Never Ever Give Up Hope

When Dr. Beverly J. Armento was 23, in her first year of teaching, and after 17 years of physical and emotional abuse, she was at her darkest hour and considered suicide. She struggled through the night, listening to the voices in her head and hearing what former teachers and students were arguing with her about the pros and cons of that choice. By dawn, she came out on the other side of hopeless toward home. She had clarity on her purpose in life with the drive to live free from the fear and trauma in her current state. Dr. Beverly J. Armento, professor, educator, author, speaker, and advocate, was responsible for her blind, artistic, and mentally ill mother. To people around her, she seemed to excel at school and in the world, but inside, Beverly was cowed by her mother's rage and delusions. In her interview, she tells the story of twenty years struggling to survive the trauma and the next twenty years of how she found hope to survive through the hidden pain.  INTERVIEW   As the "Seeing Eye Girl" for her blind, artistic, and mentally ill mother, Beverly Armento was intimately connected with and responsible for her, even though her mother physically and emotionally abused her. She was Strong Beverly at school—excellent in academics and mentored by caring teachers—but at home, she was Weak Beverly, cowed by her mother's rage and delusions. Beverly's mother regained her sight with two corneal transplants in 1950 and went on to enjoy a moment of fame as an artist. Still, these positive turns did nothing to stop her disintegration into her delusional world of communists, radiation, and lurking Italians. To survive, Beverly had to be resilient and hopeful that better days could be ahead. But first, she had to confront essential ethical issues about her caregiving role in her family. In this emotional memoir, Beverly shares the coping strategies she invented to get herself through the trials of her young life, and how school and church served as refuges over the course of her journey. Breaking the psychological chains that bound her to her mother would prove to be the most difficult challenge of her life—and, ultimately, the most liberating one. 2023 Nonfiction Book Awards Gold Winner 2023 Next Generation Indie Book Awards Finalist in Autobiography/Biography 2022 Foreword INDIES Finalist in Autobiography & Memoir—Adult Nonfiction 2022 Readers' Favorite Book Awards Honorable Mention in Non-Fiction—Autobiography 2022 IPPY Awards Bronze Winner in Autobiography II—Coming of Age/Family "Sublime writing brightens an unforgettable, harrowing personal account."—Kirkus Reviews

When Dr. Beverly J. Armento was 23, in her first year of teaching, and after 17 years of physical and emotional abuse, she was at her darkest hour and considered suicide. She struggled through the night, listening to the voices in her head and hearing what former teachers and students were arguing with her about the pros and cons of that choice. By dawn, she came out on the other side of hopeless toward home. She had clarity on her purpose in life with the drive to live free from the fear and trauma in her current state. Dr. Beverly J. Armento, professor, educator, author, speaker, and advocate, was responsible for her blind, artistic, and mentally ill mother. To people around her, she seemed to excel at school and in the world, but inside, Beverly was cowed by her mother's rage and delusions. In her interview, she tells the story of twenty years struggling to survive the trauma and the next twenty years of how she found hope to survive through the hidden pain.  INTERVIEW   As the "Seeing Eye Girl" for her blind, artistic, and mentally ill mother, Beverly Armento was intimately connected with and responsible for her, even though her mother physically and emotionally abused her. She was Strong Beverly at school—excellent in academics and mentored by caring teachers—but at home, she was Weak Beverly, cowed by her mother's rage and delusions. Beverly's mother regained her sight with two corneal transplants in 1950 and went on to enjoy a moment of fame as an artist. Still, these positive turns did nothing to stop her disintegration into her delusional world of communists, radiation, and lurking Italians. To survive, Beverly had to be resilient and hopeful that better days could be ahead. But first, she had to confront essential ethical issues about her caregiving role in her family. In this emotional memoir, Beverly shares the coping strategies she invented to get herself through the trials of her young life, and how school and church served as refuges over the course of her journey. Breaking the psychological chains that bound her to her mother would prove to be the most difficult challenge of her life—and, ultimately, the most liberating one. 2023 Nonfiction Book Awards Gold Winner 2023 Next Generation Indie Book Awards Finalist in Autobiography/Biography 2022 Foreword INDIES Finalist in Autobiography & Memoir—Adult Nonfiction 2022 Readers' Favorite Book Awards Honorable Mention in Non-Fiction—Autobiography 2022 IPPY Awards Bronze Winner in Autobiography II—Coming of Age/Family "Sublime writing brightens an unforgettable, harrowing personal account."—Kirkus Reviews

Mark Connor began boxing at age 10 at the Mexican American Boxing Club, the area of the city from which he formed his understanding of the world, anchoring his perception of direction to the family house and the rising of the sun outside his bedroom window.     He had 102 amateur fights, made it to three national tournaments, and competed against some of the nation's top world-class boxers. He became the Upper Midwest Golden Gloves lightweight champion at 17.      However, when America went through the trauma of an economic shutdown and his beloved Twin Cities blew up in fiery riots, Mark worked when he could (the Boxing gyms and churches were closed due to Governor's orders), helped his mother who was diagnosed with a fatal heart disease, and daily mourned the death of his father.  Mark is a boxing trainer and a writer from St. Paul, Minnesota. His first book, It's About Time, has sold millions of copies. He weaves together a story of love, family, and life with twenty poems running through it.                                                                  Click here to buy book                                    The perfect gift for fathers and sons, and those who want to understand them   It's About Time (Millions of Copies Sold for Dad) is a saga wrapped around a package of poems, guarded by angels. With a narrative style that reads like a novel, contains a collection of poetry, and shares an autobiography, Mark Connor guides us through a journey of love, family, and life that is ours as much as his own, peaking at the point of merger of difference and unity.  Following him from memory to memory, we feel the eyes upon us, defeat the empire of fear, embrace the kingdom of love, and find ten minutes a day to be grateful. All the while, we celebrate the city of Saint Paul (with a friendly nod to Minneapolis), experience Irish influence in neighborhood life, rooted in Catholic cohesion, and embraced by Indigenous America in the Medicine Wheel.  We box the perfect metaphor with future world champions, love beauty in a moment of ambivalence, work on a fishing boat in Southeast Alaska, comfort a child in an American Indian shelter for kids, and guard American Indian buildings, with guns, in riots. Through it all, we honor Dad, mourning his death and remembering his love, sharing a story written for America, valuing fatherhood, defending family, encouraging marriage, and providing hope.