Her penchant for detail is journalistic:
Maggie has been teaching me to help Rick transfer from bed to chair and back…. Here’s what it looks like:
Take the side arm off the wheelchair. Bend low in front of him, wrap my arms about his waist, do a lunge, front knee bent, back straight; brace legs, rock both our bodies back and forth, and then, on the count of three, HEAVE!”
She combines an eye for the humorous with the timing of a comedian. The result is welcome comic relief:
The children were especially interested in the putty….
Benjamin accepted the pile of moldable yellow rubber carefully. Hesitating at first, he began digging his fingers in and drawing them forward, just like ‘Gampa.’
Looking up, his eyes met mine. “Not poo, Nana,” he said reassuringly. “Is not poo.”
Amanda and I figured it out: He had never heard the word putty before. Likely ‘potty’ was the closest he could find in his two-year-old vocabulary.”
Gibson skilfully combines all of the above to take us past circumstances to an understanding of heart truths. Though the pirates of West Nile (her description of the disease) could have scuttled the Gibsons’ boat, they didn’t. In fact, just the opposite happened. In Gibson’s own words (from the Preface):
I’ve learned three things in my journey down the West Nile with Rick and the pirates: God is a lot stronger than I thought he was, I’m a lot stronger than I thought I was, and God can do exquisite things with broken circumstances” (p. viii).
West Nile Diary is an inspirational story that will not only encourage you to keep hope and determination alive in the worst circumstances, but will also educate you about West Nile Neurological Disease. Don’t be surprised if after reading it, you find yourself at the local drugstore or supermarket loading up on mosquito repellent.
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