The Topaz Collection: Did you ever have an experience and know at once that the memories of that moment would last you a lifetime? These are the ah-hamoments we repeatedly replay in our heads, such as the moment in Charlotte Snead's story, "Becoming Grandmother" when her newly adopted grandson realized that she was his grandmother, rather than a part-time caretaker. Or perhaps you gathered your most precious memories from a cluster of experiences spread over an extended period in time, such as in Melanie Sue Bowles' story "A Horse Named Cody," when she slowly mastered the technique of communicating with her recalcitrant horse. Reading about experiences such as these are likely to enrich your life evermore. The Awakenings stories found within the pages of this book fall into one of the above two categories. They will warm your heart as they inspire you to live your life to its fullest. Don't be surprised if you begin to view the world and your place in it slightly differently after savoring the Tales 2 Inspire Topaz Collection of Awakenings stories.

Happy times, a sunny day, a driving drunk, eight lives forever changed. A mother's account of actual events of her family, filled with laughter, love, loss, and survival. It is a day like any other, except the intense heat wave has broken and signs of early fall are in the air. Around the dining room table of her 100 year old farmhouse Micki Peluso's six children along with three of their friends eagerly gulp down a chicken dinner. As soon as the last morsel is ravished, the lot of them is off in different directions. Except for the one whose turn it is to do the dishes. After offering her mother a buck if she'll do them, with an impish grin, the child rushes out the front door, too excited for a hug, calling out, "Bye Mom," as the door slams shut. For the Peluso's the nightmare begins. Micki and Butch face the horror every parent fears-awaiting the fate of one of their children. While sitting vigil in the ICU waiting room, Micki traverses the past, as a way of dealing with an inconceivable future. From the bizarre teenage elopement with her high school sweetheart, Butch, in a double wedding with her own mother, to comical family trips across country in an antiquated camper with six kids and a dog, they leave a path of chaos, antics and destruction in their wake. Micki relives the happy times of raising six children while living in a haunted house, as the young parents grow up with their kids. She bravely attempts to be the man of the house while her husband, Butch is working out of town. Hearing strange noises, which all the younger kids are sure is the ghosts, Micki tiptoes down to the cellar, shotgun in hand and nearly shoots an Idaho potato that has fallen from the pantry and thumped down the stairs. Of course her children feel obligated to tell the world. Just when their lives are nearly perfect, tragedy strikes-and the laughter dies. A terrible accident takes place in the placid valley nestled within the Susquehanna Mountains in the town of Williamsport, Pennsylvania. On a country lane just blocks from the family's hundred year old haunted farmhouse, lives are changed forever. In a state of shock, Micki muses through their delightful past to avoid confronting an uncertain future-as the family copes with fear and apprehension. One of her six children is fighting for life in Intensive Care. Both parents are pressured by doctors to disconnect Noelle, their fourteen-year-old daughter. Her beautiful girl, funny and bright, who breathes life into every moment, who does cartwheels in piles of Autumn leaves, who loves to sing and dance down country roads, and above all loves her family with all her soul. How can Micki let this child go? The family embarks upon yet another journey, to the other side of sorrow and grasps the poignant gift of life as they begin. . .to weep. . .to laugh. . .to grieve. . .to dance-and forgive.