Smiling Again captures Sally’s experience with the removal of a brain tumor and the recovery process. It captures her faith journey while navigating the crisis. She educates the reader on the specific disease and explains how a caregiver can support a patient throughout a medical crisis. Immediately following surgery, she captured her feeling in parallel with her blog while processing the changes in her life.

I am no doctor, psychologist, or licensed therapist. I am a person who has suffered with depression and who has been right at that moment when I was going to take my own life. Ive stood at the edge of a bridge and looked down upon the water of the Ohio River. Ive held a bottle of pills and just stared at the lid. I have been behind the wheel of a car without a seatbelt on and watched for the next telephone pole. Yet I never did itI never jumped, took the lid off, or hit the telephone pole. I hope that by the end of this book, you can see there are people out there who suffer through this daily, and if you are one suffering, you are not alone. You can live with this, you can turn it all around, and you will find yourself smiling again.

The “poignant account of one woman’s struggle for health and faith—and the tireless devotion of family” in the face of a devastating illness (Peter DeHaan, PhD). Sally Stap was living a happy life with a successful career, juggling the usual concerns about job, daughters, and everyday obligations. But her world was shattered when she was diagnosed with an acoustic neuroma—a benign but large brain tumor that would require a major invasive operation to remove. Smiling Again is a story of perseverance and appreciating the beauty of life in spite of pain. Writing with a poignant blend of honesty, dry humor, faith, and inquisitiveness, Sally recounts the shock of diagnosis, the long and painful process of recovery, her eventual retirement due to disability, and ultimately the contentment she found in accepting a new life journey. No matter what trials you may face, Sally’s experience teaches us that even when the worst happens, God is still present and visible—sometimes in unexpected ways. Your future self may be different from who you were before, but those changes can lead you in new and rewarding directions.

This story takes place ten years from now. The British government's control over the people is at its all time high. Armed guards are on the streets suppressing our lives, and our will to fight back. Protests and free speech are treated with contempt, and are managed by brute force. CCTV and phone surveillance have been increased to the maximum. Prime Minister Michael Ramsbottom is still in power, despite never winning a general election. But what Prime Minister Michael Ramsbottom doesn't realise is that human beings can't be contained; they will always find a way of breaking free.A community living underground to escape the horrors of this modern world is thrown into chaos on the discovery of a badly beaten man in one of their underground tunnels. After saving his life they gradually begin to learn about who this man is and how he was the victim of a brutal attack by three people working as part of Prime Minister Ramsbottom's corrupt government.

