Speaker 2 00:01:00 And greetings. This is Disability and Progress, where we bring new insights into ideas about, and discussions on disability topics. My name is Sam, I'm the host of this show. Charlene Doll is my research team. Hello, Charlene. Good evening everybody. And happy holiday season. Exactly. And how would you like to be a part of a special new listener club? Disability and Progress is got one. All you have to do is email me at Disability and progress, sam jasmine.com. Tell me your name and where you're from so we can keep track of our listeners, like how far away you are. And I will announce you on the air and, uh, send sand greeting to you. So that's disability and
[email protected]. But this week we have an, an author in our midst, we have Betty Hasler. Did I pronounce that right, Betty?
Speaker 3 00:01:59 You surely did.
Speaker 2 00:02:00 Thank you Betty. Good to talk to you. Betty Hassler is an author and she's gonna be talking about her new book called A Beam of Hope. So thank you very much for joining us, Betty. We really appreciate that. And, uh, can you just start out by giving us a little bit of history about you? We know nothing
Speaker 3 00:02:20 <laugh>. Sure. I was an editor-in-chief lead editor of various titles for 17 years for a Christian publishing company in Nashville, Tennessee. I had been writing curriculum and articles for, uh, my particular faith group since I was in graduate school. And so becoming an editor was kind of an obvious progression in my pilgrimage. Mm-hmm. <affirmative>. And I loved my job. I loved editing both discipleship materials and book workbooks and, uh, magazines. And when I retired, which was 10 years ago now, I decided that I would like to do my own writing. And so, uh, I believe that I have a God-given talent in that area that I can't claim for my own. And I really was impressed with a storyline that has been in the makings, really the entirety of my retirement. And I've, um, finally got it in book form and I'd love to share it with you.
Speaker 2 00:03:46 Excellent. So is this your first book that you've written outside of all the editing and stuff that you've done The first book of your own?
Speaker 3 00:03:54 I have, uh, yes. I have co-written books and I have been, um, what you might call a co a ghost writer. And I have, uh, two previous books that are outta print now. Uh, one of those publishers that kind of went under with, um, you know, all that's been going on in publishing. Ah, yeah. Um, but I, um, this particular book is book one of a series called Trophies of Grace, and it is book one and there are four in the series. Book two has come out and I am finishing up book three and book four is all right here in my <laugh> sweet little head.
Speaker 2 00:04:42 So talk a little bit about being a ghost writer. Can you tell me what that means and who did you go? Is there, do you wanna confess to us who you ghost wrote for?
Speaker 3 00:04:55 Um, it's a fine line between what I would call ghost riding and, and heavy editing, which is a, um, a line that, um, a writer has to be willing to let you cross. I think one of my goals is Ari, as an editor, was always to let the person's voice come through in the manuscript and not to insert my voice so that when you read it, you were actually speaking with the voice of that author. If you knew this person personally, you would say, yes, I know she or he wrote that. Uh, a ghost writer's a little bit freer to, um, insert his or her own personality organization. Um, what comes first, second, and third, then an editor would be. So if that's kind of a, an, um, a brief explanation, I would rather, you know, not say if my, if my name isn't on it, um, ah, gotcha. I'm written for.
Speaker 2 00:06:12 Fair enough. Fair enough. Um, so how did you come up with this title for the latest book that you have?
Speaker 3 00:06:25 When, um, I was not writing an editing and mothering, I was a minister's wife for more than 40 years. And as such, um, you know, a minister never really stops being a minister, even if they're retired from a local congregation. And I guess something about being a pastor's wife kind of keeps going too. And, um, I began to notice, uh, throughout that period of time how people dealt with the, the sadder parts of life with grief and loss and how for some people, their faith played a prominent role in how they moved through that. And for others, it seemed at points, a temporary fix for what they were going through and sometimes was neglected or lost once they got through it. And it made me wonder about the degree to which our faith tradition actually helps us get through grief and loss, and what are some maybe pitfalls when we give up on our faith, when we become disillusioned, when we feel disappointed in the, the God we worship. Hmm. And although I come from a Christian tradition, I believe that the message of the book, the idea of hope is one that really other relation, other religions can relate to, whether you're Jewish or Islam or Buddhist or Hindu or sheik or whatever, I think, um, all of these have the element of hope, future hope. Mm-hmm. <affirmative>, hope as a motivator, hope as a way of coping that is very, very, if not just important, essential mm-hmm. <affirmative>. Cause um, hope represents a big part of how we make sense of suffering.
