August 4, 2024 LEARNING TO FLY

 

Kamala Harris is like a breath of fresh air. She's an intelligent, compassionate person with impressive public speaking skills to boot. That's something the Democratic party DESPERATELY NEEDS if they want to win this election. The excitement surrounding her nomination is real. Donations are piling in and people finally feel hopeful. Her credentials are impressive--former Attorney General, District Attorney, Senator and Vice President of the United States. And SHE'S A WOMEN. She cares about reproductive freedom, women's health care and access to abortion. This is the 21 century---we don't want to go back to the 1950's or the dystopian plan called PROJECT 2025. I can't fathom why any woman would vote for anyone else for those reasons alone. Harris said, "We have the choice between "freedom" and "chaos"---We all lived the chaos of the Trump years once AND LOOK WHAT HAPPENED. I can't do THAT again.  I'll get off my pot now---and review Ann Napolitano's lovely novel Dear Edward. As this heartbreaking story unfolds, 12 yr old Edward Alder is on a flight from Newark to California with his 15 year old brother, Jordan, and parents, Bruce and Jane. Several hours into the flight, the plane crashes outside of Denver and Edward is the only survivor. When Edward gets out of the hospital, he is taken in by his aunt Lacey and uncle John and moves to New York. This is where Edward befriends Shay and learns to deal with the grief of losing his family and the guilt associated with being the only survivor of flight 2977. This haunting but ultimately hopeful story flips back and forth between chapters as the reader meets several passengers on the plane including Crispin Cox, Ben Stillman, Linda Stollen--and Edwards present life and how he heals and begins to live again. This is a well written book with many interesting characters that I definitely recommend. It's an easy read of about 350 pages that you will never forget.