Readings in Resilience
Reaching Home: Character Synopses
Below is a synopses for each of the characters in the novel Reaching Home by Ron Brezeale, Ph.D. A particular resilience trait is highlighted for each one.
JeanJean
Resilience: The ability to adapt well to adversity, to bounce back from difficult times, to deal with tragedy, whether it be a national disaster, or a personal one, such as the loss of a spouse. Skills and attitudes that can be learned, that build resilience, include Self Confidence. Having a positive self image is critical if a person is to be able to control and manage fear and anxiety in his or her life.
Jean is a petite woman with green eyes and a fair complexion. Since she retired from her work in the lab she has become more athletic. She has had time to ski and bike with her husband, Ian. The worry lines and wrinkles of her early 40s are gone. But she is alone now. Ian was killed in an accident a few months ago. She is an American who has spent most of her life in Europe. She took a job there in the mid 70s after graduate school. She is an independent soul. Smart. Self-confident. But she feels the need to return to the States. To reconnect with her family. To look up an old friend. Actually, an old lover whom she hasn't seen for years. She writes him and tries to call him but receives no response. She goes to Boston to an apartment that she and her husband would use when they came to the States on business. She returns late one evening after having dinner with friends to find her old lover standing at the door of her apartment building. He is arguing with the doorman who is threatening to call the police.
Jean is one of the main characters in Reaching Home, a novel by Ron Breazeale, Ph.D. about conquering fear and building resilience. Jean's story, and others from Reaching Home are part of Maine Resilience, a project of Alpha One, Maine's Independent Living Center. The goal of Maine Resilience is to teach the skills and attitudes that can help people manage adversity and bounce back whether the tragedy is a national one, like a hurricane, or a private challenge, like the loss of a spouse.
Robert
Resilience: The ability to adapt well to adversity, to bounce back from difficult times, to deal with tragedy, whether it be a national disaster or a personal one, such as isolation and loneliness. Skills and attitudes that can be learned, that build resilience, include being flexible. By definition, it is a key component of resilience and one of the primary factors in emotional adjustment and maturity. This requires that an individual be flexible in his/her thinking and actions.
Robert is a large man. A man in desperate need of a haircut and a shave. But he doesn’t care. He lives alone. He is a caretaker for an Inn that is closed for the winter. He won’t see another human being until the ice is out. And that, he hopes, will not be for another couple of months. He likes his own company. At least that’s what he tells himself. He hasn’t been out of the County in years. He only ventured out once and that was a disaster. People, he feels, have not treated him right. He blames it on the Cerebral Palsy and the seizures. Two people are supposed to be coming to stay at the Inn. Just for a few days his friend tells him. If they come, they’ll be on their own, he thinks. I’m not an Innkeeper, just a caretaker. They probably won’t come. No one comes during the winter. But then he hears footsteps on the porch outside and voices.
Robert is one of the characters in Reaching Home, a novel by Ron Breazeale, Ph.D. about conquering fear and building resilience. Robert’s story, and others from Reaching Home are part of Maine Resilience, a project of Alpha One, Maine’s Independent Living Center. The goal of Maine Resilience is to teach the skills and attitudes that can help people manage adversity in their lives and bounce back whether the tragedy is a national one, like a hurricane, or a private challenge, like a serious illness.
Howard
Resilience: The ability to adapt well to adversity, to bounce back from difficult times, to deal with tragedy, whether it be a national disaster or a personal one, such as a serious health problem or mental illness. Skills and attitudes that can be learned, that build resilience, include being able to make realistic plans and take action to carry them out. Being able to see what is, rather than what you would like, is part of the skill. Action is best when it is proactive rather than reactive, assertive rather than aggressive or passive.
Howard wears large glasses with black, plastic frames. He is slightly balding. He is dressed in grey coveralls and a pair of old work boots. A long chain runs from his belt to his wallet in the rear pocket of his coveralls. A toothbrush, a tube of toothpaste and an assortment of pens and pencils are tucked tightly into the coverall’s outer breast pocket. Howard is homeless. He has been on the streets for years.
