Getting to Five

I read a wonderful book this past week. As a matter of fact, I read it in two days! It was one of those books that just talks to you from it's shelf. I found it, believe it or not, in a discount store. "Buy that book," I kept hearing in my ear. So I picked it up and put it back three times, and finally listened to the voice in my head.

The title of the book is: If I Get to Five - What Children Can Teach Us About Courage and Character. It was written by Dr. Fred Epstein, a neurologist and neurosurgeon. It tells of his life as a pediatric neurosurgeon at New York University's Hospital and now at Beth Israel Hospital in Manhattan. Throughout his career, Dr. Epstein has pioneered new techniques for excizing brain and spinal chord tumors, and has operated on children of all ages and in all stages of disease; children from all corners of the globe. When other physicians would say, "Take your child home to die. There is nothing we can do for him," Dr. Epstein, disagreeing with the prognosis, has performed life-saving procedures successfully.

"We tend to think of children as fragile, little people," says Dr. Fred Epstein. "To me, they're giants." If I Get to Five is a tribute to the hidden strengths of childhood and the unstoppable life force that dwells within each of us.

Five years ago, Dr. Epstein suffered a traumatic brain injury and faced a daunting rehabilitation. He says that the advice of the children he'd saved helped illuminate his own path to recovery. Six of the lessons he had learned from the children he has cared for are the titles of the chapters. They are:

• Hold Someone's Hand
• Live in the Moment
• Face Your Fears
• Believe in Miracles
• Play to Your Strengths
• Love Without Boundaries

The lessons he learned from the children sound like great mottos to me! Perhaps in future blogs we'll look at them, one by one. Until then, see if you can find this good book. You'll cry a bit, laugh a bit, and be inspired a whole lot! It's a "Good for the Soul" book, in my opinion.

So fix a cuppa' tea and curl up with an uplifting, awe-inspiring book! You'll be glad you did.

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