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Reviews & Letters
Dance beyond the Shadows is nonstop
book. Once you start reading you can not stop. One of the most well
written books I have read in a long time.
The way it was written in the second and third party theme I thought
was brilliant. It kept my interest page after page, not knowing how
your life could possibly get any worse.
It is a heart wrenching story that one reads thru teary eyes knowing
that it is a true story, however ends like a fairytale with a happy
ending.
You are indeed a talented and gifted writer. You should write more
books, perhaps on a different subject.
Your friend,
~Warren.
(this was sent to Rose's
daughter in regards to Rose's book)
"I finished the book. I really enjoyed it, and being a survivor, like
your Mom, understand what she was feeling throughout her youth. We
may have different stories, though the feelings are the same,
abandonment and betrayal. It was written differently than any I had
read, in the third person, though once I get used to the writing
style, I could immerse myself right into her story.
Tell her thanks so much, as she is
right, we are not alone, like we felt we were when we were children.
We felt so alone then. You can even pass this email right to her, if
you wish.
Thanks, Rosemary. Tell your Mom, I'm passing the other book onto my
therapist, as I think she'll be interested in your Mom’s
perspective. She deals with us adults daily, and the aftermath the
abuse leaves. Once again, Thanks to your Mom, and to you, Bernie,
for helping me get another perspective and letting me know there are
others. You have a great Mom, who has great fortitude. Bet you
inherited that!"
~Rita
Rita has been an LPN for years and also struggles
daily from similar beginnings as the author
Riveting...especially to those of us who have spent
a good part of our career trying to comprehend the complexities of
the human psyche. Rosemary Richards has so very eloquently depicted
her 'journey' from a veritable 'hell'...transcending all odds...to a
life of true spirituality...embracing peace and forgiveness. I have
had the pleasure of being Rose's 'soul sister' for over 36 years and
have never ceased to be amazed at the strength she has shown in
overcoming some of these tremendous odds. Beautifully written....by
whom I believe one of God's "angels".
~Connie Lavery
Connie Lavery is an RN Community Mental Health Nurse
/ Drug / Alcohol Counselor
"This is a beautifully written book. Even though
sometimes the subject matter being written about is far from
"Beautiful". It is consistently well-written and easy to read. It
would benefit anyone from any walk of life to read this book"
~Elder Sister
Elder Sister attended Utica State Teacher's
College and was on the Dean's List. She worked Health Care
intermittently taking exceptional care of her patients.
Mom,
"I finished your book yesterday morning. It took me less than a day
to read. You write BEAUTIFULLY! Reading your book gives me a little
bit more understanding of my own mother....and why you are such a
strong woman. BRAVO, Mom!"
I love you!
~Suzette
Suzette has worked in the Health Field as a
Nurse’s Aide for over six years, then for Head Start for over
fifteen years. She has an Associates Degree in Liberal Arts and will
complete her Bachelors Degree in Psychology in May 2008.
Rose, my dear friend, I finished your book the day
it arrived. Your gift of literary style has never ceased to amaze
me.
Personally, we have been friends for many many years. We shared many
many spiritual wanderings together. Birthed, fed, bathed, cried,
fought and loved our children.
Without your love and support I, for one, would not have been able
to overcome as much trauma as I have.
Like those who survived the Holocaust, jack Ratz’, recent article in
the post star, comments, "I learned silence in my captivity by
promising myself I would speak and write of my experiences. The
enemy comes to me every night, what was the worst time in my life
has no end to it. The unhealed wounds will keep bleeding in my heart
as long as I live.” accurately tell those of us who suffer from
betrayal and lies and trauma that we are never really free from the
aftermath it caused.
That our voices need to let others know that they too can survive.
Thank you.
~Sharon
Associates Degree in Liberal Arts graduating Magna Cum Laude,
Vice President of Phi Theta Kappa and
Retired senior office clerk with AT&T
I read your heart wrenching story of your life in
one sitting of 51/2 hours amidst my tears shed for your pain. We
have always loved you and admired your kindness, strength and
perseverance.
You are like a she-bear protecting her cubs with her life until your
protector and friend found you. With this very honest and revealing
story, you have set free the demons who were trying to suppress the
wonderfully strong and caring woman God made in you.
You have been through the fire and now are burnished steel honed
fine and sharp from your experiences.
Hold your head high, you are and always will be, God’s precious
child.
Your life’s story will be an inspiration to others, To Tell! It will
help many confused women to finally- Tell! It will be an inspiration
to many to learn to really trust again.
You, Rose, are now truly Dancing beyond the Shadows in the light of
God’s Love.
In Friendship and love ♥
~Dot and Russ too
As a child we do not have the ability to say “no” to
someone that is larger or a caretaker of us. We probably feel that
we are doing what the bigger person wants because they love us and
we do not know. As we grow older the demons do haunt us to cause us
all kinds of problems.
