Traveling A Rocky Road WITH LOVE, FAITH, AND GUTS
By Sylvia L. Ramsey
Published by CreateSpace, North Charleston, SC.
ISBN: 1463554672
124 pages
In Traveling A Rocky Road With Love, Faith, and Guts, Sylvia Ramsey takes you on a journey through her life, mostly the challenging times. Her adventure has not been an easy one filled with warm baked cookies and a mother who supported her. Instead you learn of someone who has had a life full of tragedy…one after another, yet Sylvia always emerges a stronger, smarter woman and human being for her effort. She labels herself as a survivor and indeed she is. When other women would have given in to emotional surrender, Sylvia pushes through life with courage and strength.
This is the story of a woman; a daughter, a mother, a cancer survivor. This woman of solid perseverance, despite the hand she’s been dealt, has shaped a very full life. The daughter of a mother who suffered a nervous breakdown while she was young, causing immense emotional scarring, she turned to the comfort and steadfast demeanor of her father. This man too was a symbol of strength no doubt where Sylvia gets this phenomenal trait. He was supportive and emotionally stable enough to rear a strong girl. As the story progresses you learn that her father passes away and presents the need for another caregiver for the emotionally unstable mother, thus defaulting to Sylvia.
Sylvia’s father was a strong man and role model, though not by any means easy on her. She was not allowed to date and eventually eloped and married a man whom she had only dated on a chaperoned evening. Her husband, a career military man is rough, mean and abusive for the majority of their early married life. Sylvia eventually leaves this man yet later goes back to remarry him as the result of a guilt ridden plea from her father who feels marriage is always and forever. As they remarry, to the disappointment of her mother, Sylvia struggles with the hurt and disappointment of a parent and suffers through many months of failed mother daughter relationship.
This is a book about the climb from tragedy to triumph. Despite the challenges of a less than perfect marriage with continued struggles, she goes back to school and finishes her degree. She perseveres and never gives up. She plows away at her personal education and on a professional level begins a theatre arts program at a school where she taught. The story of “Charlie” was my favorite chapter as it depicts a young man in her life that is forever changed a better human being with Sylvia’s help.
Following this, she learns on the SAME day as her husband that they both have cancer. She survives bladder cancer and overcomes yet another obstacle in her life, this one of imperfect health. She eventually becomes a supporter for SPORE (Specialized program of research excellence) and goes to Washington, DC as an advocate for Bladder Cancer survivors.
Sylvia Ramsey’s book is her second; following “Pulse Points of a Woman’s World” It is a reminder of how important it is to live a full life despite what the grand plan is. We should all continue trying and achieve all we are capable of. It is the story of one courageous woman, an example of how many there truly are. Her story encourages us all to support one another and to remember that as women, we are strong and pillars of strength.
Theresa Potts
Book Reviewer
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