Speaker 2 00:08:51 Right. So what about the storyline itself? How did you, how did that whole idea of the, what the storyline would be come up come about?
Speaker 3 00:09:08 Well, the theme of a Beam of Hope is coming to terms with grief and loss. Mm-hmm. <affirmative>, and there are, um, many types of grief, grief and loss in this book. The one you're more concerned about with your program is the theme of disability, how you handle disability, what your processes are for, for coping with disability. But there's also the theme of loss of a marriage, loss of loved ones through death. Right. Um, loss through Alzheimer's, uh, right. Loss through war, loss through expectations and dreams for the future that are not gonna be met. And so, in one way or another, I try to deal with, with all of these through the characters that interact in the storyline
Speaker 2 00:10:04 And the, and, and all of those, um, lines are addressed in the book. So that was, yes. Very interesting.
Speaker 3 00:10:13 Yes. And although that sounds a little bit on the sad, uh, maybe some people would say negative side, like this is going to be a depressing book. The fact that I titled it A Beam of Hope would illustrate that sadness, um, loss grief is not what the book is about. It's about coping, dealing constructively being inspired, if you will, to seek a firmer foundation for your life to seek meaning out of the suffering you may be enduring. Um, I'm informed by the life of Victor Frankel, who you may or may not have heard of. He was a psychotherapist following World War ii, and he had been in a German concentration camp mm-hmm. <affirmative>. And his conclusion out of all of that, and of course I'm reducing years of work into some simple sentences here, but his conclusion was that, um, the people who lived through that concentration camp experience were those who had hope. Those who found meaning in their suffering, that they saw could be redeemed, could be exchanged for a better outcome, that they could look forward to a future without being imprisoned. And those who perished seem to have lost hope. They lost this sense that there was some expectation of something better to come. And so I would say that's the happy part of the book. That's the inspiring part of the book, is how do we learn to get there from where we are.
Speaker 2 00:12:15 Betty, I'm wondering, um, does the writing of this book come from any personal life experience for you? And if so, would you mind sharing?
Speaker 3 00:12:28 When I was, um, seven, I had a disease called Osteomylitis, and the doctors had predicted that I would probably not have control over my neck, would be in a neck brace for the rest of my life. Uh, when I was released from the hospital, I wore a cast from my chin to my waist for about three months, and at the end of those three months, they took it off not really knowing what they were gonna find. Mm-hmm. <affirmative>, I didn't understand the momentous nature of all of that. But, uh, that was my first experience with my movement being compromised or feeling like I wasn't like other kids, that I had limitations on what I could do. My mother was very concerned that I trip and fall and, and hurt myself further. And, um, so it was a, it was a difficult time. Um, I've had neck problems because that's where the disease settled, was in my neck, my neck, um, structure.