I do hurt because of my past. I’m 60 years old and I still cry from
all those empty years.
Ours was a hard, cruel childhood but it brought us to our new place
where we are so much happier and safer.
We do need to protect the children because that’s where it all
starts.
When you say you’d like to have your book help someone, it already
has “me”.
Signed L.
ROSE,
I have finished reading your book “Dance Beyond The Shadows”. You
know that we have been together for over 28 years and yet I did not
know all that you had been through. I understand more why you
reacted the ways that you did and why you have such strong
convictions.
I think you have such a literary gift and I wish that it had
blossomed sooner, but now is your time. Your story has brought me to
tears and to great laughter. I could not put the book down. The
story was compelling and the way you wrote made it flow so
wonderfully. Your book is one of the best that I have ever read.
Love The Dragon Slayer, Jack
Twenty year Navy career and Vietnam Vet. Computer Engineer,
Builder, Artist, Electronic Engineer, Musician, Singer etc. and an
incredible Husband, Father, Grandfather and friend!
After reading the book "Dance Beyond the Shadows," I
was left with many different feelings. My first response was what a
"powerful book,"
and what made it so powerful was the detail and emotion expressed
throughout the book. I felt as if I was watching a movie that
followed a very chronological order.
My second response was anger and empathy. In my field I have a very
hard time seeing the effects that adults have on innocent children.
Children are so vulnerable and it is disheartening to read about how
one man could alter/ affect the lives of so many.
This book took a lot of courage to write but even more courage to
endure and survive from. This book would have had a huge impact on a
reader if they didn't know the parties involved; however knowing
some of the
characters made it even more difficult to read.
I was truly honored to be given the chance to read such a personal
life story. This book allows people to see how someone with such
life and innocence can be transformed; and how the very people who
we trust
the most and rely on the most to give us life examples and guidance
can be the very people that hurt and confuse us the most.
Thank you for allowing me to experience this book and have some
insight into the trials and tribulations you and your family
endured. You are truly
special people and other people are blessed to know you.
Cori Lyn Tubbs
WWAMH
Residence Counselor
I knew that something had to have occurred
throughout your lifetime to make you such a strong and independent
woman. In reading your book I now feel like I'm beginning to
understand simply why you are the way you are.
Although my life has been short in years your book has helped me to
reflect upon those years. I now look into the past to see how events
and people have effected my life. Your book also helps me to look
into the future to see the potential that I have as a student,
friend, daughter, sister, lover, and simply put, as a human being.
I commend you for all that you have gone through and for simply
writing down your story. Your life is an inspiration to all that
surround you and now has the possibility to be an inspiration to
people around the world!
Much love to you!
~Nikki
Reading the book Dance Beyond The Shadows written by
my loving mom put me at awe. Now knowing her child hood combined
with the child hood that I had experienced with her in the earlier
years gives me a better understanding of her protective and strict
ways. I must have put up an emotional block of my child hood during
that period because I do not remember a whole lot of detail. I do
although remember some of the terror being furniture flying and
breaking and the day my biological father was dropped off at the
rehabilitation clinic.
This book was very well written in a manner that was easy to read.
As I read I pictured the true story as a motion picture movie I was
watching on my television. I highly recommend this Biography to all
walks of life as an inspiration to others to know you are not alone
and to those that live a flawless life to understand these things
are really happening.
Your son Vern
(Poem written with love to Mom from son Kenneth)
The lullaby of a child,
That music was always there.
I still hear your loving voice,
Still feel how much you care…
There are individuals who feel my mother should not write about her
experiences. That she should not tell about her Father. That she
should not talk about the man I would not call father. To those
people I would say that if she were to erase her memories then she
would erase mine as well. She would erase the memories that she
would impart to her children, her husband, and her friends. If she
were to suppress her memories and simply not sharpen her pencil,
then she would forever suppress the moral judgments of any reader
who found themselves pulled into her story. Remembering is connected
to forgiveness. Forgetting connected to denial. What kind of Hell
would we live in if we all denied the truth of all the horrors in
life?: If we didn’t listen to the teachers who are not afraid to
place themselves naked in glass rooms if only to get us to admit
that they are naked? Remember the story of the Emperor’s New
Clothes!
I recently watched a television program that visited the topic of
mind altering drugs that could erase or suppress a selected memory
or group of memories. I was stunned. My mind raced through the
negative possibilities of another God drug that man shouldn’t tamper
with! Thinking in absolutes can be a tricky so I played devils
advocate before the other members of the forum even spoke. My first
thought was rape victims. What if they could suppress this memory?
Before I could think further one of the members on this board spoke
about the benefits to soldiers or rape victims suffering from PTSD.
