I read a "good book" when connecting in Atlanta to head back to Florida.
It was anything but good in the sense that it was an "enjoyable" read. Ok, so what the heck am I getting at then right. Well, it was a book about one of the worst reported cases in child abuse in the state of Florida. Actually it was the third worse supposedly. So why was it a "good book" then.

Well, the reasons being that for one, each and every one of us has a responsibility to be aware of this. When I began reading this, I thought, is this real. I kept looking for something that eluded to fiction, but I never found it. I just could not believe what I was reading. There was never one good moment in the book, except one in the middle of the book. He called his "tormentor" something in a particular way (in his own thoughts). I couldn't stop laughing. A sentence that normally would have perhaps made me smirk with a light laugh, but it was as if there was a moment of victory, for his beaten spirit. I still laugh now.

There really isn't a feeling of happiness in the end where you walk away with a lump in your throat either......I like those, but not this one. Instead, you feel like you want do something for those who may be going through anything remotely similar. Even if it is just being more aware of child abuse, in whatever form it is.

The other thing it does for you is it puts things in perspective. My life is extremely stressful right now, however, lately I keep thinking of what this unfortunate kid went through and I feel a bit shamed to make my problems as big as they are. I guess sometimes we are unable to see past our problems and just make them big because we don't know any bigger. (make sense?) Well, that expression "Someone always has it worse" certainly applies here.

When I was reading this I was staring out the plane window just thinking. One of the thoughts besides sharing this with you, was the gripes that you often hear with respect to the caribbean. I just laughed. In comparison to this kids (now adult) story, it seems laughable. Now that doesn't mean that I won't be writing about condtions that perhaps bother me when I get down there, but I hope I remember this book and keep things in perspective.

And if nothing else, it's a triumph of the human spirit.

It's only 10 bucks, takes 2-3 hours to read, not a thick book or big. It's called, "A child called 'it' " by ***** Pelzer (himself)