, unfortunate role as the parent of an addict. She steps on syringes left on the floor and wrestles one from the family dog’s mouth. She lives the nightmare of finding an unresponsive child on the floor and uses Narcan to revive her. She chases away a drug dealer and stays up all night waiting for her missing child to come home. She rejoices during periods of recovery and hope and is devastated during relapses. When her daughter suffers, Christine suffers right along with her.
Interwoven with Christine’s reflections are Natalie’s compelling poems that share her personal pain and the unvarnished truth of her struggle.
At its core, About Natalie is a story of fighting for — and right alongside — the ones we love, no matter how difficult the circumstances. It is a story of keeping the faith, battling hard and never giving up.
Bestselling author Christine Pisera Naman is a wife to a beautiful man named Peter and a mother to three fantastic kids named Jason, Natalie and Trevor. In her free time, she enjoys crocheting, which she does poorly; painting, again poorly; and volunteering at her local hospital, which she hopes she does well. She is the author of the Faces of Hope series of books that are now housed in the 9/11 Memorial Museum in New York City. Her other works include Caterpillar Kisses, Christmas Lights, The Novena and The Believers. About Natalie is her heart poured onto paper.
She hopes that by sharing her family’s difficult story she can bring understanding and knowledge to those who do not know the problem firsthand as well as provide comfort to those who know the nightmare of addiction all too well.
About Natalie Publisher: HCI Books Release Date: May 2021 ISBN-13: 978-0-7573-2385-0 (Paperback) ISBN-13: 978-0-7573-2386-7 (ePub) Available from Amazon.com
Trish Stevens Lindsey Mach Ascot Media Group, Inc. Post Office Box 2394 Friendswood, TX 77549 [email protected] www.ascotmedia.com 281.333.3507 Phone
The Future of Us: What the Dreams of Children Mean for Twenty-First-Century America
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His approach is always subtle; his banter is casual and absent any pressure to respond. But when renowned pediatrician and children’s advocate Dr. Irwin Redlener casually asks his young patients, “What do you want to be when you grow up?” the lights invariably come on, eye contact occurs, and the child emerges from deep inside a protective shell. “Children are essentially dreamers … undaunted by adversity or reality-based barriers to success,” Dr. Redlener writes in The Future of Us: What the Dreams of Children Mean for Twenty-First-Century America (with updated information on helping children through the COVID-19 crisis).
Inadequate education, barriers to health care and crushing poverty make it overwhelmingly difficult for many children to realize their dreams. Finding ways to alter these trajectories is serious, grown-up business, Dr. Redlener emphasizes, and it’s time for us to act.
In The Future of Us, Dr. Redlener draws upon his four decades of professional experiences to examine our nation’s health care safety nets and special programs that are designed to protect and nurture our most vulnerable kids, but that too often fail to do so.
The book follows Dr. Redlener’s long, colorful career, from his work as a pediatrician in the Arkansas delta, to treating child abuse in a Miami hospital, to helping children in the aftermaths of 9/11 and Hurricane Katrina. He has served on the board of USA for Africa, cofounded the Children’s Health Fund with Paul Simon (and persuaded Joan Baez to play a benefit concert) and dined with Fidel Castro. He once sat across the table from Michael Jackson, and he has traveled with presidential candidates. But his most powerful source of motivation remains the children who face terrible adversities yet dream of becoming paleontologists, artists and marine biologists. Their stories are his springboard for discussing larger policy issues that hinder us from effectively eradicating childhood poverty and overcoming barriers to accessible health care. Persistent deprivation and the avoidable problems that accompany poverty ensnare millions of children and impact the health, prosperity and creativity of the adults they become. Dr. Redlener argues that we must drastically change our approach to meeting the needs of children ― for their sake and to ensure America’s resiliency and influence in an increasingly complex world.
It is Dr. Redlener’s hope that readers will emerge optimistic about our future, with a deeper understanding of how investing in children today will increase our chances of a successful tomorrow. Fighting for our nation’s children is far from a lost cause, and nothing could be more important.
Author Irwin Redlener, M.D., is a pediatrician and founding director of the National Center for Disaster Preparedness at Columbia University’s Earth Institute, which works to understand and improve the nation’s capacity to prepare for, respond to, and recover from disasters. In 2020, Dr. Redlener created the Pandemic Resource and Response Initiative at Columbia. He is a public health analyst for NBC and MSNBC, and recently partnered with Cher in CherCares, a new program that assists communities struggling with COVID-19.
Dr. Redlener is also President Emeritus and Co-Founder of the Children’s Health Fund, a philanthropic initiative that he created with singer/songwriter Paul Simon and Karen Redlener to develop health care programs in 25 of the nation’s most medically underserved urban and rural communities. He currently serves as a special advisor on emergency preparedness to New York Mayor Bill de Blasio, and regularly communicates with leadership in U.S. Departments of Health and Human Services, as well as Homeland Security. He has been a public health advisor to democratic Presidential nominee Joe Biden.
He is also the author of Americans at Risk: Why We Are Not Prepared for Megadisasters and What We Can Do Now. For more information, please visit www.irwinredlener.org.