Most of Howard’s family is either dead or they will have nothing to do with him. Howard has a mental illness. He has been treated in institutions and placed on medications which he refuses to take. He once had a wife and children but they are gone now. The children are in foster care or adopted—he’s not sure. He just knows he doesn’t see them anymore. He doesn’t know where his wife is. He has spent the night on the floor of the Goodwill store. When the bus came to the shelter yesterday to evacuate its residents he refused to leave. He ran away. Most of the residents of the city he has lived most of his life in are gone. They have left because of an accident at a DOE facility near the city. A nuclear accident. That’s what the police say but Howard doesn’t believe them. He thinks they’re just trying to scare people to get them to leave and not come back. Howard decides he will go back to the shelter to get some of his clothes. He opens the door to the street. No sign of the police or the soldiers.
Howard is one of the characters in Reaching Home, a novel by Ron Breazeale, Ph.D. about conquering fear and building resilience. Howard’s story, and others from Reaching Home are part of Maine Resilience, a project of Alpha One, Maine’s Independent Living Center. The goal of Maine Resilience is to teach the skills and attitudes that can help people manage adversity and bounce back whether the tragedy is a national one, like an accident at a nuclear facility, or a private challenge, like a severe mental illness.
Stella
Resilience: The ability to adapt well to adversity, to bounce back from difficult times, to deal with tragedy, whether it be a national disaster like a hurricane or a personal one, such as losing a loved one. There are a number of skills and attitudes that can be learned that can build resilience. Being able to manage strong feelings is one of these. This requires the ability to take action without behaving impulsively and responding out of emotion, putting emotions to the side when clear thinking and action are required. Being able to use thinking as a way of managing one’s emotions is a key component of this skill.
Stella’s the Manager. She manages the gift shop at a tourist attraction in the mountains of West Virginia. An old, deep mine. She gives tours. She has been working there since she lost her husband and her family in Tennessee. She just couldn’t stay there. Not after her son’s death. She had been able to deal with everything else. An abusive, alcoholic stepfather. A husband who wouldn’t work and drank just like her step dad. The poverty of the mountains. The isolation. But when Thomas died it was just too much. She had to leave.
It is the off season and the attraction is closed. She has a small apartment attached to the back of the gift shop. She keeps an eye on the mine and the shop during the winter. She loads the old 12 gage shotgun she keeps for protection. Stella thought she saw someone near the entrance to the mine shaft earlier in the day. It was probably just her imagination. But Bob has been so good to her. She doesn’t want to let him down. Stella doesn’t want anything to happen. She picks up her light and Old Betsy, the 12 gage, just for luck and, opening the door, she starts up the hill to the mine’s entrance, moving quickly over the bed of coal and rock that cover the ground.
Stella is one of the main characters in Reaching Home, a novel by Ron Breazeale, Ph.D. about conquering fear and building resilience. Stella’s story, and others from Reaching Home are part of Maine Resilience, a project of Alpha One, The Maine Independent Living Center. The program teaches the skills and attitudes that can help people manage adversity and bounce back whether the tragedy is a national one, like a hurricane, or a private challenge, like the loss of a child.
Jim
Resilience: The ability to adapt well to adversity, to bounce back from difficult times, to deal with tragedy, whether it be a national disaster, such as Vietnam, or a personal one, such as an injury or disability. Skills and attitudes that can be learned, that build resilience, include being able to communicate well and problem solve both individually and with others. This includes basic communication, listening and problem solving skills.
Jim is a truck driver. It seems like he has been driving all his life. Well at least since he came back from Vietnam. Moving around seemed to be the only thing that helped him relax. But in his late 50s the driving has gotten harder. He got 20% on his legs from Nam. But they bother him more now. Jim was married once. He has a child too. He hasn’t seen her in years. He’s never seen his grandchildren. But he’s got his truck, a fire engine red, Peterbilt 379 with a massive polished aluminum grille and bumper and double polished aluminum stacks. And Jim’s got his partner, Ben. That’s good and bad. Ben’s an alcoholic.
But Jim’s got other friends he’s met on the road, like Millie. Jim has known Millie for years. Nothing romantic. Tonight she has asked a favor of Jim. Can he give a ride to a guy who is down on his luck? He needs a ride to Boston. It’s against company policy but Jim doesn’t always go by company policy.
