It Could Never Happen But It Did

It Could Never Happen but It Did By: Edward Watkins “Dear Edward, dear friend, you are undoubtedly a storyteller of unequaled memory! I was fascinated by your remembrance of 90+ years ago. You wrote over 100+ pages of your life you obviously enjoyed. I thank you for sharing your book. It’s awesome.” -Charlene Dawson, writer and journalist “Edward, dear! What a fantastic tale you weave! Your memories and book style captivated my whole being. I had thought I would merely peruse the hundred and twenty pages and just say a little white lie that I had read the whole thing. But, no, I could not quit until I read it all. I believe your book should appeal to those who lived in that era and those who are interested in how life ‘was’ in the olden/golden days.” -Charline Gajdos, lifelong secretary and world traveler “Watkins is the best salesman since St. Paul. [He] shows that faith can move mountains.” -John Dudley, Scout Master of California “Dear Edward, this was an amazing autobiography. Your memory for the details is extraordinary and the recounting of your childhood, flying career, sales career, and golfing experiences is amazing. Thank you for the opportunity to read it.” -Sally and Basil Binckley This is the story about Edward Watkins’s life from his birth to his forty-third birthday. It covers his childhood and his working eight hours a night as an apprentice machinist while in high school. It’s about how he became a Naval Aviator in 1943. He was discharged February 2, 1946, and proceeded to get a college education. He started selling books part-time and found out that he could make more money as an encyclopedia salesman than he could as an engineer. Watkins returned to service for the Korean War October 31, 1952, and was discharged on March 3, 1954. Then Watkins went back to bookselling where he became the regional VP for Collier’s of New England area. He eventually quit that position because his wife could not stand Eastern ragweed and returned to California. He became interested in cosmetics and acquired a dealership in Holiday Magic in 1968. Watkin’s wife divorced him and remarried her first husband on September 7, 1968. Watkin’s called her three months later and she was unhappy. He told her to return home. She canceled her marriage and she and Watkins were remarried February 27, 1969. It could never happen, but it did.

This "little green book," as it has come to be known to hundreds of thousands of C.O.A.'s and A.C.O.A.'s, is meant to help the reader understand the roles children in alcoholic families adopt, the problems they face in adulthood as a result, and what they can do to break the pattern of destruction.

With her reassuring and informative approach, Claudia Black expertly identifies common issues faced by children who grew up in alcoholic families--shame, neglect, unreasonable role expectations, and physical abuse. First published 20 years ago, It Will Never Happen to Me is the definitive book/workbook for adult children of alcoholics.With her reassuring and informative approach, Claudia Black expertly identifies common issues faced by children who grew up in alcoholic families--shame, neglect, unreasonable role expectations, and physical abuse. Using narratives and profiles, she describes survival techniques characteristic of children raised in alcoholic families, including the unspoken laws of don't talk, don't trust, and don't feel. First explaining how such learned responses cause difficulties in adulthood, Black carefully guides readers in identifying self-defeating, destructive behaviors and finding a healthier, happier way to live.Key features and benefits: a proven seller by a respected recovery authorcontains easy-to-follow, useful exercisescan be used by individuals or in a therapeutic setting.

In It Should Never Happen Again, Dr Mike Lauder questions the value of public inquiries. Every day, we hear about another inquiry being set up, or why the last one failed to deliver the hoped for outcomes. A great deal of time and taxpayers’ money is spent on inquiries and even more on implementing their recommendations, but the author suggests that those conducting inquiries might be considered (by their own test) criminally negligent in the way they do so and that it is no surprise that they do not lead to the learning they should. The focus of Mike Lauder’s research is the gaps between what is known, what knowledge is used by practitioners and those who judge them. He contends that the difference between the judicial perspective and that of practitioners who are judged by the inquiry process creates barriers that impede others from learning. Crucially, inquiry outcomes do not assist the leadership of organisations to improve risk governance. It Should Never Happen Again is based on research into high profile public inquiries and presidential commissions in the UK, the USA, Continental Europe, and elsewhere. Embracing issues ranging from terrorist attacks to pollution, fire and air disasters; criminal cases; banking and bribery scandals; and the state of public services, Mike Lauder contrasts the judicial perspective of those who inquire, the academic perspective of those who know and the practical perspective of those who are required to act, and offers new models for understanding risk and its governance.