Speaker 3 00:13:41 Right. Um, ever since then, to the extent that I have to be careful about the pillow, the bed I sleep on, uh, have had, um, spinal stenosis, neck surgery, all that. I would say my next, uh, life experience was when I was about 11. And my first cousin was permanently disabled as a result of a farm machine accident. Oh, geez. Um, she was in the Shriner's Hospital in Dallas, and we lived in Irving, Texas at the time. And so we were the closest family to her. And, uh, we visited her often. And, um, for the rest of her life, she was never able to bend her left knee so her knee would, her leg would stick out when she would sit down. And there was, you know, a noticeable limp to her walk. Um, again, I was too young to totally understand all that was involved in all of that, but I mm-hmm. <affirmative>
Speaker 3 00:14:50 Was definitely struck by those children in the Shriners Hospital and the, the way that they were in many cases, um, permanently disabled. Um, I have had several members of our church that, uh, church that I think of, uh, our, the first church we pastored, there was a blind man in the church, and he allowed us to get very close to him, to the point that he told us how he figured out how to match his clothing and how he kept from running into things. And I was always amazed that he would say, I'll be seeing you <laugh>, or, oh, it's so good to see you. And he really never felt a sense of those being uncomfortable words for him, although he had been blind from birth. Right. Uh, another congregation, we had an autistic child, and, um, I remember when he got his very first typewriter, this was several years ago, of course, when he could type out, I don't mean typewriter, but the way they can communicate. Uh,
Speaker 2 00:16:06 Yes. The communications
Speaker 3 00:16:07 Board. Yes. Yeah. And what a difference it made for him. And there were even contests with the kids, you know, about Bible books and things, and he would be the first one with the answer because he could type it out instead of struggling to say it. Um, my best friend has a mentally retarded granddaughter, and I've spoken with her mother, um, several times about her experiences in caring for a child he'll never be able to care for herself. She's now, um, in her twenties, and my grandson was diagnosed with dyslexia <laugh> when he was the early elementary school. Right. Years. And has overcome it to the point that he's in honors English now. Absolutely. As a 13 year old. So these are just a few of the things that inform my experience, but I don't think anyone can live in someone else's shoes. Right. And we don't know what it's like to have a disability if we don't have that disability. So let me just give a disclaimer here. I'm not attempting to come at this from the standpoint of one who's dealt with these personally. Um, um,
Speaker 2 00:17:34 But you've seen things
Speaker 3 00:17:35 Pretty close. Most of us, most of us are disabled in some way. Mm-hmm. <affirmative>, I wear hearing aids and glasses, so am I disabled, I don't feel disabled. And yet those are disabilities. Mm-hmm. <affirmative>. So I think at some point in life, everybody is going to be, if they're not already or have someone close to them, we're all going to be disabled. And so trying to come at this with a positive ex, um, a positive message, positive characters, characters that are inspiring, I think was a big part of why this storyline came to me. Um, you asked me earlier about what is this storyline? And I didn't address the question at that point. Would you like for me to do that now?
Speaker 2 00:18:38 I'll come back to it. I, I wanna digress just a moment, because you touched on something that's really interesting to me. And since you are a minister's wife, um, you know, you talked about having people with disabilities in your church, and I think that is something part of the whole disability regime, and I feel like, well, especially during covid, but I do feel like the religious sector in the churches is somewhere where people with disabilities have often missed out on, because they've not necessarily been included. Like, they may go to the church, they may belong to the church, but they're not necessarily made to feel part of the church, or the church may not be fully accessible, so they may have trouble. Do you have any thoughts on this and ideas of, or, or suggestions on people who are looking for a church and how they can feel included? And, and also for people who run a church and might not even know how to deal with inclusion, people with disabilities,
Speaker 3 00:19:49 I think that's one of the saddest thing about American churches. Mm. One of the most disappointing things is that we don't, uh, offer programs, activities, um, classes that are not only wheelchair friendly, but, uh, for persons with hearing loss for the blind, for any other kind of disability, especially those who are mentally challenged. Right. And it's, it's, it's sad. It is. I think it is, um, just a tragedy that we have not been more inclusive in that area. Yes. I know a church in, uh, a farmer community where we lived, where they had a very active program for mentally challenged, um, really people of all ages. And they were kind of the church that you went to if you wanted to have a Sunday school class or a Bible study class or, uh, time for fellowship and fun, or even a service program where, um, those, uh, kids and young adults could be included. And I'm, and it was not my denomination. So I, I would just like to say to anyone who may be listening, who is part of a church congregation and you haven't considered how to minister to the disabled in your community that you need to get before the Lord, the God you worship, whoever that might be, and, uh, just ask yourself, how can we seek out both ministries too and helping them to be ministers in ways that they can serve the congregation, because those are, those are endless.
