Hidden Destiny
Page Turners
A page turner is a great way to recharge our battery, be entertained, and broaden our minds. Books are amazing things—opening our hearts to new understandings and renewing our energy for life.
The other night I spent an evening with the Page Turners—a book club. A wonderful group of readers who chose to read my debut novel. Later they met at a local Borders to discuss the book and go over the Reader’s Guide. After that I joined them, gave a little talk, and answered questions.
We talked about the realities of Amish life compared to the book. I think the main question in everyone’s mind was how accurate was my depiction of the Amish community in relation to how Hannah’s father (Zeb) handled things when trauma entered their lives.
I don’t think the answer to that is found within the Amish community as much as it’s found within the human community.
Since the conception of the book, I’ve talked to a few Old Order Amish and Plain Mennonite women about this very subject and we came to the conclusion that we all either have or know fathers who would react as Zeb did.
A percentage of men, whether Amish, Mennonite, or Englischer, would handle a traumatic event by:
1. trying to do damage control (rather than meeting the inner needs of those who are traumatized)
2. trying to fix the problem by willing the person or people to be fine or downplaying the pain they are in (i.e. you’re tough enough to handle this, rather than what do we need to do for you to handle this)
3. closing themselves off emotionally and going on with their life as if nothing had happened
4. by blaming the person or people who was/were injured (if you hadn’t . . . then this wouldn’t have happened)
These are human reactions.
Trauma to a family unit can do horrible things to it and if a family has never seen such events happen, they aren’t likely to handle it well, not in the beginning.
The Page Turners shared a wonderful evening with me as we explored the Amish lifestyle and compared it to our own lives. Nora is the group’s leader. I had met Nora a few weeks prior to this & was immediately was drawn to her.
Marla, Ginger, Tricia, Ane, Kris, Shellie, and Cindy each shared the gift of a fresh perspective and I left wishing there was more time for me to connect with each one individually. The group was also blessed to have three wonderful young people: Scott 16, Hilary 15, and Morgan 13, whose very presence reminded me of all the wonderful books yet to be written by that generation.
The other night I spent an evening with the Page Turners—a book club. A wonderful group of readers who chose to read my debut novel. Later they met at a local Borders to discuss the book and go over the Reader’s Guide. After that I joined them, gave a little talk, and answered questions.
We talked about the realities of Amish life compared to the book. I think the main question in everyone’s mind was how accurate was my depiction of the Amish community in relation to how Hannah’s father (Zeb) handled things when trauma entered their lives.
I don’t think the answer to that is found within the Amish community as much as it’s found within the human community.
Since the conception of the book, I’ve talked to a few Old Order Amish and Plain Mennonite women about this very subject and we came to the conclusion that we all either have or know fathers who would react as Zeb did.
A percentage of men, whether Amish, Mennonite, or Englischer, would handle a traumatic event by:
1. trying to do damage control (rather than meeting the inner needs of those who are traumatized)
2. trying to fix the problem by willing the person or people to be fine or downplaying the pain they are in (i.e. you’re tough enough to handle this, rather than what do we need to do for you to handle this)
3. closing themselves off emotionally and going on with their life as if nothing had happened
4. by blaming the person or people who was/were injured (if you hadn’t . . . then this wouldn’t have happened)
These are human reactions.
Trauma to a family unit can do horrible things to it and if a family has never seen such events happen, they aren’t likely to handle it well, not in the beginning.
The Page Turners shared a wonderful evening with me as we explored the Amish lifestyle and compared it to our own lives. Nora is the group’s leader. I had met Nora a few weeks prior to this & was immediately was drawn to her.
Marla, Ginger, Tricia, Ane, Kris, Shellie, and Cindy each shared the gift of a fresh perspective and I left wishing there was more time for me to connect with each one individually. The group was also blessed to have three wonderful young people: Scott 16, Hilary 15, and Morgan 13, whose very presence reminded me of all the wonderful books yet to be written by that generation.
posted by Cindy Woodsmall @ 6:47 AM
2 Comments:
At 9:16 AM,
Anonymous said…
Dear Cindy;
It was a nice surprise to see you had written about coming to the book club. I e-mailed all the ladies in both book clubs that you had written about our group and to check it out.
I loved what you explained about Trauma to the family unit. My younger son (now 8) was born with V.A.T.E.R.A.L. he has had 38 surgeries to date (28 in the first 2 1/2 years of his life)
If it weren't for the body of Christ LOVING us and praying us through those years we wouldn't have survived. We have been surgery free for 2 years. It's been wonderful.
Thanks again for your kind words.
Merry Christmas
Nora St.Laurent (Head Pager Turner)
At 5:36 PM,
Anonymous said…
In comparing the Amish, Mennonite, Englischer father's trauma reactions, I saw my father use all 4 suggested tactics at the same time during recent family trials.
Post a Comment
<< Home