Etched in Sand by Regina Calcaterra
I picked up this book because Regina Calcaterra was a speaker at my college graduation. I didn't think much of it because, from what I knew of her, she was in the law field. But when she spoke, she spoke of stories and books, it turned out that she was also an author. I ended up really enjoying her speech, more than I expected to. My mother also really enjoyed her speech and looked up her book to discover that Regina and I share the same hometown, Lindenhurst, as well as SUNY New Paltz being our alma mater. I had to read this book and went to the book store to pick it up immediately. That book was Etched in Sand.
It was such a relief to me to see someone come from my hometown, facing struggles, and to make something of herself. This book gave me hope. Although Regina and I faced different struggles, we have shared similar stresses and feelings. While reading this book, it was hard to imagine anyone having to live and go through all that Regina has. Her writing capability makes you forget that you are reading a memoir and not a work of fiction.
Favorite Quotes:
"To the hundreds of thousands of children in the U.S. who are either abused, in foster care, or homeless. The journey is long and often dark but you must believe in your light - you have so much to offer."
"'Which town in Suffolk had the most damage?' one of them asked. I hurried to push the microphone button on the headset as our aviator had shown us. 'Lindenhurst,' I answered. The group nodded and gazed back out the window, as though they understood why Lindenhurst holds a special significance to me: It's where I was born."
"Now, as I examined it from the sky, my emotions swelled with a love for this place - how the experiences of growing up here made me who I am."
"'Let's hit Pig's for a beer, then we'll get a late-night knish with mustard at the bagel shop near the bars.' 'There's a bar called Pig's?' 'Oh, just you wait.'"
"'She's still got Long Island in her.'"
"I try to think of some reason i need to run back to the office, then I remember Alan's words: This opportunity will never come again."
"The lives Cookie gave us were only etched in sand; able to be erased and written all over again... better, with meaning. We've all made our stories into what we wanted for ourselves."
"There will be aftershocks. And I trust that no matter how it works out, when it's over I'll still be standing."
"In my life I've found that you can't let something go until it's really over and it's never really over until you learn the truth."
"Despite the challenging seas we had to navigate and the limited beacons of light that were available to guide us on our journey, we all landed safely. We pushed ourselves through the riptides."
