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Spotlight: Goodnight, Brian by Steven Manchester (excerpt)
Goodnight, Brian
written by Steven Manchester
published by The Story Plant
find it here: (affiliate links) Barnes & Noble, Amazon, iBooks, Book Depository, Goodreads
About the book: Fate was working against little Brian Mauretti. The food that was meant to nourish him was poisoning him instead, and the doctors said the damage was devastating and absolute. Fate had written off Brian. But fate didn’t count on a woman as determined as Brian’s grandmother, Angela DiMartino – who everyone knew as Mama. Loving her grandson with everything she had, Mama endeavored to battle fate. Fate had no idea what it was in for.
An emotional tale about the strength of family bonds, unconditional love, and the perseverance to do our best with the challenging gifts we receive, Goodnight, Brian is an uplifting tribute to what happens when giving up is not an option.
Heidi and Steph were taking turns trying to show the toddler how to push himself up onto his knees from his belly. Mama’s eyes filled when she saw it.
As they played, Brian flopped onto his back and—although he tried real hard—he couldn’t roll himself back onto his belly. Steph grabbed him and started to flip him over when Mama stopped her. “Let him do it, sweetheart.”
“But he can’t…”
“No such word as can’t!” she blurted. “Brian is abled, not disabled…and we’re never going to treat him like he’s handicapped. Let him learn to do it for himself, please.”
Each young face stared up at her, betraying a mix of confusion and disappointment.
Mama slowly took a seat on the floor with them and took a deep breath. “Do you guys like butterflies?” she asked.
They all nodded. “They’re my favorite!” Heidi said.
“Mine, too,” Mama confirmed with a smile. “But butterflies start out as fuzzy, crawly caterpillars.”
“Yuck,” Heidi said.
Steph smiled. “That’s cool,” Ross agreed.
Mama chuckled. “And when the time’s just right, each caterpillar forms its own cocoon. About two weeks later, when it’s time for them to fly off into the world as a butterfly, they have to struggle with all their might to break out of that cocoon. And believe me, they can’t fly until they’ve struggled for a very long time.” She searched their faces. They seemed to be following her. “If they didn’t have to struggle,” she explained, “then they wouldn’t be able to build up the muscles that they need to help them fly.” She looked at Brian and rubbed his belly. “We don’t want our little boy to be a caterpillar forever, right?”
“No, Mama,” they sang in chorus.
“That’s right,” she said. “Brian’s our butterfly, so he’s going to have to learn how to break out of his own cocoon.”
There were still some questions in their eyes, so Mama took a more direct approach. “We just need to be careful not to do everything for Brian. We have to allow him to do for himself, and this isn’t going to be an easy thing to do. Trust me, it breaks Mama’s heart sometimes to watch you guys struggle. But unless I let you struggle, you’ll never learn and be able to do for yourself and survive in this world. And that’s what we need to give Brian…that’s what he deserves. Breaking out of his cocoon is going to take a lot of hard work, without other people doing it for him. You guys…”
Although they continued to nod, they’d returned to playing on the floor. She’d reached the end of their attention spans and laughed. “Okay then,” she said. Stretching out on the floor with them, she gladly joined in their games.
About the author: Steven Manchester is the published author of the #1 best seller, Twelve Months, as well as A Christmas Wish (the holiday prequel to Goodnight, Brian). He is also the author of Pressed Pennies, The Unexpected Storm: The Gulf War Legacy, and Jacob Evans, as well as several books under the pseudonym, Steven Herberts. His work has appeared on NBC’s Today Show, CBS’s The Early Show, CNN’s American Morning and BET’s Nightly News. Recently, three of his short stories were selected “101 Best” for Chicken Soup for the Soul series.
