Bullets & Babies

When does life get better? That is the question 15-year-old Janice Thomas asked herself when she lived with her affectionless father, and subordinate mother.

As a sixteen-year old, life got better when she married Wayne, had his first baby.

She thought being a wife and mother was a great life, and it was until Wayne, fueled by drugs and alcohol, started to assault her.

As a 27-year-old she thought life was better when she divorced Wayne and married Ron.

At 32 years-old she wondered when will life get better because she and Ron were separated. But she knew she could reconcile with him and life would get better.

She and Ron met at a pool hall to talk reconciliation. They were drinking, playing pool, and having a good time. They met and talked with people. One person they met was Jim. They left the bar with Jim to look at Jim's gun collection.

Two months later Janice woke up in a hospital room wondering why she was there. She couldn't remember the night at the bar. Ron was there and he told her they had been looking at guns, and well, he shot her. Not only did he shoot her, but she was paralyzed. She cried out 'this can't be my life?'

When Janice returned home to face life as a paraplegic her kids were scared, her parents demanding, and Ron's guilt drove him to drink, and he abandoned Janice and the kids. Without a husband, or a job, or income, Janice faced a life that wasn't getting better. She thought it wasn't worth living.

This inspirational and uplifting story will challenge readers to examine moments of tradegy that every human face's in their mind, body, and spirit.

Janice took control of her life, even moving away from her parents, and all that was familiar, to build a new life. Janice's grit, determination, faith, and love kept her family together.