Rick Yost

Life with a Crooked Eye Rick Yost 1. izdevums

This is an easy-to-read story that begins with the writer as a child, born into a lower-class family plagued by alcoholism, violence and abuse. Lighthearted at times, this memoir takes the reader through his life of depression, twisted at an early age by self-image and self-esteem issues. From being a fourth-grader with a physical deformity, who tries his best to make friends and fit in; to being the junior high school kid who makes a decision that changes the rest of his life. The writer tells of his alcoholic father who would spend all the rent money in bars, come home in drunken tirades, and beat his older brothers. Then he candidly describes how those same older brothers and an older sister began to sexually abuse him when he was two, and did so for years. As an adult, he tells of his loving romance with a young and beautiful girl that turned sad when his ex-fiancée suffered a stroke. He describes having to go from passionate lover to responsible caregiver overnight when she became a quadriplegic in a wheelchair. He then speaks frankly about the diabetes that caused the amputation of both his legs, how he learned to walk again with prosthetic limbs, and how he found an inner strength he never knew he had. Seasoned with wisdom and poignant honesty, this is the story of a damaged child turned adult, and his struggle to accept the damage done.