Jim is one of the main characters in Reaching Home, a novel by Ron Breazeale, Ph.D. about conquering fear and building resilience. Jim’s story, and others from Reaching Home are part of Maine Resilience, a project of Alpha One, Maine’s Independent Living Center. Maine Resilience’s goal is to teach the skills and attitudes that can help people manage adversity in their lives and bounce back whether the tragedy is a national one, like Vietnam, or a private challenge, like a disability.
Betsy
Resilience: The ability to adapt well to adversity, to bounce back from difficult times, to deal with tragedy, whether it be a national disaster, or a personal one. Optimism is one of the major components of resilience. Optimists, in general, are better able to see the bigger picture than pessimists. They are more likely to see good and bad events occurring in their lives as being temporary rather than permanent. This too will pass. They are also more likely to see events as having a specific impact on certain areas of their lives rather than having a pervasive impact on their entire life or their future. Most of all, they are less likely to blame themselves or someone else for hard times. They have learned to hold themselves and others accountable without playing the blame game.
Barely five feet in height, Betsy is a determined looking woman. Attractive. With brown hair, only now beginning to show traces of gray and white. She is a southern girl, complete with a rich daddy. She came to Maine with her first husband, a pilot with the Air Force. They divorced. He left. She stayed. She worked at the Medical Center for thirty years as a nurse and has just retired. She is going back to school. She has been admitted for the fall term to a seminary in Boston. Betsy is back in Maine for a week visiting friends and is going to Jackman this evening. She unlocks the side door of her van, more correctly, her bus, an old VW from the 1970s which she has rebuilt and repainted at least three times. Her cell phone rings. It’s her friend Cathy who works in the ER. A friend of hers has been admitted. He has gotten himself into some serious trouble, at least that is what the morning paper had said. Something about being suspected of causing an "accident" at a DOE facility in Tennessee. She hasn’t seen Lee since her retirement party. Lee and his wife Liz were close friends. She is in the garage of the Medical Center. A hundred yards from the ER. She has the time. Maybe she can help.
Betsy is one of the main characters in Reaching Home, a novel by Ron Breazeale, Ph.D. about conquering fear and building resilience. Betsy’s story, and others from Reaching Home are part of Maine Resilience, a project of Alpha One, Maine’s Independent Living Center. The Program teaches the skills and attitudes that can help people manage adversity and bounce back whether the tragedy is a national one, like an accident at a nuclear facility, or a private challenge, like being accused of a crime you didn’t commit.
Griff
Resilience: The ability to adapt well to adversity, to bounce back from difficult times, to deal with tragedy, whether it be a national disaster, like AIDS, or a personal one, such as the death of your child. A major component of resilience for most is the ability to find purpose and meaning in life. Being able to make sense out of what is happening and to find meaning in it is critical if one is to manage the feelings that are aroused in a crisis. Spiritual and religious beliefs and practices are a major component of this factor.
Griff is a large man in his late 60s with a bushy white beard speckled with gray. He had grown up in Texas and trained for the ministry as a young man. After eight years he left the church and moved his young family to Maine. Griff supported them through working as a grant writer for local human services organizations. They rented a small, hard scrabble farm—a poor man’s farm—and home-schooled their children. The two eldest left Maine for college. They were good students and found jobs in other places. They did not return to Maine. But Todd, the youngest one, stayed to work the farm and fish.
Soon after Todd became ill, Griff’s wife died suddenly. Griff seemed to recover from Beth’s death, but Todd’s illness shook him to the core. While Todd was still alive, Griff decided to return to the ministry. He took a position as a pastor of a small church near their home and spent the rest of his time caring for Todd and being an AIDS activist.
Griff is in Boston with the John Wesley II, a lobster yacht that he has rebuilt and cared for as if it was his child. He was in Boston for a conference on AIDS. Staying at the Parker House. He has just gotten back from the conference to find a call on his voicemail from a woman whom he hasn’t seen in years, Jean Kudrick. She says she is in the hotel restaurant with an old friend of his and wants him to join them...for tea. As he steps on the elevator, he remembers the article that morning in the Globe about his friend Lee. Something about Lee being involved in an accident at a nuclear facility in Tennessee. Jean and Lee had been friends, well lovers, in the 70s. He wonders if this old friend waiting in the dining room is Lee. But that would be impossible. If he is being pursued by the authorities, he wouldn’t be sitting in the dining room at the Parker House. At least he assumes he wouldn’t.
