Bøger udgivet af T P Graf

★★★★★ "Insightful, powerful, a story of life and how it's changed by so many tiny happenings."- Reader Review___After August Kibler's death, his executor and friend, Tyler Marvel-Jemison, finds a file on August's computer that enlightens Tyler on August's ancestral roots and earlier years before he, Johnny and Jimmy wandered into the old man's life at the Daisy Cafe. In this collection, August expands on the people and places in his life beyond those introduced in "As the Daisies Bloom." We sojourn with August from the rural Ohio township, to Indiana, down to Louisiana and finally to North Carolina.August peels back the hidden layers of a life lived in the shadows of abuse-facing his own regrets for how he might have been a better friend.He unwittingly exposes an unhealed wound from Miles' childhood. He and Miles learn just how Maggie and Ethel from the Daisy Cafe are "joined at the hip."We witness how time and circumstance shape lives and families and diverse friendships over a lifetime, and how the Hope Mennonite "creed" of Loving God, Loving Ourselves and Loving Others is all the creed we ever truly need.

★★★★★ "A refreshing read in a world of turmoil!" - Reader Review___Was it a chance meeting in the Daisy Cafe that brought a father and his boys from Macon, Georgia, descendants of slaves, into the life of a descendent of Swiss Mennonites, or was it the mysterious workings of the father's grandmother, Momma Daisy?August Kibler tells the stories of his own life and the lives of Tyler, Johnny, and Jimmy through the tragedy and grief, and the joy and gratitude, that each discovered along the way.The generous spirit they share is a gift to any seeking greater understanding when you believe you have little in common. Yet it is through sharing that August discovers a deep reverence for Momma Daisy and Pappy Jemison, and for the legacy of love and mettle that defined their lives.August challenges our certitudes as, in his own life, he says, "I would rather have doubts and be wrong than to be certainly wrong."Tyler and August bear witness to what might appear to be ordinary lives, yet which both see as nothing less than extraordinary.

★★★★★ "Desert Delight!" - Reader Review___Jaime Cruz is a native Californian whose dream of the good life has ended in abject failure.With little more than peanut butter and an old Ranger pickup, he heads to a west Texas town he's only seen in a movie where he longs to find a new life and some glimmer of hope he's ever really known.What he finds in this remote, desert town is a host of characters that slowly work him into their lives as he works them into his own.Jaime can't conceive of a plan for his life-instead he takes each day as it comes.In the captivating, generous and unpretentious lives of the people of his adopted home, he finds that humor, solace, joy and dignity abound!

★★★★★ "Jaime's story, simply put, makes me happy." - Reader Review___Now a gen-u-ine cowboy, firmly rooted in far west Texas, Jaime Cruz tells the stories of his life as a member of the Geermann-Schlatter family.He waits to see if any of the seeds he cast to the wind in writing to his own estranged family take root.The Schlatters deal with their continued disappointment in their son, Brett, as it seems his life becomes evermore distant from his roots and his own children. Sallie's humor and connection to the natural world continue to nurture "the boys" and inspires the next generation.And still lamenting the actions that drove her oldest son away, Betsy says, "If there isn't a story in the Bible about a prodigal mother, there ought to be."In this sequel to Tumbleweed and Dreams, Jaime embraces the joys, meets the challenges and faces the shocks with his adopted family now woven so intricately into his own life.