This book takes six minor characters of the New Testament—the rich young man, the widow and her mite, the centurion Cornelius, one of the ten healed lepers, the good thief, and Peter’s mother-in-law—and presents fictional stories woven into the actual Biblical narrative. Jacob’s story concerns choosing between God and money. Sarah’s story is about believing in Jesus’ power to heal. Cornelius’ story regards coming to faith even in the face of a questionable past. Miriam’s story chronicles her physical and moral restoration leading to a deep personal commitment to Christ. The Dismas story is about forgiveness and inner beauty in the face of disfigurement and confusion. And the Hannah story dramatizes the overcoming of doubt and resentment followed by the discovery of peace and genuine faith. These stories resonate with readers, for the challenges presented are not unlike those faced by contemporary believers and unbelievers alike.

What might life be like in twenty-five to thirty years? If you’ve been paying attention, you’ve seen signs that Christian persecution may be coming. This is the story of Rhys, a young Christian man living twenty-five years from now under totalitarian rule. He was raised in a small town, in a happy Christian household. Rhys’s parents were true believers and true followers of God. They worked diligently to instill that same faith in Rhys from a young age. When Rhys was ten, his parents were taken away to a re-education camp where their “harmful and dangerous” Christian beliefs could be examined. Rhys never saw them again. But he never forgot them. Rhys remembered their lessons and their faith. He was resolved to keep that faith his entire life. And more importantly, he was determined to raise his family as true devout Christians. Despite the dangers, Rhys was able to find small ways to live on mission. He found other believers living along-side him. They continue to hold regular underground church services. His family does this all in secret, knowing that to be discovered worshipping God would result in death. When Rhys’s wife, Grace, is given an impossible task, one that will result in the death of a child, the family is forced to find a way out. Refusal to complete the task would mean death, and not just for Grace and Rhys but for their children as well. Their faith won’t allow them to participate in the death of a child, right? Or, will they place their own children’s lives over that of a stranger?

This book is a second sequel to my previous book, SIX BIBLE STORIES THAT NEVER HAPPENED...but maybe could have to complete the trilogy of BIBLE STORIES. It takes additional underdeveloped characters of the New Testament and presents imagined stories about them woven into the Biblical narrative. “Malchus and Photine” is a coming-to-faith story. Malchus’ loses his ear to Simon Peter’s sword and Photine meets Jesus at Jacob’s well. These are transformational moments leading to struggle and salvation. “Didymus” is the story of the Apostle Thomas and his identical twin brother,Tamir, who learn the meaning of sacrificial love through doubt and conflict. “Joanna” is a story about Jewish aristocrats who become disgusted with their rich and powerful lives and come to know that Jesus is “the way and the truth and the life.”

This book is a sequel to my previous book, SIX BIBLE STORIES THAT NEVER HAPPENED...but maybe could have. It takes additional minor characters of the New Testament—a pagan woman, two blind men, the father of the apostles Matthew and James, and others--and presents fictional stories about them woven into the actual Biblical narrative. Justa, a pagan woman, is presented with a back story of true faith, genuine love, debilitating tragedy and miraculous healing. She is introduced as a house slave who longs to be respected and loved. Her story follows her as she learns resilience from Mary and Joseph, how to love and be loved from her beloved husband Danel, and her true worth from Jesus. Micah and Asher’s story begins with them as thieves partnering with Eli, an unrepentant ne’er-do-well. Then, through the concern of the apostle Nathaniel, they are lifted up from blindness to sight, both physically and spiritually. The story of Alphaeus is about a man who is obstinate regarding his Jewish beliefs and traditions, even if his stubbornness means being estranged from his sons, Matthew and James, and creating heartache for his wife, Rebecca. Alphaeus’ adamant stand leads him to join Saul in persecuting the first Christians until he and Saul are ironically called to be ambassadors for Christ. These stories engage and inspire, for they not only speak to questions of faith in the context of the start of Christianity, but they also touch on challenges regarding faith and the meaning of life facing contemporary believers and unbelievers alike.

