Amazon.com: Take Heart! True Stories of Life, Love, and Laughter: Rudy Wilson Galdonik: Books

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Editorial Reviews

Book Description
Who would think open-heart surgery at the age of 25 could be funny! Hilariously funny.

Take Heart! True Stories of Life, Love, and Laughter chronicles the challenges faced by Rudy Wilson Galdonik, motivational humorist and heart patient. Whether it’s the challenge of having $40,000 worth of "stuff" in her chest to keep her heart ticking (that's the uninstalled price of 2 mechanical heart valves, a pacemaker, bovine patch, assorted leads and a pacer wire named Emily), being an off-the-wall animal lover or just a Yankee living in the Deep South, Rudy keeps readers in stitches while she encourages them to see the funny.

If you’ve ever caught yourself ogling at your neighbor’s trash, or considered your pet a four-legged child, or tried to pass as genteel and failed miserably, then consider this book. If you select doctors based on sex appeal, dance with the finesse of a spastic robot, or know someone who drives The Ugliest Car in the World, then this book is a definite must-read. Rudy writes like most people think, but are afraid to admit. You’ll laugh, you’ll cry. You’ll see yourself over and over on every page of these hilarious and often times poignant stories.

About the Author
Hailed as the Erma Bombeck for the 21st century, Rudy Wilson Galdonik is a menopausal mom with an attitude. A tad shy of bionic, she is a lifelong heart patient with $40,000 worth of "stuff" in her chest (that’s the uninstalled price of two mechanical heart valves, a pacemaker, assorted leads, wires, and a pacer wire named "Emily").

Rudy’s writing career began in the third grade when, filled with a passion to write, she began her Great American Novel. By page 4 she was bored to tears and her masterpiece was eventually thrown out along with Rudy’s extensive collection of airline throw-up bags by her mother, whose own passion was cleaning.

In 2001, Rudy’s 16-year-old son, Brad, decided to solo-hike the Appalachian Trail. Rudy’s role as the heart-patient mom, was to function as Drop Box Coordinator, keeping Brad supplied while he was on the trail, and write e-mail updates to all the people who wanted to be kept informed of Brad’s hiking progress. Early on, Rudy was fired from her job of Drop Box Coordinator after she repeatedly mailed 30-pound packages of food to her ultra-light hiker son. But her e-mail updates grew in popularity to weekly updates of readers as far away as Australia.

In 2003, Brad set out on the trail again. This time setting the world record for solo-hiking the 2,650 mile Pacific Crest Trail, and Rudy once again entertained readers with her hilarious updates. At the same time she completed work on her new book Take Heart!

In addition to writing, Rudy uses humor to speak to groups. When Rudy is not writing or speaking, she is stealing treasures off her neighbor’s trash.

Inside This Book (learn more)

First Sentence:
One of my favorite childhood memories involves one of my parents suggesting, "Hey, anybody want to go for a drive?" Read the first page

Key Phrases - Statistically Improbable Phrases (SIPs): (learn more)
bum heart, echo test, treadmill test

Key Phrases - Capitalized Phrases (CAPs): (learn more)
Good Housekeeping, Black Lab Nut, Take Heart, True Stories of Life, Little Miss Hoity-Toity, Doris Day, Little Johnny, The Perfect Mother

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Concordance |

Take Heart! True Stories of Life, Love, and Laughter (Paperback)