Speaker 2 00:21:51 And, um, you know, people who do want to be in a church setting, there's a, a fair amount of people with disabilities in that type of situation, and it will only get larger, so. Sure.
Speaker 3 00:22:06 Um, sure.
Speaker 2 00:22:09 How long did it take for you to write this book, A Beam of Hope, just this volume? Just this particular,
Speaker 3 00:22:17 Well, um, I wrote pretty much the first two-thirds of it, um, before Covid, uh, during c i I finished it. Ah, um, it was, it was to be a novella before Covid. I was not going to write a novel length book. Um, COVID gave me that opportunity. <laugh>, um, my husband had breathing problems, um, and, uh, asthmatic always, um, has been an asthmatic. And so we were pretty much stuck at home. And I wrote, so since then, I've, uh, finished the, the second book in the, in the series. I'm working on the third and the fourth is in my head. And so there you have it
Speaker 2 00:23:13 <laugh>. It, it is obvious to me you're very comfortable in the situation that you're in and writing in about, you know, religious topics and things like that. Have you, yourself, ever had a time in your life where, um, you know, you felt like your religious belief was tried, your faith was tried? Or were you one of those lucky ones to always feel like it's good?
Speaker 3 00:23:42 The one that comes to mind is, um, having, uh, lost a baby, um, who was premature. Aw.
Speaker 3 00:23:54 Um, she was six and a half months along, and probably another couple of weeks or so might have made the difference, but this was in 1976, probably before you were born, <laugh>. And the, uh, hospital accommodations, the doctor's knowledge, the equipment, everything has just absolutely, just, just so much better now. Yeah. And so small, teeny, tiny babies don't, um, don't have as much trouble. Right. Making it as they did back then. So, at that time, um, being a pastor's wife, being a graduate of the seminary, being a, I, um, successful quote unquote person in my field, I, um, I think I really struggled a lot with why did God let this happen to me? I would've been such a good mother to that baby. I already had a three son. And, um, this was a daughter. I have a younger son, uh, who came along after her, but she would've been my only daughter. And I just, um, I went through, um, a very long and deep grieving period and got mad at everybody I could get mad at, including myself. You know, I should have been more careful. I should have this, that, and the other. Mm-hmm. <affirmative>, um, you know, God should have blah, blah, blah. Um, you know, every, every thing that could have gone wrong and that pregnancy went wrong. Aw. And so, uh, yes, I believe my te my faith was tested very much through that ordeal.
Speaker 2 00:25:56 And I just wanna put out for, I mean, as you obviously know, and probably many other listeners know, but the ones who've never had a child, you know, slightly over six months is quite a significant thing to something to have to deliver even so, and to have that not work out must have been very, very devastating. I can't imagine. Um,
Speaker 3 00:26:22 So yes. And, um, we were, uh, legally required to bury her. So she has a grave marker and a grave, and, uh, we've visited it numerous times since then. And that really does make it real. I'm not saying it's not as real if, um, a miscarriage happens, it is, it is just as real. But the grave just really, you know, it hits you in the face and you realize you've got a missing person at your table.
Speaker 2 00:26:54 Well, thank you for sharing that with us. I wanna know that the beam, a beam of Hope is the, the book we're talking about. And I want to know what the hardest part of this book was to write for you and why?
