Did That Really Happen?

Right before A Rose for Sergei was published, I found myself questioning if I had the courage to make my book public.  Our story is deeply personal; one I thought I would keep to myself forever.  My book was complete, it was edited, it was proofed, and it was approved by the Department of Defense prepublication office.  So what was the holdup?  Indecision!  I needed to make my decision about pushing that all mighty “send” button on my computer.  That one button approved my final copy of my book.  But still, for some reason, I hesitated.

After reading about certain events in Sergei Kourdakov’s autobiography, The Persecutor, some people have questioned, “Did that really happen?”  I understand that, his story does seem unbelievable.  I will admit that I’m one of those “show me” skeptical people.  However, having met Sergei in person and hearing his story first hand, I do believe that what he wrote about really did happen.  Enough so, that I wrote a book about our time together.  In defense of Sergei, I felt a responsibility to speak out because I knew his story to be true.

A few procrastinating days later, as I was getting ready for the day, thoughts were still racing through my mind—what on earth should I do, publish or not publish?  What happened immediately after my question is a scene right out of fiction books.  Somehow a tube of lip gloss on the bathroom vanity took a flying leap to the floor.  I was nowhere near it when it happened.  I didn’t bump it because I would have knocked over nail polish bottles to reach it.  It didn’t roll off because it was in the middle of two other tubes of lip gloss.  There was no explanation for what happened, and yet I saw the lip gloss flip off the counter.  Did that really happen? I wondered.  It is one of those strange happenings for which there is no possible explanation.  I had a good laugh and I have to admit it did lighten my spirits.  Shortly after that I went to my computer and pushed the “approve and send” button to publish my book.