Griff is one of the main characters in Reaching Home, a novel by Ron Breazeale, Ph.D. about conquering fear and building resilience. Griff’s story, and others from Reaching Home are part of Maine Resilience, a project of Alpha One, Maine’s Independent Living Center. The Program teaches the skills and attitudes that can help people manage adversity and bounce back whether the tragedy is a national one, like AIDS, or a private challenge, like a child with a serious illness.
Millie
Resilience: The ability to adapt well to adversity, to bounce back from difficult times, to deal with tragedy, whether it be a national disaster or a personal one, such as a serious health problem. A person’s resilience is often determined by their ability to find purpose and meaning in life. Being able to make sense out of what is happening and to find meaning is critical if one is to manage the feelings that are aroused in a crisis. Spiritual and religious beliefs, practices and values are a major component of this factor.
Millie grew up in Pennsylvania, as she would describe it, ”dirt poor”. She was one of eight children. When she was ten her family moved to Chicago and her father took a job at a plant. World War II was on and blacks were being hired. But when the War was over, many of their jobs were over too. Millie’s dad lost his.
Millie was the oldest girl. School was not easy for her. ”Ma gave up on me. She thought I was a lost cause.” Millie ran away at fourteen and in her words “learned quick I could make more money turning tricks than flipping burgers”. She tried to send money home but her family sent it back. They would have nothing to do with her. Millie began to drink and began dealing “soft” drug. Soft turned to hard and Millie was hooked. Things were falling apart. She left Chicago, by evening she was back in Pennsylvania, not far from where she had grown up. She was out of money and out of luck. She ended up in the County hospital.
But when she checked herself out of the hospital her luck began to change. She met an elderly woman sitting on a bench outside the hospital whose sister had just died. The woman took her in and, as Millie would put it, “I finally found a mother even though she was a white one”. Millie took care of the woman until she died. The woman left her some money and Millie would have been fine if it hadn’t been for the car wreck. Millie had no insurance. She ended up in the hospital for months. Couldn’t work and was in a wheelchair. But Millie “gave it back over to the Lord”. Millie was offered a job and she took it. It wasn’t exactly the kind of job she wanted, the night manager of Bambi’s, a bar and strip club. But, as Millie would put it “life is hard and you take what you can get”.
Tonight one of the new girls asked Millie to talk to one of her customers who was asking questions about Vinny and about finding a ride north. She assumes Vinny, a local mechanic, has beat the man out of his transportation. “He’s probably out of money and luck” she says to herself. But she remembers when she was in the same place. She rolls her chair over to his table.
Millie is one of the main characters in Reaching Home, a novel by Ron Breazeale, Ph.D., about conquering fear and building resilience. Millie’s story, and others from Reaching Home are a part of Maine Resilience, a project of Alpha One, The Maine Independent Living Center. The Program teaches the skills and attitudes that can help people manage adversity and bounce back whether the tragedy is a national one, like an ice storm, or a private challenge, like drug addiction.
Bird
Resilience: The ability to adapt well to adversity, to bounce back from difficult times, to deal with tragedy, whether it be a national disaster or a personal challenge, such as a birth defect or mental illness. Having a support network, being connected to others or not being connected to others, plays a major role in resilience. Relationships that can provide support and caring are one of the primary factors in resilience. Having a number of these relationships, both within and outside the family, that offer love, encouragement and reassurance can build and support resilience.
She was dressed in brown work coveralls and a heavy blue parka. She seemed younger than her years. It was her shy, almost childlike manner. She busied herself arranging and then rearranging the parts on the garage floor. As she worked she talked to herself. “VVVinny will not like this. NNNot like this at all. I shouldshouldn't have told him Vinnie was at BBBambie's. He shouldshouldn't have gone there. I I I shouldn't have told him shouldn't have told him.” She shakes her head.
