April 20, 2019
Dear Readers:
It is with great pleasure that I introduce you to "One Step at a Time" by Liz Ashe Havrilla. I had the pleasure of editing this book and producing the audiobook for her. I was completely moved and touched by her words and I think you will be too.
American
Author Liz Ashe Havrilla Announces Her Audiobook “One Step at a Time”
One of the newest authors to come
from America, Liz Ashe Havrilla is set to debut her audiobook biographical
novel on Surviving Hurricane Katrina
According to the book’s
blurb, this book is meant to help others. Have you ever experienced your life
as useless and painful? Do you get to the
point that you want to end it all? Are you depressed or need hope? If you answered yes, this book can
offer you a reprieve. “I
wrote this book to help others who are suffering,” Havrilla said. “I knew I had
a message from God that had to be told. He saved me for a reason.”
When
Caudle first read Havrilla’s book, she felt every bit of her pain. “I cried so
many times I ran out of tissues,” Caudle said. “You know a book is special when
it can move you spiritually and bring healing to others. Moreover, this is
exactly what this book does.”
The
book opens days before Hurricane Katrina is expected to make landfall in New
Orleans as Havrilla prepares for her son’s wedding shower at her home. Once the
Hurricane approached, Liz and her husband were faced with the decision to
either evacuate or to remain in their three-story home. They chose to stay and
suffered the consequences for it.
Here is an excerpt from “One Step at a Time.”
Monday, August 29, 2005 – 11:06 AM
I’m extremely grateful I didn’t see the
massive wave coming toward us and even more thankful that Tom didn’t tell me to
look at it as I am confident I would have had a stroke or heart attack. I can’t
imagine having more panic and fear. The wave approached quickly, and Tom knew
it. If we had not decided to get out of the house at the exact moment, we
surely would have drowned by the relentless crushing wave that battered us.
Just as the wave reached the edge of
the balcony, I grabbed the hot tub cover. The cover was folded in half. Tom
managed to stand and grab me and the cover. We each held onto one side. Within
a nanosecond and with perfect timing, Tom pushed me into the thirty-foot wall
of water. We both held the cover, and Tom clutched the sheet as we were
instantly whisked away by the water’s fury. The current was strong. It was also
dirty, salty, and moved quickly.
I felt as if something was slowing me
down. I soon realized it was my jogging pants I had put on earlier.
I thought for a brief time I could
drown as I was hanging onto dear life to the hot tub cover. I knew that I had
to get out of my pants quickly. As Tom continued to hang on to the sheet,
wrapped around me, and to the cover, I tried to listen to his instructions, to
accomplish my task, while praying to God at the same time. I could barely hear
him, but I saw the fear on his face. We were in trouble. While removing my
pants, I lost both of my shoes.
Monday, August 29, 2005 – 11:07 AM
The water was moving us fast in tandem;
neither one of us knew where we were headed as we struggled to remain afloat.
Then, Tom spotted a tree.
“Liz,
you have to get into that tree!”
“How
can I?”
“Don’t
worry; the water will take you there.”
Tom was right. It only took a few
seconds for us to reach the tree. We both got there at the same time. We were
about to be whisked away by the current, and fortunately, there was a chain
from a swing set lodged in the tree. The chain was wrapped in plastic with one
metal triangle on each end.
If those triangles weren’t there, I
don’t know how I could have gotten into the tree. With all the strength I could
muster, I grabbed the triangles frantically; one in each hand, as I pulled
myself up into the tree. Tom was unable to assist me and worse, there wasn’t
room for him, and he let go of the sheet, and the raging waters swept him away.
I thought I’d never see him again.
On a side note, several weeks later, I
discovered that the chain was part of our neighbor’s children’s swing set and
the tree I was in was not rooted in the ground, it had just blown up against a
pine tree.
The
tree, lodged on the Mumphrey’s property, that Liz clung to during the height of
Hurricane Katrina.
My heart pounded. As soon as I felt
safe and secure, I realized how hard and fast I was breathing and knew
immediately I had to slow it down before I had a heart attack. I started
thinking about my daughter, Aimee, and I could hear her voice inside my mind.
“Mom,
breathe in through your nose and out through your mouth.”
That is exactly what I did, and as soon
as I began to breathe better, I turned around and looked toward the lake.
What I saw next scared me to death. Our
master bedroom closet carried by the rushing water was heading straight for me.
“I
am going to be crushed to death by my dream closet.”
“How
in the world could that part of my house be coming straight for me?”
I didn’t have any time to think – only
react.
I lifted my legs and used the bottom of
my feet and pushed the closet away from me. Thank God it was weightless due to
the water which enabled me to push it out of the way. No doubt, my adrenaline
helped me too. I shudder to think if I had not turned around exactly when I
did, I would have been hit in the back of my head by that portion of my closet.
Monday, August 29,
2005 – 11:11 AM
As I watched the top of our closet
slowly sink into the flood waters of Katrina, I looked toward the bayou and saw
Tom. He was alive, still hanging onto the hot tub cover, and being whisked away
by the waves. He didn’t see me look at him and I am glad he hadn’t. If he had,
he would have certainly seen the look of desperation I had on my face. I’m not
sure why, but I looked down at my watch. It was 11:11 AM.
Alone,
exhausted, wet and about 20-feet up in a tree, I could feel the ferocious winds
and see the powerful waves. I tried to block the fear by using mind over
matter. I felt safe and wasn’t afraid anymore for some odd reason that I can’t
explain.
It
may sound bizarre and hard to imagine, even though the warm salt water was up
to my neck, in some ways it was comforting. It was such an eerie, surreal
moment in my life. It was also a lonely feeling. It was just me, in a tree, and
an endless lake of waves with white caps. Then a dose of reality hit me in my
face.
“I’m going to die.”
I
knew that my life was near the end. But I was okay with that because I felt
God’s presence and His majesty. It felt as if I were wrapped tightly in His
arms and was under His protection. with His presence, I stopped being scared
and began to focus on staying alive. I think that fear propelled my strength by
turning it into hope. There is no other alternative answer for me.
“I think anyone who is need of an uplift
should read this book,” Caudle said. “It touched me.” The book published by
Absolute Author Publishing House is available in paperback, eBook and audible
on Amazon at https://amzn.to/2Gjxt4J
HERE IS AN AUDIBLE EXCERPT FROM ONE STEP AT A TIME
