Title: Still Rambling Down Life’s Road…
Author: Kevin Pettit
Publisher: Authors’ Tranquility Press
ISBN: 978-1962859080
Pages: 172
Genre: Memoir
Reviewed by: Ephantus M.
Pacific Book Review
Author Kevin Pettit’s memoir, Still Rambling Down Life’s Road… details his recovery journey from a severe closed head injury and the lessons he discovered along the way.
Prior to his life being completely turned upside down by a horrific accident in Minnesota in 1988, Pettit was a physics professor at Carleton College. He had no idea that he would wind up sitting in a wheelchair and utilizing a cane and walker until an irresponsible driver crashed into his car. While his wife was punctured in her lung, their two-year-old son Andrew only sustained minor wounds. Sadly, Pettit sustained severe splenic, liver, and kidney contusions in addition to lung punctures in both. He also suffered fractures to his pelvis, skull, and right clavicle.
Over the next two and a half years, he wondered why God, in all His goodness, had allowed the accident to happen and why his family was singled out. Fortunately, everything changed in 1999 when he was transformed into a happier, more present-day person by a revolutionary quote he heard from an unlikely movie character.
What a fighter’s spirit can accomplish is exemplified by Pettit’s story. About his failings and his apparent slow recovery from a condition that very few people survive, he is unvarnished and brutally honest. He talks about how he could find no explanation for what had happened to him and how, happily, he became involved in a church that prioritized helping others, leading a fruitful life, and emphasizing the oneness of all people with God. Pettit is an amazing person who exemplifies how to live a life that best promotes a happy, peaceful, and productive society.
In addition to educating readers about the typical consequences of traumatic brain injury (TBI), he wants his new book Still Rambling Down Life’s Road… to inspire readers to overcome obstacles in their own journeys. Anyone who wants to live a happy life in spite of major, unplanned life changes should read this. Strongly recommended!