Vinny would be angry with her again. He had hit her before when he was mad. She needed Vinny, she thought. He had taken her in when she had no place else to go. He let her sleep in the room in the back of the garage and gave her money for food. She had no one else. He would understand, she hoped but she knew he wouldn't. But the man was anxious to get back on the road north. He needed a mechanic. He needed Vinny. He wanted to get his old pick-up truck fixed so he could leave. Bird knew how he felt. When things were just too much, she would leave. Maybe she would have to leave again.
Bird is one of the characters in Reaching Home, a novel by Ron Breazeale, Ph.D., about conquering fear and building resilience. Bird's story, and others from Reaching Home are a part of Maine Resilience, a project of Alpha One, The Maine Independent Living Center. The Program teaches the skills and attitudes that can help people manage adversity and bounce back whether the tragedy is a national one, like an ice storm or a hurricane, or a private challenge, like a severe mental illness.
Muqtada
Resilience: Resilience: The ability to adapt well to adversity, to bounce back from difficult times, to deal with tragedy, whether it be a national disaster or a personal one, such as the loss of one’s home. Our connection to others, in many ways, determines our resilience. Relationships that can provide support and caring are one of the primary factors in resilience. Having a number of these relationships, both within and outside of the family, that offer love, encouragement and reassurance can build and support us in difficult times. The absence of this connection can be our undoing.
Muqtada, a man in his mid sixties with thinning hair and a light grey beard, believed he had spent most of his life in motion. He was an average man in many ways, height and build, but his life had not been average. He fled Iran with his family in the early 1970s when the Shah’s regime collapsed. His father reestablished the family in New England, but Muqtada always dreamed of returning home. He dropped out of college and tried to create his own future in business but failed.
After his father’s death, he took his inheritance and travelled in the Arab world. It was there that he found a way back home. He would prove himself, not as a traitor to his country and his faith, as his father had been seen, but as a true believer in the cause of his countrymen. He lost his left hand and part of an arm in one of these failed efforts. He now wore a glove prosthesis as a means of keeping him from being easily recognized by the authorities but not because he thought it was any other use to him.
With the nuclear accident at Pine Grove labs, their government will be occupied. They will not have the time to worry themselves with us. The time is now, he thought. He and his allies had planned and waited. They were ready.
Muqtada is one of the main characters in Reaching Home, a novel by Ron Breazeale, Ph.D., about conquering fear and building resilience. Muqtada’s story, and others from Reaching Home are a part of Maine Resilience, a project of Alpha One, The Maine Independent Living Center. Through storytelling, The Program teaches the skills and attitudes that can help people manage adversity and bounce back whether the tragedy is a national one, like a terrorist attack, or a private challenge, like the loss of one’s home.
Jennings
Resilience: The ability to adapt well to adversity, to bounce back from difficult times, to deal with tragedy, whether it be a national disaster or a personal challenge, such as prostate cancer. Being flexible is one of the primary factors in resilience and is reflective of an individual’s emotional adjustment and maturity. This requires that an individual be flexible in his thinking and his actions.
Special Agent Douglas Jennings rolls over and looks at his watch. 3 a.m. He groans again and pulls himself out of bed. He flips on the television and begins throwing clothes into an old battered leather two suitor that, like him, has seen too many early morning flights. He is being assigned to the investigation at Pine Grove, an accident at a nuclear reactor or an act of terror? He doubts it. Jennings knows that the real act of terror is yet to come. A terrorist cell in the Boston area is planning on carrying out what the Cold War Soviets had only schemed and dreamed of, unleashing a disease that could spread not just death, but panic across the U.S. in a matter of days. Jennings has been working on the investigation, Project Outbreak, for a year.
Jennings is a man who does what he is told. He turns on the shower. He’s lost a lot of weight since the surgery. Prostate cancer. He has not gained it back. He needs a new wardrobe, but refuses to take the time to shop for one. Margaret has always helped him with that, but that was before the divorce. Before the cancer. Project Outbreak will have to wait. “some accident in Hooterville is the priority”, says Jennings to an empty room.
Jennings is one of the main characters in Reaching Home, a novel by Ron Breazeale, Ph.D., about conquering fear and building resilience. Jenning’s story, and others from Reaching Home are a part of Maine Resilience, a project of Alpha One, The Maine Independent Living Center. The Program, through storytelling, teaches the skills and attitudes that can help people manage adversity and bounce back whether the tragedy is a national one, like a terrorist attack, or a private challenge, like cancer.
