One Pair of Shoes Can Change Your Life

books:

	• A Random Act: An Inspiring True Story of Fighting to Survive and Choosing to Forgive Cindi Broaddus, Kimberly Lohman Suiters Harper Paperbacks, 2006 - 224 pages average customer review:based on 25 reviews view larger image
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highly recommended

One Pair of Shoes Can Change Your Life

I first became familiar with Cindi Broaddus in "The Survivors Club" and how because she had worn a pair of tennis shoes, medical personnel were able to feed IVs into her feet after most of the rest of her body was burned in a spill of acid from an overpass onto her car. It so happened I recognized her unusual name on the cover of a book I saw at the Altrusa Club annual book sale. I bought it for 25 cents and read it on a plane ride over the weekend and IT HAS CHANGED MY LIFE. Whereas I seem to be the vengeful "what goes around comes around" type, one line that she uses about "no one deserving misfortune befall them" really struck me. She realized the person who dropped this jar mustn't be happy and that if someone had done something sweet for him, a tiny act of kindness, or a smile, that night, it might have changed his mind from committing this evil, random deed. A pretty non-emotional person, I teared up in the parts where some people redid Cindi's house for her during her hospitalization, her employer (the cable company) tried to plan a convoy of trucks at every overpass on her way home upon release from the hospital (but she left early), and Dr. Phil McGraw, who happens to be her brother-in-law, presenting her a new vehicle. She said she was strong in her own right even without help from Dr. Phil, a question I wanted answered. One thing I found missing was more conversations that included her doctors and their comments on her severe injuries. I don't understand how a statute of limitations can be placed on this crime, but I am thrilled that Oklahoma created a law that makes dropping items from overpasses a crime. This incident will make me shine my lights on them in the middle of the night from now on. The creep who did this should visit a burn unit and this book should be read by anyone in a burn unit. You'll realize Cindi's theme song should definitely be, "I Will Survive," by Gloria Gaynor. When speaking to other burn victims who were less uplifting than a funeral, Cindi explains how she went to work three weeks after discharge and made 95 percent of her sales goal. She is not scarred on the inside and ignores the stares from her disfigurement. She thanks God for sparing her life. She has precious children, who had a surprise party where everyone brought a balloon with a message on it and who planted a tree to mark the incident's anniversary. "Let the trunk be the courage you have shown, the branches be the lives that you have touched and the leaves be the random acts of kindness inspired by you," they wrote. The tree will grow with tender care, with the seasons, branch out, reach toward the sun and root itself more firmly into its home--for all to see. Just like Cindi.

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A Random Act

It took courage to live thru this horrible attack and more courage to write so honestly about her pain and then to be able to forgive the anonymous attacker.

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A Story of Courage and Love

I was really impressed with this book. Cindi is a remarkable woman to come through so much physical and mental pain and then to be able to forgive and move on with her life. It makes you grateful for what you have in life and shows you that amongst all the evil in the world there are still so many good people, helping each other. I really enjoyed reading this book and would urge others to do so.

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An excellent journey

This was a great book! I really enjoyed the positive attitude that Cindi demonstrated throughout this extremely difficult time in her life. I thought it was a fabulous read! I was finished with the book in three days!

reviews: page 1, 2, 3, 4, 5

Cindi Broaddus didn't realize that her life was about to be forever altered as she sat in the passenger seat of a car on a lonely highway, speeding toward the airport in the early morning hours of June 5, 2001. A single mother of three and a delighted new grandmother, she was thinking only of her well-earned vacation when a gallon jar of sulfuric acid, tossed from an overpass by an unknown assailant, came crashing through the windshield. In a heartbeat, Cindi was showered with glass and flesh-eating liquid, leaving her screaming in agony and burned almost beyond recognition.

A Random Act is the riveting firsthand account of a brutal and senseless attack and its aftermath. Much more than one remarkable woman's chronicle of an unthinkable tragedy and amazing recovery, Cindi's story is one of hope and transcendence, born of a conscious and dedicated determination to turn a nightmarish experience into something positive and uplifting. Her unforgettable journey back to life and a gloriously renewed sense of purpose offers illuminating truths about love, healing, and the astounding power of choice.

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