Left to her own devices in the early years, Barbara struggles with grief from the loss of the expected “normal child” and battles self-defeating thoughts. Demoralizing encounters with medical professionals and insensitive remarks about Jim’s face leave mother and child feeling vulnerable. They struggle with self-blame and fight against dark thoughts.

Over time they encounter and endure new doctors, multiple surgeries with disappointing results, and peers who taunt and bully. Gradually, Jim and Barbara empower themselves in their own ways, protest dismissive treatment, and become strong advocates for themselves. Jim proves to himself he can handle the world on his own after a successful 400-mile solo bike trip. As he ages into a young adult, Barbara frees herself from her own worries and drawing on her experiences, shapes a career as a counseling psychologist so that she can address the needs of parents of children with birth defects and disabilities. Jim also develops a successful career, a loving partnership, and a settled relationship with his cleft palate.

Then, prompted by an invitation from her 45-year-old son to “share our story,” mother and son embark on an unflinching account of their personal and shared experiences, their often-differing memories, and how they dealt with and learned from his cleft lip and palate birth defect.

Entwined with Barbara’s narrative of her mothering experience, Jim’s poems shine a light on a teenager’s struggle, and both discover that this candid sharing of private challenges has taken them to a deeper parent–child relationship.

For children with birth defects, the message of this powerful, tender, and truthful book is “You are not alone; hardship is not ruinous; a full life is yours even if your hopes are not completely realized.”

"About this title" may belong to another edition of this title.

Store Description

We first started out as ?The Paperback Exchange,? a chain of physical bookstores where we would part exchange your beloved books for new stories to transport you to faraway places. However, as shopping started to evolve to online shops and marketplaces, we bid our stores goodbye to become ?PBShop.? This transition has only allowed us to blossom as we now ship thousands of titles to book lovers across the globe. We pride ourselves in being a community of local book lovers which allows our passion and devotion to shine in everything we do. In 2020 we not only celebrated our 20th birthday but our 1st birthday as being completely employee owned after becoming an E.O.T in September 2019. We are proud to be different and embrace standing apart on a book mountain by working from a virtual inventory which allows us to provide thousands of books that may be difficult to get for your bookshelf or your studies. Working with a number of different suppliers allows us to explore other avenues such as puzzles, sheet music and even stationery so we really do have something for everyone. Life is about being versatile in all realms of existence. If this is your first visit or you are a returning customer, we would like to welcome you to the PBShop family, for there is no friend as loyal as a book. We are a company who put our customers at the centre of everything we do as we understand the importance of reading because once you learn to read, you will forever be free. There are a whole lot of things in this world of ours that we are yet to explore, which is why we will forever inspire curious minds.

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Pbshop.co.uk Ltd
Unit 22 Horcott Industrial Estate, Horcott Road, Fairford, GL7 4BX, United Kingdom

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Returns Policy
We ask all customers to contact us for authorisation should they wish to return their order. Orders returned without authorisation may not be credited.
If you wish to return, please contact us within 14 days of receiving your order to obtain authorisation.

Returns requested beyond this time will not be authorised.

Our team will provide full instructions on how to return your order and once received our returns department will process your refund.
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Books are shipped from UK warehouse. Delivery thereafter is between 4 and 14 business days dependant upon your location - please do contact us with any queries you may have.

Shipping rates within U.S.A.

Shipping rates within U.S.A.
Order quantity	7 to 14 business days	7 to 14 business days
First item	US$ 0.00	US$ 0.00

Delivery times are set by sellers and vary by carrier and location. Orders passing through Customs may face delays and buyers are responsible for any associated duties or fees. Sellers may contact you regarding additional charges to cover any increased costs to ship your items.