Review: David and the Old Man by William Zemba

David Zemba was a young man with a problem that no one seemed able to help him with. He was misunderstood and ostracized by most of his family, with the exception of his faithful brother, Willliam (Bill). Back in the 1960s, anorexia was a relatively unknown disease. If a person had it, no one knew; they just assumed there was something, other than fear of eating or gaining weight, that was the cause.

The book opens with a description of the Zemba family Czech roots and life as a pioneering and farming family. We are introduced to various members of the grandfather's family and finally David's own family, and their transition from a farming family to a suburban family. The author describes the difficulties and stress David's condition caused in family life and how he took it upon himself to be there for his brother and look out for him.

The book describes how each family member came to a christian faith and how this impacted their lives for the better. There are bible verses at the end of each chapter. Those in the earlier chapters do not seem to have much bearing on the content but later on they are quite effective.

Although the book started well, I felt it lost its way towards the end. The latter part of the book seems disjointed and does not flow well. I almost didn't finish reading it as it became quite hard going. I think the author would have done better to stop writing at the end of chapter 10. The author readily accepts he is not adept at writing, and this is his first attempt. I feel he would have benefited from seeking some assistance, particularly with the latter chapters.

This ebook was obtained free from the publisher through the BookSneeze®.com book review bloggers program.

A real person, a lot like you

 Sometimes when we're using computers a lot we can forget we're dealing with a real person on the other end.

What are you worth?

A well-known speaker started off his seminar holding up a $20.00 bill. In the room of 200, he asked, "Who would like this $20 bill?" Hands started going up. He said, "I am going to give this $20 to one of you but first, let me do this." He proceeded to crumple up the $20 dollar bill. He then asked, "Who still wants it?" Still the hands were up in the air. "Well," he replied, "What if I do this?" And he dropped it on the ground and started to grind it into the floor with his shoe. He picked it up, now crumpled and dirty. "Now, who still wants it?" Still the hands went into the air. 

"My friends, we have all learned a very valuable lesson. No matter what I did to the money, you still wanted it because it did not decrease in value. It was still worth $20. Many times in our lives, we are dropped, crumpled, and ground into the dirt by the decisions we make and the circumstances that come our way. We feel as though we are worthless. But no matter what has happened or what will happen, you will never lose your value. Dirty or clean, crumpled or finely creased, you are still priceless to those who DO LOVE you. The worth of our lives comes not in what we do or who we know, but by WHO WE ARE. You are special - don't EVER forget it!