Speaker 3 00:27:15 I, um, I didn't have a problem with the simple plot line, which was that a four-year-old girl was going to have a cancer diagnosis. Her parents were divorced, uh, they had to come back together to deal with this crisis. And out of that, they began to unravel some of the assumptions that had driven them apart, which they found were needless assumptions, needless uh, reasons for them to break up. But at the time, they had not taken the time to really explore what could have saved their marriage. Mm-hmm. <affirmative>. And so Brianne is the little girl, and her coming down with cancer was kind of a catalyst to get them back together, talking about it. But then five years later, Brianne has a relapse of cancer. And at that point, her cancer, uh, results in the amputation of her left leg before, uh, right under the knee. And, um, I knew that I was going to be dealing with that as kind of the major thread through the story. Mm-hmm. <affirmative>, there were several other characters that came to play that were, you know, going to be dealing with their own issues. But, um, when I, when I determined to finish the book, I had to then translate this little girl Brianna, into her college years. And then in the second book, she's, um, a working young adult. She is experiencing her first romance, and I'm not gonna go any further with the story. <laugh>.
Speaker 2 00:29:09 Okay.
Speaker 3 00:29:10 But, so, um, having her, uh, as this, um, really highly energetic, intelligent little little girl who's able to cope and deal, and then growing her up and understanding the limitation she would face as an adult, or the questions she would be asked, the way people would deal with her disability, that was just a really different story. Mm. So that would've been, I guess, the, uh, hardest part for me, because I haven't had an amputation. I, I had to, uh, do some research there and, and on prosthesis and, and how going from one to the other was an often painful experience and just that kind of thing. And even in my mind's eye, having to think about her house and how she got from place to place. And especially, um, like in one saying, she's kneeling in prayer with some coworkers, and so she has to, you know, get down and get back up. So that's kind of, I think the, the challenge for me. And I hope people who are amputees who may be interested in reading this book, well, let me know to one degree I got that right. <laugh>, so I'm certainly open to, um, to critique at that point.
Speaker 2 00:30:52 Who was your favorite character in this book?
Speaker 3 00:30:57 Well, my favorite character is the one who is the hope bringer. Her name is Mimi, uh, Mimi Dyer. Jan Dyer, she's the grandmother of Breanne. Oh, she was the one. And, um, Mimi is the one who has coined the phrase that's kind of the family motto, God's up to something in this family. And she always says it, when they're facing some new life situation or life crisis, God's up to something in this family. And she's the one that helps Brene to see that her amputation is a, is a trophy of God's grace. And in the book, I, uh, I describe the word grace. Lemme get to it here. Grace is God's way of treating us as though we are deserving of his blessings, although of course we're not. So, how does God bless through her amputation? And so, Mimi's the one who, who seems to have that, um, that position of the hope bringer who helps to explain to Brianne that as people see you, they're going to be, it's gonna be fairly obvious that you're wearing a prosthesis, and they're gonna ask you about it.
Speaker 3 00:32:28 And you need to kind of be prepared to, to deal with whatever questions they ask you. And, and are you going to have a witness in that time? And by witness I simply mean a word of, of, uh, encouragement and inspiration to leave with them. Or are you going to, you know, be like this statement? Are you bitter or are you bitter? And she, um, she says that, that this can be a trophy of grace. So when someone asks you about it, you can say, well, God used this cancer as a way to bring my family back together again. He used it as a way to help my family understand and deal with the difficulties of raising a disabled child. He, um, he brought you Mimi into my life in a very special way as my coach, my mentor, my encourager. And she goes on and on to point about, point out how these, um, experiences that she's had have made her a, a, a better person, a person who has, um, a more, um, joyful life because she's so aware of being blessed. But there are other characters in the story who aren't as quick to catch on to that. Um, so can I share another
Speaker 2 00:34:07 In struggle in just a moment? Um, cuz I wanna talk about another concept you have in this book, which, when it comes up to talking about the couple's, um, uh, Brianne's parents trying to reconcile, and a concept is, is talked about called, um, reframing. And that has kind of played us a bit of a part in the book. Can you talk about what that is?