Before the great depression started in 1929, times were hard for colored people in the south especially in large cities but not as much in rural areas. Most of the rural areas were littered with sharecroppers who were mostly holdovers from the slavery era and stayed on the land they were born. Most of them had never been any further than the nearest town close to where they lived. Three such families lived on land their families had farmed for years. The landowners were the Holcomb and Nobles and the three families that lived and farmed the land were the Carters, the Longs and the Isaacs. The Carter family was Granny Nettie Adams, her son-in-law, Abraham, his wife, Eve and three kids, the Long family, John Henry, his wife, Florence called ‘Flossie’ and their three kids and the Isaac family of four, William, his wife Cara and two kids. They all lived and worked as sharecroppers on the Holcomb and Nobles’ land just north of Denmark, South Carolina. On December fifteenth 1921, John Henry Long’s wife, ‘Flossie’, gave birth to their third child, a girl named June but ‘Flossie’ died shortly after giving birth due to complications. John Henry did the best he could to care for his three children and hired a neighbor’s daughter to care for his kids while he worked his land. She worked for him for over a year until she wanted to get married and leave Denmark. Initially, he would take the kids to the field with him and his oldest son, Bankston, who he called ‘Banks’, who was only seven, would watch the kids who were Mae Helen, five and the baby, who was barely walking, June and he called her ‘Lil Sis’. One day, Granny Nettie came to the fields to bring her son-in-law, ‘Abe’, his lunch and saw John Henry’s kids and offered to care for them along with her own three great grandkids. Her granddaughter, Eve, worked at the Holcomb’s house as the cook after her mother died in the winter of 1918. She was an only child since her mother died at age twenty three and her father left going to Charleston and never came back. Everyday before he went to the fields, John Henry would bring kids to the Carter house. This arrangement worked very well until the summer of 1923 when ‘Abe’ was killed in an farming accident. His mule kicked him in the head and he was drug with the plow. The news of his death devastated Eve and left her wondering how she, the kids and Granny Nettie were going to make it and be able to farm the land. Eve had loved ‘Abe’ since she first saw him in town at the general store when she was ten and married him when she turned sixteen. ‘Abe’s’ family lived on the other side of Denmark but shopped at the general store like most people in the area. After ‘Abe’s’ death, John Henry began to stay at the Carter’s when he came by to pick up his kids, have dinner and would flirt with Eve. At first, she didn’t acknowledge his flirting but after a long talk with Granny Nettie about John Henry’s flirting and her need for a husband to provide for her and her three kids, she gave in and married him in late 1924. It wasn’t about love because she said she could never love another man after ‘Abe’, it was just about the kids and both of their needs to support their kids. Eve decided to moved to John Henry’s house and Granny Nettie came with them to watch the kids during the day while he worked the fields and Eve continued to work at the Holcomb’s house. At first, the arrangement worked great until the spring of 1925 when John Henry made the boys go to the fields with him to work. Most days, the kids went to the Denmark School for Colored Children. Eve’s sons, Joshua, called ‘Josh’, and Daniel, called ‘Danny’ and John Henry’s son Bankston, called ‘Banks’ would go to the fields some days but John Henry began to make them stay out of school and began to treat Eve’s sons differently. He would beat them with his strap sometimes two or three times a week if they didn’t do what he told him to do in the