The Future of Us: What the Dreams of Children Mean for Twenty-First-Century America Publisher: Columbia University Press Release Date: October 13, 2020 ISBN-10: 0231177577 ISBN-13: 978-0231177573 Available from Amazon.com
Trish Stevens Judy Frost Ascot Media Group, Inc. Post Office Box 2394 Friendswood, TX 77549 [email protected] www.ascotmedia.com 281.333.3507 Phone
Humane Policing Outlines Groundbreaking Approach To Widespread Police Reform
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The days since George Floyd’s death have simultaneously united and divided communities all over the world. “I can’t breathe” has become a battle cry; 8:46 an unsettling reminder of how long Floyd struggled for air. Is there any way to rebuild a system that has collapsed under the weight of its own power?
Former marine and one-time sheriff’s deputy Darron Spencer offers hope for police departments and the communities they serve. His revolutionary approach to law enforcement, called “humane policing,” aims to help officers diffuse dangerous situations, induce cooperation, preserve lives, and ultimately enjoy long and fulfilling careers protecting and serving the public.
Spencer’s book, Humane Policing: How Perspectives Can Influence Our Performance, shares his insightful, experience-based techniques for those in law enforcement while also enlightening the public about the complexities of the job and the balancing act undertaken by the men and women in uniform every day.
The book demonstrates — through real-life-inspired examples — how self-control and understanding can mitigate potentially dangerous situations and save lives.
Humane Policing explores the changes that law enforcement needs to make, chronicles the experiences that shaped Spencer’s personal perspective, and offers life-changing tools to help officers everywhere better serve their communities.
Author Darron Spencer worked in a patrol division for just 20 months before a debilitating condition ended his career. As a deputy, Spencer oversaw more than 250 cases that resulted in 40 felony and 74 misdemeanor arrests. He assisted in four death investigations and booked in more than 150 pieces of evidence. He was awarded Deputy of the Year and received the Ribbon of Merit.
He achieved tremendous success gaining cooperation from individuals, suspects and even career criminals while investigating cases. In fact, 90% of those he arrested actually thanked him for his service. When Spencer’s police work was cut short, he sought a new avenue to public service.
Now he travels the country to meet with local police departments and share his approach to policing. His goal is to improve the relationships between law enforcement agencies and the communities they serve and ultimately the public image of law enforcement officers on a national scale.
For more information on Spencer and his approach to humane policing, please visit www.humanepolicing.com.
Trish Stevens Teresa Hinojosa Ascot Media Group, Inc. Post Office Box 2394 Friendswood, TX 77549 832.569.5773 Direct 281.333.3507 Phone [email protected] www.ascotmedia.com
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Walk With Apostle Peter On His Journey Toward Understanding The Power Of The Holy Spirit
A lot of people believe in Jesus Christ but few have a deep, personal relationship with him. Fewer still have a full comprehension of the power of the Holy Spirit. What about you? Are you trying to follow Jesus, but feel like you are falling short? Or perhaps you feel good about your relationship with Jesus, but deep down, you expected to feel differently when you ac-cepted Jesus into your heart and life — there has to be more, right?
Many Christians have become comfortable with the status quo of their faith. They go to church. Lead good lives. Do good deeds. All the while, they read about the intangible con-cept of the Holy Spirit. They listen in church as the pastor speaks of the miracles throughout Acts.
Jesus and Paul and Peter talk about a new power, but what could this power actually look like in day-to-day life?
In The Missing Link: Your Journey With Peter From Self Power to Holy Spirit Power, author Sam Hunter takes readers along on a journey with Apostle Peter, as he transforms from self-centered into being truly filled with the power of the Holy Spirit following Jesus’ return to Heaven.
Told entirely from Peter’s perspective, The Missing Link is a conversational, thought-provoking read that aims to help readers understand the unique and often misunderstood concept of the Holy Spirit. Readers will see the Holy Spirit in a whole new light and learn to appropriate and live with this new power that Jesus promised.
Hunter’s approach is engaging and down-to-earth, with lessons taken directly from scripture woven seamlessly throughout. The Missing Link is for anyone seeking a closer walk with Je-sus and a deeper understanding of the power of the Holy Spirit.
Educated and trained as a structural design engineer, author Sam Hunter spent 20 years in real estate and construction. Jesus turned the light on when Hunter was 38, and he was born again. He has been teaching and preaching about following Jesus for 20 years. He is the host of 721 Live, the radio arm of 721 Ministries and can be heard Fridays 11:00-11:30 on FM91.9 and FM92.9 Christian Talk Radio. He is also the author of The Putting Green Devotional Series for men and women and has produced two DVD curriculums: Contentment: The Path to Peace; and Fear: Do you React in Fear or Respond in Faith? His aim is to help men and women find and live “Life to the Full.” He resides in Greenville, SC.
The Missing Link
Release Date: October 2019
Publisher: High Bridge Books
ISBN-10: 1946615439
ISBN-13: 978-1946615435
Available from Amazon.com and from www.PuttingGreenBlog.com/store