Speaker 3 00:34:38 Reframing is putting a different frame around an experience so that instead of seeing an experience in one frame, you transfer it into another frame and you can look at it differently so that when you think of that experience, you don't concentrate. Your memory is not focused on the badness, the grief, the, the difficulty itself. But on those signs of God gra God's grace, as he brought you through, that you can take a situation, uh, such as one of the characters, Myra, who is, uh, the pastor's wife in the book, uh, Myra is dying of breast cancer. And instead of asking, why me, she looks around the room with chemo people lined up for chemo, and she's going, why not me? Mm-hmm. Why, why am I so special that it wouldn't be me? None of these people deserve to be here taking chemo. And so that's an example of reframing an experience where instead of just every day you wake up saying, why me, Lord, you're waking up and you're saying, why not me? And what, what am I going to do with this that is going to make a difference not only in my life, but in somebody else's life?
Speaker 2 00:36:15 Betty, you were going to bring up another idea on something you wanted to discuss in the book. Do you remember what that was?
Speaker 3 00:36:24 I need to discuss, um, Brianne's father's reaction to and way of dealing with the, having a disabled daughter and mm-hmm. <affirmative> to some degree, dealing with what he thought of as the dashed hopes and dreams for his girl who would quote never be whole. And he had, um, two people, one, his father-in-law and one of a dear friend that he had mentored two challenge the idea that Brianne wasn't whole. Um, he had had this, uh, struggle at her graduation where he was so her high school graduation, where he was so pleased that she was able to walk across the stage without a noticeable limp. And his father-in-law said, well, I would hope people would have noticed her prosthesis. And Li Layton is going, well, well why? And he says, because I would want them to see her as an overcomer, as an achiever, as someone who's, um, mastered the capability of walking across the stage, even though she lost part of a leg. And latent thinks about that. And he's kind of, you know, a little bit embarrassed that he had had the thought that he didn't want her to limp. And then later as he's talking to a friend, um, he really realizes that Brianne is whole.
Speaker 2 00:38:14 Yes.
Speaker 3 00:38:14 And I think that that part of our even labeling someone is disabled is as though they weren't whole as though something has been shortchange in their life. Um, the, the grandchild of my friend, who is mentally challenged, brings so much joy into their life, and she is naive in the best possible way. She doesn't hold grudges, <laugh>, she has no problem.
Speaker 2 00:38:52 Oh, there we go. <laugh>. We probably all could learn something from that <laugh>.
Speaker 3 00:38:57 She has no problem forgiving. Mm-hmm. <affirmative>, you know, she's able to forget in, in a, in a way that most of us aren't. Right. And so, to what degree then is she lacking anything? She's got most of the best qualities of any of us. Uh, she can't go out and support herself. But when you think about the fruit of the Holy Spirit, you know, the goodness, kindness, faithfulness, trustworthiness, on and on it goes. She, she is all of those things. And so I just want people who are listening tonight to, um, think about themselves from the standpoint of God the Creator instead of how other people think of them. And I'm not saying I know what God thinks. I'm telling you what I think God, but I think that he has a way of using a refiner's fire, a refiner's fire to bring out the best in all of us.
Speaker 3 00:40:10 And some people have more fire, more of a refining process than other people do. Hmm. And we look around us and we think, oh my, you know, I have this, that, and the other. And we judge our refiners fire by what we assume somebody else's refiners fire is. But God has a kiln k i l n for all of us, and he's molding us and he's making us into the person that he has designed us to be. So there are no accidents with God. There's always He's doing in your life. And mine, exactly what he has chosen to do, what he gives is always more than what life takes away from us. So part of learning to live on earth is learning to expect to hope for things unseen. And so if we have an eternal perspective on what we're going through in life, we can deal with these, these imperfections, these these things that may drive us crazy with without the loss of hope or meaning or purpose.
Speaker 2 00:41:47 I wanna ask you, I mean, obviously, um, anybody who's read the book or is considering reading the book and listening to this now understands this is a fairly religious, um, type of book story. So what would you want the person who is not quite there, or the average person maybe who, who is not religious to take from this book short of conversion, <laugh>, let's say they're, they're just not a believer. What else would you like them to get from this book?
