Louis
Louis is my best friend, the inspiration for my alpha male heroes, and the person to whom my books are dedicated. In 2010 he will complete his 32nd year in prison. He has never claimed to be an angel, but he’s been one to many people over the years, and not just me. But in my case, if not for his unwavering support and encouragement, not to mention downright pushing and prodding, my award-winning romances Thin Ice and Jake’s Return would still be collecting dust bunnies under my bed.
Without his patience, understanding, and wisdom, I also never would have unraveled the mystery of my PMDD, or set up a blog and website to help educate other women who suffer from this debilitating disorder that disrupts and often destroys millions of lives. For it was Louis who pointed out that “sometimes you’re the sweetest, kindest, person around, and sometimes you just snap out for (what appears to be) no good reason.”
So we started looking at that, at how some days I “just wasn’t me” and we noticed a pattern. A pattern that cycled through my life monthly, like clockwork. It got to be that he could see the signs before I could, and predict when an episode was about to hit. I, of course would deny it fervently (that’s part of the PMDD), until the symptoms could no longer be denied.
This sparked a year and a half of intensive research on my part, the results of which can be found on the website, Living on a Prayer, Living with PMDD.
My PMDD is now identified and managed through awareness, nutrition, and exercise, thanks to the observation skills and support of my best friend, who continues to see the storm approaching well in advance, and has learned to bend with the wind, so that he—and our friendship, which after ten years has grown as comfortable as your favorite pair of shoes--will remain standing for another day. Some day I hope to write a book about how to survive a relationship with a woman suffering from PMDD.
But for now I post vignettes of our experiences on my blog, as well as snippets of Louis’s story, which started out in 2000 as part of a compilation of stories about prison inmates, their lives and how they came to be where they are, but evolved into a narrative non-fiction series about Louis’s remarkable life and faith journey. It’s titled Letters to Laura and appears under the heading Fridays with Louis.
The opening to Letters to Laura, written on the date Louis began his 25th year in prison, can be found here.
To fulfill my original calling to write about prison life, the calling that first sparked my friendship with Louis, who agreed sight unseen to answer this inquisitive writer’s countless research questions about life behind bars, I regularly post blogs about another friend, who has been incarcerated for twelve years, and is now in the process of preparing for parole. I invite you to share in his journey by visiting his blog, 400 Days.
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