Forever and Ever, Amen:
A Memoir of Music, Faith, and Braving the Storms of Life by Randy Travis

1: Pull The Plug

It was a sound I had become much too familiar with- the constant whirr of the machine that was keeping my collapsed lungs breathing, the incessant beep, beep, beep sound of the heart monitor. This was the soundtrack to the constant swirl of pensive doctors and nurses flitting in and out of my hospital room, poking one of my arms and then the other, taking more blood, running another test.

You should always be careful what you say in a hospital room when a patient is unconscious or in a come. Don’t ever utter a negative statement about his or her condition because the person in the coma might well be able to hear you.

I know this is true. Because when I was in that state someone said the unthinkable.

“He’s not going to make it.”
“Maybe it’s time to discontinue life support.”
“He can’t survive this.”
“It’s time to pull the plug.”

Recipe for a Perfect Wife by Karma Brown

It was late in both day and season for planting, but she had no choice in the matter. Her husband hadn’t understood the urgency, having never nurtured a garden. Nor did he hold an appreciation for its bounty, and as a result had been gently irritable with her that morning. Wishing she would focus on more important tasks instead, of which there were many, as they’d moved in only the week before. It was true much of the garden could wait – little happened during these later months, as bulbs rested dormant, waiting for the rain and warmth of spring. But this particular plant, with it’s bell-shaped flowers plentiful, would not be so patient. Besides, it was a gift and came with specific instructions, so there was no alternative but to get it in the ground. Today.

Bite Me: Tell-All Tales of an Emergency Veterinarian by Laura Lefkowitz DVM

Chapter 1
Night Of Traumas

Summer is the busy season in the veterinary ER business. Dogs and cats are fighting, animals bolting in front of cars, and garbage cans are being knocked over, their contents scavenged. Grass awns are finding their way into our animals’ eyes and ears. Owners are camping with their dogs who are drinking stagnant water, eating poisonous mushrooms, and riding loose in truck beds. Hunting dogs are nosing up to venomous snakes, or cornering sharp-toothed animals, or overheating in the excitement of the chase. Disease-carrying ticks, mosquitoes, and fleas are biting through the protective fur of animals’ coats. Unvaccinated puppies are sniffing virus-laden feces in the park. Cats are scrapping over their territories and arriving at out hospital with nasty wounds on their bodies. Every summer the veterinary business booms.

The Family Journal by Carolyn Brown

Chapter One
When you come to the end of the rope, it’s time to tie a knot and hang on. Lily Anderson had reached the place where there wasn’t even enough rope left to tie a knot. She’d thought about her problem for a whole day, made a few phone calls, and now her mind was made up. She was moving her kids out of the city of Austin and to her hometown of Comfort, Texas – population a little more than three thousand.

Would you keep reading?

Running with Sherman: The Donkey with the Heart of a Hero by Christopher McDougall

1

I knew something was wrong the second the pickup truck pulled into our driveway. I’d been waiting for Wes for more than an hour, and now, before he even came to a stop, the look in his eyes warned me to brace myself.

“He’s in rough shape,” Wes said as he got out of the truck. “Rougher than I thought.” I’ve know Wes for more than ten years, nearly from the day my wife and I first uprooted ourselves from Philadelphia to live on this small farm in Pennsylvania Amish country, and I’d never seen him so grim before. Together, we walked behind the pickup and pulled open the trailer doors.

I took a look inside, then immediately grabbed in my pocket for my phone. Luckily, I had the number I needed. “Scott, you’ve got to get over here. This is really bad.”

Her Daughter’s Mother by Daniela Petrova

Prologue
I watched her walk down the street. She had a fast, determined pace, kew where she was going. No hesitation, no window-shopping as she passed boutiques and gourmet grocery stores. Not even cute dogs or babies distracted her. A woman on a mission. A woman who didn’t bother glancing back. A woman easy to follow. I kept my distance just in case.

This Is How It Always Is by Laurie Frankel

Once Upon A Time, Claude Was Born
But first, Roo was born. Roosevelt Walsh-Adams. They Had decided to hyphenate because-and in spite-of all the unusual reasons but mostly so their firstborn could have his grandfather’s name without sounding too presidential, which seemed to his parents like a lot of pressure for a six pound, two ounce, brand new tiny human. First Roo was born, all pink and sticky and loud and miraculous. Then Ben was born. Then they debated and deliberated and decided just one more and therefore got twins- Rigel and Orion- who were no doubt going to voice hostility about their names when they became older than four,especially when Rigel found out he was named after the constellation’s toe, but who for the moment were too little and too loud to car. The leap from two to four felt astronomical, so their parents had turned to the heavens.

Every Tuesday I host First Chapter First Paragraph Tuesday Intros sharing the first paragraph or two of a book that I’m reading or plan to read soon

Feel free to join in by posting your own FCFPTI and linking below

Louisiana’s Way Home by Kate DiCamillo

I am going to write it all down, so that what happened to me will be known, so that if someone were to stand at their window at night and look up at the stars and think, My goodness, whatever happened to Louisiana Elefante? Where did she go? they will have an answer. They will know.
This is what happened.
I will begin at the beginning.

The beginning is that my great-grandfather was a magician, and long, long ago he set into motion a most terrible curse.
But right now you do not need to know the details of the terrible curse. You only need to know that it exists and that it is a curse that has been passed down from generation to generation.
It is, as I said, a terrible curse.
And now it has landed upon my head.
Keep that in mind.