Speaker 3 00:42:24 Well, I, I do write inspirational fiction and I don't apologize for that. So if someone would be offended by the Christian message in the book, then they, they might not want to read it. But I do think the book has a lot more to offer mm-hmm. <affirmative> in terms of just practical wisdom and the interaction of the characters, the, the dialogue, the way they deal with each other. I think there's a lot to be learned in the book about just interpersonal relationships and especially if you have someone in the family who's the world would call different or even disabled. And so I think that, um, there are just some gems in here that will stick with you that you'll be able to take away and say, you know, that's, that's something I, I can sink my teeth into. I think there's some meat here.
Speaker 2 00:43:28 It's so funny cuz one of the things that I, I, it's not just somebody with a disability. I think that you talk about the term whole, but there's also this thing with people who really have no apparent disability outside and maybe not on the inside, but they really want to fit in or look like everyone else or dress like everyone else. I <laugh> I tell my son, nobody remembers anyone who looks like everyone else. So <laugh>. So, uh, that was just my thought when I was reading through this book was like, yeah, you can be like everyone else, but if you wanna be remembered, that's not how to be. Um, so I want
Speaker 3 00:44:10 Another message is also how can you be a minister to other people in your community? Um, the community of people who have a similar, uh, issue mm-hmm. <affirmative>, it's not all about me, it's not all about you. It's not what people are doing for me and how they should be nicer to me and not look at me and blah, blah, blah. It's about what can I do to, um, serve other people? How can I help them to be comfortable with me? How can I help them to accept people like me? How can I, uh, expect them to feel differently if I'm not secure enough to engage them? How can, so I think we need to, to get outside of ourselves.
Speaker 2 00:45:08 Yeah. And
Speaker 3 00:45:09 Self-esteem is, is so important. And you have to have a, a modicum of self-esteem to put yourself out there. But it's, um, it's a, a vicious cycle. If you don't put yourself out there, your self-esteem continues to decrease. Right. So you need to be willing to, to let people stare or whatever they're doing that makes you uncomfortable in order to, to share with them, um, ways they can, can be more comfortable around persons with whatever your situation is. And you can only do that if you're willing to talk about it, if you're willing to, to let them in on it. Like the, the blind young man in our church who, who was delighted to tell us how he got his clothes to match <laugh>, he wasn't uncomfortable sharing the fact that he was blind. And and that means a lot to just be who you are.
Speaker 2 00:46:18 Um, I wanted to take this moment to ask my research person, Charlene doll to see if she has any questions.
Speaker 5 00:46:26 I really don't have any questions. I really liked the book, uh, growing up with in a big family. I, some of that stuff resonated. Really. I'm like, yeah, that happened. Um, thank you for writing it. It was, it was a good story and a good, uh, jump off place for people to start understanding themselves.
Speaker 2 00:46:48 I wanna know, can you tell us where we can get the book?
Speaker 3 00:46:52 Yes, you can get it. Uh, at my website, www betty j hassler.com. It's just my name, Betty j Hassler, j for joyce.com. And the website has a tab that you can click on to buy the book. And that's from my publisher, which is West Vo Press. The, um, other way is of course Amazon and you can find it there and, um, there's no price difference. So you can go either place you want. I do wanna talk about my second book for a minute, if you don't mind. You
Speaker 2 00:47:38 Sure can.
Speaker 3 00:47:41 Well, it's called A Stash of Faith and it is a very different book from Abe of Hope because it, um, is about a young man who winds up in prison for, uh, of all things surgically remaking faces of criminals. Oh geez. Okay.
