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Author<\/h2>\nLinda Rosenbaum<\/p>\n
Linda Rosenbaum is an award winning writer, has worked in TV and documentary films, and is actively involved with groups advocating on behalf of children with developmental disabilities and other special needs. The epilogue to her memoir, Not Exactly As Planned, about raising her son Michael, won the 2013 Reader\u2019s Choice award in the Canada Writes literary contest for creative non-fiction. Linda lives on Toronto island where she raised her family. lindarosenbaum.com<\/p>\n
Not Exactly as Planned is a captivating, deeply moving account of adoption and the unexpected challenges of raising a child with fetal alcohol syndrome. Rosenbaum writes with insight and clarity about her determination to change Michael\u2019s prognosis, while weaving in the everyday aspects of life: birdwatching, bar mitzvahs, saving the Toronto Islands, the collision of \u201860s idealism with the real world, and family secrets. With compassion and humour, she tells a story about acceptance that is achingly unique yet universal to all parents.<\/p>\n
Not Exactly as Planned is a powerful story filled with a wisdom and humility that can teach us all something about family, life and love. Despite the difficulties raising her adopted son with FASD, Rosenbaum\u2019s book is filled with a zestful happiness that will touch everyone who reads it. I couldn\u2019t put it down.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u2014Bonnie Buxton, Co-founder of FASworld and author of Damaged Angels<\/p>\n
\u201cFetal alcohol spectrum disorder affects an estimated one percent of all children born in North America. Yet, despite being the most common cause of developmental disability, most people are unaware of the ways it can alter the lives of its young victims and their families. Linda Rosenbaum\u2019s book is a mesmerizing personal account of this epidemic. Her unique ability to capture the powerful affects of FASD and deliver it as a stellar narrative, makes it \u2018a must read.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n
\u2014Gideon Koren, MD, Professor and Director of The Motherisk Program, The Hospital for Sick Children and The University of Toronto, and Founder of Fetal Alcohol Canadian Expertise (FACE)<\/p>\n
“Rosenbaum beautifully captures the joys and the challenges of being fully present, being fully Jewish, and being a global citizen of this crazy world, all with humour, depth and insight.”<\/p>\n
\u2014Rabbi Elyse Goldstein, City Shul, Toronto<\/p>\n
Wolf Howling at Moon<\/p>\n
Toronto Island, 2013<\/p>\n
I sit on the red ottoman by the fireplace, leaning towards the flame, rubbing my hands together to increase the warmth. Winters are cold on Toronto Island. I seldom sit still this time of year unless I make a fire.<\/p>\n
I hear children laughing in the background. I know the sound should make me happy. It doesn\u2019t. I\u2019m tempted to cover my ears.<\/p>\n
\u201cCome here,\u201d Robin says to me. \u201cI\u2019ve got one of us returning to the Island after bringing Michael home from the hospital. . .and his fifth birthday party. . .the kids digging up the dinosaur bones. . .\u201d<\/p>\n
My husband is nearby, transferring old videos of the children to DVDs. I\u2019ve been listening to the sounds, of good times, all morning.<\/p>\n
An abrupt cut in the soundtrack. I hear a clarinet. Unmistakably Klezmer. Michael\u2019s bar mitzvah.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m good,\u201d I say to Robin, using the expression our twenty-three-year-old daughter Sarah recently taught me to replace \u201cno.\u201d Robin laughs hearing me say it, but I can tell he\u2019s not sure why.<\/p>\n
I lie. \u201cI\u2019m happy sitting over here for now. I\u2019ll come look at the videos later.\u201d I know he doesn\u2019t get it. I don\u2019t want to see the videos. Too bittersweet.<\/p>\n
I don\u2019t need to see the videos to remind me of the sunny day in May when we brought our first child home from the hospital. And I can still picture Michael\u2019s birthday party, five years later, in the grassy fields of a nearby meadow. For our Treasure Island theme, Robin and I had given Michael and neighbouring children yellowing maps left behind by once-roaming pirates. Hand-drawn sketches led them to buried gold doubloons, and to \u201cdinosaur\u201d bones bought cityside from a butcher at St. Lawrence Market.<\/p>\n
Then the diagnosis, the following year, 1993. Michael was six.<\/p>\n
In the nineteen years since learning Michael had fetal alcohol syndrome, we\u2019ve tried our best. Michael, now twenty-five, has become a lovely, soft-spoken young man, kind of heart. Also a school dropout, unable to keep a job or function in the world without helping hands. He lives in a group home during the week, with us on weekends.<\/p>\n
\u201cMum, I want to show you my new carving,\u201d says Michael. He has come out of his bedroom to join me by the fire. \u201cI\u2019m starting an owl, in the round.\u201d<\/p>\n
Five years ago, Robin signed Michael and himself up for woodcarving classes.<\/p>\n
\u201cMaybe this will be it,\u201d Robin and I continually said to one another before each attempt to help Michael find something of interest, to build confidence, bring a little joy.<\/p>\n
After one year of classes, his large bas-relief Wolf Howling at Moon, carved from a thick piece of basswood, was finished. Third Place, Canadian Woodcarving Competition, Novice Category. The next year, Pike Swimming Through Waves, Third Place, Ontario Woodcarving Championships. This year, Bear Upstream with Salmon, Second Place, Ontario Woodcarving Championships.<\/p>\n
I walk with Michael to his bedroom. What I see is a chunky block of wood clamped to his desk, a few edges chipped away. Yet, similar to Michaelangelo who saw the Piet\u00e0 within a block of Carrara marble, I know that when Michael looks at his piece of wood, his heart, hands, and eyes are envisioning an owl within, wings spanned, eyes fierce and glaring, waiting to take flight.<\/p>\n
\u201cI can\u2019t wait to see what you\u2019re going to do,\u201d I tell Michael. Then, to my surprise, add, \u201cHow about taking a short break? Dad has some videos he\u2019d like us to see.\u201d<\/p>\n
Genre Non-Fiction<\/p>\n
http:\/\/www.lindarosenbaum.com\/<\/a><\/p>\nBest place to buy your book<\/h2>\n