"The Crocodile's Smile" Summary of this story: Charlie's story is a moving tale about the power of kindness and how important it is to take care of oneself. Charlie was different from all the other crocodiles in the bush because he always had a smile on his face. He liked helping people and making people happy wherever he went. He became known as the nicest and happiest crocodile in the jungle. Charlie's smile and friendliness were so contagious that they made even the grumpiest creatures happy. They were amazed at how Charlie could make even the worst situations better. As Charlie and his friend, the once-angry crocodile, went on their travels, they met many more animals that needed their help. They were known as the guardians of the bush, and all the animals looked to them for advice and safety. Charlie found out one day that he had been putting other people's needs ahead of his own. He told his friend, and then he took some time off and went on a trip by himself. He wanted to find out what made him happy again and smile again. As he went through the bush, he smiled again as he thought about the things that used to make him happy. Charlie kept helping other people and still had time for himself. He went on trips by himself, exploring the bush and finding new things to love and appreciate. He stayed the happiest and nicest crocodile in the jungle, and all the other animals loved and respected him. In the end, Charlie's actions changed the bush for good. He showed the animals how important it is to be kind and helpful to other people. And he had shown that even small acts of kindness can make a big difference in the world. When Charlie died, the animals in the woods knew that his memory would live on forever. They carried on his tradition of kindness and friendship by spreading happiness and love everywhere they went. How the story started: Once upon a time, Charlie was a nice and happy crocodile who lived deep in the woods. Charlie was a very special crocodile who was different from all the others in the forest. He was known for his big smile, which he always wore no matter what was going on around him. Charlie was nice and kind, which was different from most alligators, who were often thought to be mean and dangerous. Even if they weren't his friends, he was always ready to help any animal in need. Charlie was liked by the animals in the woods because he was always happy and kind. They knew that no matter what was going on, he could make them feel better. Everyone around him felt happy and at ease because of his smile. Charlie was a crocodile, and even though he was friendly, he had to look for his food. He always had a smile on his face, even when he was hunting. He never took more than he needed, and he always left some for the other animals in the woods. Charlie's positive attitude made him popular with the animals in the woods, and it also helped him do well at everything he tried. He was a great hunter who always found the best places to hide when he needed to rest. Charlie's fellow crocodiles in the bush made fun of him because he was nice and smiled. They said he was weak and not a real crocodile. But what they said didn't bother Charlie. He knew that being kind and helping was the right thing to do, and he was proud of who he was. One sunny day, Charlie the crocodile was relaxing in the sun by the river when he heard a huge commotion. He turned his head and paid close attention. It sounded like scared animals running away and screaming. Charlie knew something was wrong and got up to find out what it was. He moved quickly through the thick jungle plants to get to where the noise was coming from. As he got closer, the sounds got louder and faster. Charlie could tell something big was going on because he could hear fear in the animals' sounds. As Charlie finally came out of the bush, he saw a huge, dangerous crocodile with sharp teeth and an angry face. The other animals tried to run away, but they were so scared they couldn't move. Charlie saw that he had to move quickly. He swam up to the angry reptile and said, "Hey, why are you scaring everyone? What's wrong?" The angry reptile said, "I'm mad because I'm hungry and there's nothing to eat around here." "Oh, that's no problem," Charlie said. "There's plenty of food in the jungle, and I'll show you where to find it." The angry reptile asked, "Why are you being so nice to me? Aren't you afraid of me?" Charlie simply said, "No, I'm not afraid of you. I'm happy to help, and I think it's always right to be kind to others." He then led the angry crocodile through the bush and showed him all the different fruits, berries, and plants that he could eat. The angry crocodile couldn't believe how much food was there and how easy it was to find. By the end of the day, the angry crocodile was full and happy. He had never been happy or more thankful before. "Thank you, Charlie. You showed me that there is more to life than being angry and mean. You taught me that being kind and helping others is the right way to live." "I'm glad I could help," said Charlie. "That's what friends are for." From that day on, the angry crocodile was Charlie's friend, and the two of them spent their days exploring the jungle and helping other people. They had made an odd deal. The two crocodiles were complete opposites, but they both loved helping others and being friends. The other animals in the bush were shocked by the change in the angry crocodile. They couldn't believe that the animal, which used to be scary, had become a kind and loving crocodile. The animals quickly got used to the new crocodile, and soon Charlie and his friend were seen as the nicest and happiest crocodiles in the jungle.

The smile is the icon of our childhood. When we are kids, we always smile, we laugh for no reason out of all the little aspects of our lives, we feel free and we transform everything into a game. Even when we are serious, our hearts are clean, and laughter and smiles are a second away. But as we grow up and mature, life installs in with its usual problems, difficult situations, and sometimes unwanted circumstances, and smiling becomes a hard thing to do. This book is created for those of us that forgot how it feels to smile, those who need to be reminded that nothing heals more our hearts and minds than a simple and sincere smile.I will guide you throughout the book on a journey where we can remember together the importance of the smile, and where we will see which practices we can do to bring back our smiles and rejoice in its tremendous power to make us whole, again.

Two women are thrown together through force of circumstances far beyond their control. With courage and determination they set forth to find out the truth and the whereabouts of the two men in their lives, suddenly disappeared, without trace, into thin air. An unlikely boating accident in the South of France. A macabre funeral in Scotland. Unexpected and erotic happenings in Venice on the night of 'La Sensa', the celebration of that city's marriage to the sea and a final, dramatic, scene on the island of Torcello, played out under the hot Italian sun.

Tyr'Ynyn is back in the spotlight as she and her two best friends are on a mission to defeat the sorcerer that has been giving them trouble for so long. Kaistam Laq and his assassins are up to their old tricks and are causing chaos in the land. It is up to the healers to put an end to his tyranny. Along the way, Tyr and her friends suffer losses that may bring them to their knees. Varanus the wyvern is always there to lend a helping hand and keep their spirits up when they need him the most. In the end, will it be enough to defeat the sorcerer?