I posted on here about a year ago about the difficulties I was having in my life, & I'm pleased to announce that things are so much better than they were 18 months ago. In July 2012, I lost my home & was forced to live in my car. I lived there for a total of 564 days. As I spent more & more time in my car, I became extremely depressed & contemplated suicide. Then one day, I was going through all of my belongings (which I'd been forced to put into storage) & I spotted Mr. King's novel, Rose Madder. I had read it only the one time, when I initially purchased it, & I decided to grab it & give it another read. Rose's story affected me in a way that my initial reading of it hadn't. Rose's powerful tale was mesmerizing. She overcame her fears, her loneliness, her helplessness...it was utterly inspiring. I went back to my storage unit the very next day & grabbed the next 5 King novels I could find. I continued doing that until I'd re-read every King novel I owned (which is all but maybe 2 or 3 of them). Those few months of re-reading his books brought me joy that I hadn't felt in ages. I even discovered that I'd purchased Lisey's Story & never actually READ it, so imagine my delight at having a "new" King novel to read!
In March of 2013, I discovered I was pregnant. Nine days later, I lost the baby. I had lost one previously, so losing one again was extremely difficult, but because I was homeless (and on birth control!), I decided that maybe it was for the best. Bringing a child into the world in the condition I was in was not ideal. However, a short time later, divine intervention decided to bless me with ANOTHER pregnancy, & this one decided to stick. It was not without its difficulties, though. I was hospitalized 3 times, I developed gestational diabetes, I retained 21lbs of water, I somehow managed to get an infection in my finger that got so bad it almost had to be amputated, & my blood pressure shot through the roof. I also managed to vomit & poop myself on more than one occasion, so cleaning THAT up whilst living in your car is a real treat. Oh yeah, I was still homeless. I remained homeless for the entire duration of my pregnancy. But I didn't feel as helpless & as scared as I had before. I had the baby growing inside me to keep me company (and she let her presence be known quite often with horrible kicks to my ribs & bouncing on my bladder) & my boyfriend was doing everything he could to take care of me (he lived 100 miles away though, so visits were difficult). I jumped on my laptop often & came to this website (thank you, McDonald's Wifi!) & read tons of different stories & threads & opinions & news bits & everything else. The members of this site really put a smile on my face on days when I didn't feel like smiling, & I will forever be grateful for that. My boyfriend purchased Doctor Sleep for me as an early Christmas present, & I didn't even try to read it slow. I poured through it in 2 days & then immediately read it again. On January 17th, 2014, the day of my & my bf's anniversary, our daughter Madeleine Jane was born. She was a healthy 7lbs, 7oz, & she came out with an overabundance of hair. I call her my lucky baby. All those 7's on her day of birth, & the fact that her mother was in a less-than-ideal living situation, & she managed to come out perfect & healthy. My bf & I managed to find a place to rent a room, & here we have been ever since.
Did Stephen King LITERALLY save my life? No. He didn't jump into a body of water & save me from drowning, & he didn't run into a burning building & carry me out. What he did was write novels & short stories that made me laugh, angry, cry, think, & most of all, made me BELIEVE that things COULD get better. Is it weird to hope that vampires are real, because I'd love for one to take a chomp out of King's neck & make him immortal. That way, he could write forever & bless us with new, exciting & entertaining stories until the end of time.
My "tale" is finished. Thanks to all of you who took the time to read this, & a special thanks to Stephen King. I don't know if he'll ever read this, but I'm glad I got to share this story regardless. Thank you for saving my life, Mr. King. This Constant Reader is forever in your debt.
In March of 2013, I discovered I was pregnant. Nine days later, I lost the baby. I had lost one previously, so losing one again was extremely difficult, but because I was homeless (and on birth control!), I decided that maybe it was for the best. Bringing a child into the world in the condition I was in was not ideal. However, a short time later, divine intervention decided to bless me with ANOTHER pregnancy, & this one decided to stick. It was not without its difficulties, though. I was hospitalized 3 times, I developed gestational diabetes, I retained 21lbs of water, I somehow managed to get an infection in my finger that got so bad it almost had to be amputated, & my blood pressure shot through the roof. I also managed to vomit & poop myself on more than one occasion, so cleaning THAT up whilst living in your car is a real treat. Oh yeah, I was still homeless. I remained homeless for the entire duration of my pregnancy. But I didn't feel as helpless & as scared as I had before. I had the baby growing inside me to keep me company (and she let her presence be known quite often with horrible kicks to my ribs & bouncing on my bladder) & my boyfriend was doing everything he could to take care of me (he lived 100 miles away though, so visits were difficult). I jumped on my laptop often & came to this website (thank you, McDonald's Wifi!) & read tons of different stories & threads & opinions & news bits & everything else. The members of this site really put a smile on my face on days when I didn't feel like smiling, & I will forever be grateful for that. My boyfriend purchased Doctor Sleep for me as an early Christmas present, & I didn't even try to read it slow. I poured through it in 2 days & then immediately read it again. On January 17th, 2014, the day of my & my bf's anniversary, our daughter Madeleine Jane was born. She was a healthy 7lbs, 7oz, & she came out with an overabundance of hair. I call her my lucky baby. All those 7's on her day of birth, & the fact that her mother was in a less-than-ideal living situation, & she managed to come out perfect & healthy. My bf & I managed to find a place to rent a room, & here we have been ever since.
Did Stephen King LITERALLY save my life? No. He didn't jump into a body of water & save me from drowning, & he didn't run into a burning building & carry me out. What he did was write novels & short stories that made me laugh, angry, cry, think, & most of all, made me BELIEVE that things COULD get better. Is it weird to hope that vampires are real, because I'd love for one to take a chomp out of King's neck & make him immortal. That way, he could write forever & bless us with new, exciting & entertaining stories until the end of time.
My "tale" is finished. Thanks to all of you who took the time to read this, & a special thanks to Stephen King. I don't know if he'll ever read this, but I'm glad I got to share this story regardless. Thank you for saving my life, Mr. King. This Constant Reader is forever in your debt.
Aw, shucks, man, see what you done now? Thank you for the kind words. We are well met! Right back at ya!