Speaker 2 00:48:07 I think there's been some movies out about that
Speaker 3 00:48:10 <laugh> who need new identities to help, uh, him to pay for his lavish life lifestyle. Uhhuh <affirmative>, he is a forensic medical direct, uh, he works in the medical director's office, the forensics department, medical examiner's office in Miami, Florida. And so he is working both sides of the fence. He is both helping law enforcement solve crimes through his diagnostic abilities and, uh, being, uh, an expert in facial surgery and reconstruction. But he is on the other side helping criminals who wanna have a remade image so that they'll be harder to find. And, uh, he can reconcile all of this because he grew up in a family really without any moral dictates. And he, um, pretty much thought he was getting away with it. And so when he actually got caught, um, and he winds up in prison, here he is a medical doctor with, um, work with one of the outstanding, uh, facial reconstruction, uh, doctors in the US and has chosen this profession of working, um, with dead bodies, <laugh>.
Speaker 3 00:49:50 And here he is in prison with people who don't look up to him for being a medical doctor, but who instead tease him about it and rub him and call him names and make fun of him because he's so different from the rest of them. And he is thinking, what am I gonna learn here in prison? And through all of this, coming to grips with how he is wound up, he goes back and traces childhood experiences that have kind of set him up for what's happening to him right now. And a lot of it has to do with a very overbearing and authoritative authoritarian father who is a lawyer and a very distant mother who is like a marble statue. She cannot be ruffled. She is above and beyond the fray. There's no really getting to know her as a person. And so he's grown up in this situation where his father is demanding the best, the very best from him and his mother is unreachable.
Speaker 3 00:51:02 And then he has his precocious older sister who pretty much can talk dad into anything because she is this little pretty thing. And then this little brother who comes along five years later and just takes the family by storm. And so the little brother gets everything, including his father's love. And so here he is stuck in this family situation and he turns to drugs and, uh, the drugs he calls initially his study buddies, and then he begins to graduate to more, uh, prescription drugs that he gets off the books, shall we say. And, um, he's got a, he's got a deal with life, uh, as it presents himself as a prisoner in the orange jumpsuit jumpsuit. So that's kind of the background of this story. And, um, Brianne comes into it after he has been rehabilitated and she becomes his assistant as he is running a halfway house in Nashville, Tennessee.
Speaker 3 00:52:18 One thing I didn't say is that the setting of all four of these books is Nashville, Tennessee. That's where I lived for 17 years when I was an editor. So I've got street names and landmarks and all of that from Nashville, Tennessee. Anyone who lives in that area will recognize the things I have in there about it. Yeah. But he's, he's come back to Nashville to rehabilitate himself and to, and to hopefully make amends with his family. And that's where we, we meet Rianne again as she goes to work for him as he's, um, managing, uh, a halfway house.
Speaker 2 00:52:57 Betty, I just wanna say thank you so much for giving us your time, and I wish you good luck with the, the whole slew of books there and, uh, I appreciate the time you took coming on and, and thanks for writing.
Speaker 3 00:53:14 Well, these people have become so much a part of our family that my husband says we invite them to our family reunions,
Speaker 2 00:53:22 <laugh>.
Speaker 3 00:53:22 So we talk about Brian and Leighton and Amy and Myra and Mimi and all of these people as though they live with us. So, uh, I appreciate the opportunity of sharing them with you.
Speaker 2 00:53:36 Thank you so much.
Speaker 3 00:53:40 Thank you.
Speaker 2 00:53:40 Good night.
Speaker 3 00:53:42 Good
Speaker 2 00:53:42 Night. You've been listening to Disability and Progress. The views expressed on the show are not necessarily those of K Ffi I or its board of directors. My name is Sam. I'm the hope I'm the host of this show. Thank you so much for tuning in. You can be in our listener club if you wanna send us a, um, name and where you're from at Disability and
[email protected]. This week we were speaking with Betty j Hussler Hasler. Betty is the author of the book Beam of Hope that is attached to many more coming after that. This is K ffi I, 90.3 fm, minneapolis and kfi.org g Thanks for listening.
Speaker 1 00:54:29 Hey,