Liz
Resilience: The ability to adapt well to adversity, to bounce back from difficult times, to deal with tragedy, whether it be a national disaster, like an accident at a nuclear facility, or a personal challenge, such as a loved one in big trouble. Being able to manage strong feelings is a major component of resilience. This requires being able to take action without behaving impulsively and responding out of emotion and being able to put emotions to the side when clear thinking and action are required. Using thinking as a way of managing one’s emotions is a key component of this skill.
Liz’s hair is cut short. Almost completely grey. She is a beautiful woman who has retained her shape as the years have passed and threatened to take it from her. She has been crying. Her eyes are red. Her nose is running.
She hasn’t slept in a week. Not since it had all started. But tonight she would see him. He would be back. At least that’s what his attorney had told her. She was waiting in the dark in a booth in the back of Flo’s, a bar in the cove. She peers out at the harbor but can see nothing. The fog had rolled in earlier in the evening.
She knew the papers were wrong. The t.v. news reports. Her husband wasn’t a terrorist. But she knew innocence sometimes didn’t matter. Most of her family had been killed in the holocaust. Her mother had escaped to Shanghai where she had met Liz’s father, where Liz had been born.
The last week seemed like a bad dream. The police had come to the house with search warrants. They had gone through everything. They had taken Lee’s computer and some of his books. They told her and her daughter not to leave the area or they would be in as much trouble as Lee.
She hears a boat’s engine. She peers out into the fog again. On the steps leading up from the water, she sees the outline of a man. "It has to be him" she says out loud as she stands up and moves toward the door.
Liz is one of the main characters in Reaching Home, a novel by Ron Breazeale, Ph.D., about conquering fear and building resilience. Liz’s story, and others from Reaching Home are a part of Maine Resilience, a project of Alpha One, The Maine Independent Living Center. The Program, through storytelling, teaches the skills and attitudes that can help people manage adversity and bounce back whether the tragedy is a national one, like a terrorist attack, or a private challenge, like a loved one in trouble with the authorities.
Lee
Resilience: The ability to adapt well to adversity, to bounce back from difficult times, to deal with tragedy, whether it be a national disaster, like a terrorist attack, or a personal challenge, such as being accused of being a terrorist when you aren’t one. Optimism is one of the major components of resilience. Optimists, in general, are better able to see the bigger picture than pessimists. They are more likely to see good and bad events occurring in their lives as being temporary rather than permanent. This too will pass. They are also more likely to see events as having a specific impact on certain areas of their lives rather than having a pervasive impact on their entire life or their future. Most of all, they are less likely to blame themselves or someone else for hard times. They have learned to hold themselves and others accountable without playing “the blame game”.
Lee is a quiet man, an ordinary man in most ways, with bright blue eyes and a mustache he had grown in graduate school and never shaved. He has, as the census bureau counts such things, a disability. He was born with only one hand. His “other hand” isn’t really a hand, it is an ugly stump. A wrist. No fingers or thumb. In so many ways, a useless appendage. As a child, Lee hid it in his pocket or under his other arm when he could, before, that is, he had the hook.
He is small in stature but has always tried to stand up for what he believes. For most of his life he has had what he calls a “love/hate relationship” with his first home, the south. He is a “southern refuge” and a story teller.
A story that he will tell many times before his death began when he was sixty-six. He was alone on a road near Pine Grove labs - an area where the nuclear bombs that were dropped on Japan in World War II were created, where research and development of nuclear devices continued until the morning of that first day of Passover, 2013. Lee was driving back to his hotel after meeting with a group opposing the nuclear incinerator. He had just glanced at the car’s clock. It was 9:21. That’s when it happened. A blue flash of light. The entire night sky lit up. The sound of an explosion followed.
Lee is one of the main characters in Reaching Home, a novel by Ron Breazeale, Ph.D., about conquering fear and building resilience. Lee’s story, and others from Reaching Home are a part of Maine Resilience, a project of Alpha One, The Maine Independent Living Center. The Program, through storytelling, teaches the skills and attitudes that can help people manage adversity and bounce back whether the tragedy is a national one, like a nuclear disaster, or a private challenge, like being accused of being a terrorist when you aren’t one.