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    Life and Then Some
    Life and Then Some
    Life and Then Some
    Ebook157 pages1 hour

    Life and Then Some

    By Giacomo Giammatteo

    ()

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    About this ebook

    What is this book about? I’m not sure. And that’s probably a bad thing for the author to admit, but it’s true. This book is a compilation of blogs, stories, and memories told in a way that I hope will have some impact.
    Some of them are simply lessons learned the way they should be. Some are observations. And some are life’s lessons learned the difficult way—painfully.

    But at times, it takes a certain amount of pain to make a lesson stick. If you’ve ever had something cut out your heart, you probably won’t forget what caused it.

    So here are a few stories to make you laugh and a few that may make you cry. Either way, I hope you get something beneficial out of the reading.

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherGiacomo Giammatteo
    Release dateMar 14, 2018
    ISBN9781940313863
    Life and Then Some
    Author

    Giacomo Giammatteo

    Giacomo Giammatteo lives in Texas, where he and his wife run an animal sanctuary and take care of 41 loving rescues. By day, he works as a headhunter in the medical device industry, and at night, he writes.

    Read more from Giacomo Giammatteo

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      Book preview

      Life and Then Some - Giacomo Giammatteo

      Part I

      Writing Lessons

      What are writing lessons doing in a book on life? Writing is about life, or it should be. It draws from an author’s real-life experience, or of those they know well.

      Without real-life experiences to use as examples, a writer’s stories would be dull and have little meaning. Readers wouldn’t be able to empathize with the characters mentioned throughout the novel.

      So for better or worse, real-life experiences are, and will continue to be, a major part of writing—at least good writing.

      The Perfect Hospital Water Fountain

      Substance Abuse

      Addiction and substance abuse affect almost every family in the country. If you don’t have someone in your family afflicted or don’t have a relative affected, chances are you know someone who does. While I was growing up I didn’t realize this. Back then addiction was the kind of thing that was kept hidden. That uncle who was so hilarious was only that way to us kids—we didn’t have to tend to him later on.

      Life Happens

      Long after I got married, my wife and I started having problems with our youngest son. We thought it was us.

      What did we do wrong?

      We felt alone, isolated, embarrassed. We went to bed every night with new prayers, hoping to be answered. We had no idea so many other parents were experiencing the same thing, and so we tried dealing with it ourselves, tackling the problem the only way we knew how.

      We insisted he stop hanging out with his friends. They were a bad influence—didn’t work.

      We implemented strict curfews, followed by even stricter grounding—didn’t work.

      I engaged in father/son talks—didn’t work.

      We sent him to a military institution for troubled youths—didn’t work.

      Intensive Care

      For years, the issue seemed to come and go, but unless it reared up in our face, causing problems that could not be denied, we avoided it. I avoided it in my writing too. The subject was too close—with a son who was an addict and a brother who died from alcoholism.

      my son in hosptial

      Then, when my son almost died, and I spent weeks in the ICU waiting room, it made a different impression. I realized that being embarrassed about substance abuse wasn’t good enough. I needed to talk about it, and perhaps help someone else. Another parent. A kid in trouble.

      Someone.

      It sounds strange to say but spending all that time in the ICU helped my writing. It made me realize that characters can be grieving and hurting and still find things to laugh about. Sitting in that waiting room, night after night, I noticed how each person handled the situation in their own way.

      Waiting

      We were at the intensive care unit from early morning until late at night. We didn’t know if my son would die, or if he’d live and be brain dead. We didn’t know if he’d walk or would require care for the rest of his life.

      All of these things passed through our minds every day, every hour. We found it difficult to deal with. I was getting business calls, and I tried to answer and deal with them—the show must go on, right? But I couldn’t put any enthusiasm in my voice, no matter how I tried. The excitement couldn’t be manufactured. I couldn’t laugh.

      Emiliana

      Then one night, my wife was in the room with our son and I was manning the ICU waiting room with my six-year-old niece, Emiliana. She asked for my iPhone so she could take pictures. After a few seconds, I heard her squeal with delight, the way only little kids can.

      Emiliana

      I looked at her and said, What’s going on, Emiliana?

      She ran to me, a smile as big as Christmas morning on her face.I finally found it, Giacomo.

      What?

      "The perfect hospital water fountain. Look! I can’t believe it."

      I looked at the picture—the starkness, the simplicity, and then looked at the wonderment on Emiliana’s face.

      Perfect hospital water fountain

      There wasn’t much that could have put a smile on my face that night—my son waking up would have been the first, but The Perfect Hospital Water Fountain came in second.

      While I sat and stared at the picture, my wife came out and told me our son was conscious and had talked. So Emiliana was right—it was the perfect hospital water fountain.

      I have learned to appreciate the simpler things in life since that night. Especially the wonderment of children.

      So How Did This Help My Writing?

      It taught me to trust my feelings, not hide from them. In the past, if I had a character with a problem that too closely mirrored one of mine, I glossed it over, or ignored it. Now I know different. Now, I know I should share those feelings. So if one of my characters gets in trouble, I pour my soul into it. Not only does it make for better reading, but who knows, if I’m lucky, it might even help someone.

      Has substance abuse touched your life? Or your family? Feel free to write to me privately at gg@ giacomog.com .

      If you know someone who needs help, have them contact a professional. My son Tony, clean now for eight years, runs a 63-bed rehab center in the Houston area. People are encouraged to contact him confidentially at intoactionrecovery.com.

      Why My Characters Drink Coffee

      Ihad a few readers write to me and ask why my characters drink so much coffee. The first email I got, I brushed off. Maybe they’re not a coffee drinker, I thought. But then I got another, and yet one more. At that point I was forced to give it some thought, so here is the answer .

      The Reason My Characters Drink Coffee is…

      …because everybody I knew while I was growing up drank a lot of coffee. My great Aunt Kate used to put coffee in my baby bottle when I was only two years old.

      We lived in the city in a small row house and Aunt Kate lived around the corner. She had emphysema and the walk up the hill made her cough. Whenever I heard that cough my feet started kicking, hands waving, and strange babbling sounds

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