July, 2021
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My review:
Beginning with
the touchpoint of his father’s abandonment, Moore shares the ups and downs of
childhood with a volatile father and an enabling mother. These qualities drove
Moore to become a self-identified “nerd” who delved into escapism to endure the
home and school bullies he encountered. Never tough enough, never good enough,
he had resigned himself to a fate of blue-collar work to give his siblings a
boost from the pit of life. A high school counselor stepped in. Moore was given
the opportunity to attend college through a well-designed financial package.
“Mr. Alvarado
changed all our lives, directly or indirectly. Why me? I was this world-weary,
illegitimate white boy, who, when offered the opportunity of his life,
ungratefully dragged his feet until he almost missed out,” Moore says.
In a bit of a
jumpy bit of story-telling, Moore backtracks to another important event during
high school. Moore was led to faith through a whimsical Bible gift and a Seventh-day
Adventist. After studying the Bible, “This seventh-day Sabbath makes perfect
sense to me,” Moore shares.
Though Moore
made a sincere pledge of faith, it didn’t change the deep hurt of his father’s betrayal,
and a resulting thirty-year vendetta. “As long as I dishonored my father in
this fashion, I could never wholly be in Christ.” In college, Moore met and
married his wife Susie, and after graduation followed his love of language with
a career in media relations. The birth of his first child was a life-altering
moment and showed him he could overcome the abusive parenting he’d suffered.
After years
of perfectionism in his career and a downhill faith life, his life began to
break down in emotional and physical illbeing. The deaths of his mother and
boss/mentor put him into a tailspin, and by 1997, due to encouragement at work,
he was on his way to the Weimar Institute for a three-week stay to put his life
back into perspective.
A moving and
thoughtful memoir, Moore challenges his readers to reach deep within and
examine ourselves rightly before God.
Frederick A. Moore has been an award-winning public relations professional, a teacher, a sales and marketing professional, a public address announcer at community events, as well as at high school and small-college sporting events, a guest relations representative for a West Coast League baseball team, and a photographer. He and his wife, Susie, have toured most of the United States and portions of eight countries – all the while capturing thousands of photographic images. They currently live with their daughter and son-in-law in Central Texas – along with the ‘K-9 Corps’ of four Dachshunds and a Shima.