I was amazed to hear this as my thoughts immediately went to my
mother. Would she use a drug like this if it was available? Would my
Father who suffers from PTSD from serving in Vietnam?
People don’t have post traumatic stress disorder. They suffer from
it. Could this drug make their suffering go away? And if it did, at
what cost? As if reading my thoughts another member spoke and made a
profound statement. “Memory” he stated “is connected to morality.”
If we do not visit these negative memories, if we suppress or erase
them, then what impact will this have on the human psyche? What
impact would this have on society or history? It is the memories of
the horrors of war that drive men not to engage in it, the memories
of concentration camps, brothers who watch brothers being blown
apart, babies being murdered and women being raped. The World War II
and Vietnam Vets that I have spoken to and most recently friends and
a relative, who served in the Middle East, speak of the shock, the
hell of simply living and eating, trying to urinate in a war
environment. They struggle to forget the visions of explosions and
the sound of bullets fired with intent yet they also teach about
their experiences when they talk. Some of them were hateful and
others compassionate and it was their individual moral judgment that
had been derived from these experiences. The memory allowed them to
reflect on their experiences. The argument is that memory is fluid
therefore morality must also be fluid. This reflection allows their
thoughts to surface in the conscious mind where they formed a moral
judgment. If we erase the memory do we erase the morality?
~Kenneth is an incredible artist who attended FIT in NYC, spent five
years in the Air Force, and also earned an Associates Degree (with
honors) from Hudson Valley Community College
HI ROSE
I m so glad that God in His infinite wisdom gave you the courage to
write this book. Moreover, I know that angels stood by, sharing your
sorrow and triumph.
Your message gives others the hope that there is a better life, a
way to live
that is closer to God’s true desires for us. I know that we have to
endure great adversities while on earth. It is what makes us grow,
understand, and draw nearer the person we were designed to be. Your
book may help some who have lost that Hope
I’m so grateful that He gave me strength, endurance, and people to
help me along the way. It s wonderful to come away scarred yet
bereft of anger or hatred.
It’s a miracle when good overcomes evil and one realizes no matter
how much we may feel like a pebble on the beach, that pebble when
thrown into the pond causes waves, a wave that can make a
difference. Keep making waves!
~M. Buffett
Rosemary Richards book, "Dance Beyond The Shadows",
is a compelling, honest, raw, expose' of the horror of being abused
and left to suffer in silence. Not being able "to tell" the things
that have been done to you, especially by someone you have loved and
trusted, is such a confusing, apprehensive, mind and personality
altering tragedy, that should happen to no-one. Yet, regrettably, it
happens to multitudes more than we know.
Relatives, husbands, friends, it matters not, when the ones you love
betray you, when you believed they would protect and honor you, if,
for no other reason than loyalty. Some of us go on to abuse others,
without knowing why, except that is the behavior we have learned.
The author has shown great bravery in opening up her heart and soul
and laying bare all the intimate details that have "brought her down
to the pits", and tortured her mind, body and spirit. "Dance Beyond
The Shadows", shows Light in a way only The Lord Jesus can. It is
wonderful to read the" happy ending" that came to Rosemary Richards
as her life has been healed, and the true personality has emerged,
making her no longer a victim, but a victor, going on to help
others. What a remarkable woman of God she is and I am proud to be
associated with her and her husband.
The Bible says" You shall know the truth and the truth shall make
you free". [John 8:32]. The powerful four letter "f -word", fear,
did not hold her captive. The author is now free, and reading the
book shall set others on the path to freedom, where the past cannot,
with its weapon of fear, keep them in bondage to shadows from the
past!
Thank you Rosemary for your heart touching book I pray God will use
this expose' to reach into the dark places in the lives of those who
need redemption and Spiritual health. God bless you and your family,
your ministry and may all whose lives you touch bring blessings
untold. You are a blessing to me! Thank you.
~Reverend J. Marie Case Monroe
Founder: Marie Case International
Casey's Club Vocational School
And all related ministries
Rose,
It was great to see you and Jack at your book signing. I finished
your book before the weekend was over. You have always been a
wonderful woman in my eyes and a very “classy lady” to say the
least. I once again applaud you for your ability to be so open about
your life. You are a great inspiration to any and all of us who have
struggled to stay afloat in a sea of abuse.
There is a great deal that needs to be done to make people aware of
PTSD and mental illnesses in general. Works like yours written in
this format makes it very easy to relate. Thank you Rose for your
blessings upon all of us who read your book.
~ Love Ruby
Ruby is very dedicated to The International Women’s Writing Guild
and for 2008
The 31st Annual International women’s Writing Guild’s Summer
Conference
P.O. Box 810 Gracie Station New York NY 10028
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