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    The Best is Yet to Come
    The Best is Yet to Come
    The Best is Yet to Come
    Ebook237 pages2 hours

    The Best is Yet to Come

    By Tara R. Alemany

    ()

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    About this ebook

    A Readers Favorite Book Award finalist in multiple categories and Honorable Mention recipient.

     

    After twelve years of living alone as a single parent, she hadn't expected to find love again. She'd pretty much given up on the idea—so when Frank unexpectedly came into her life, the result of an errant email, he turned her world upside down. Four months later, his unexpected death brought it to a crashing halt.

     

    Join Tara on her journey as she shares the story of their time together and, more importantly, the lessons she learned as she rode waves of unanticipated love and grief to ultimately come to the strongest place she'd ever been in her life.

     

    This true story will speak to and inspire anyone who has ever suffered the loss of a dream by showing how you too can change your perception of that loss from an anchor that holds you back into a beautiful gift that dares you to believe that the best is yet to come.

     

    This second edition has been expanded to include discussion guides for book clubs and grief support groups.

     

    For fans of:

    • Tammi Trent
    • Nicole Johnson
    • Joni Erikson Tada
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherEmerald Lake Books
    Release dateFeb 17, 2021
    ISBN9781945847400
    The Best is Yet to Come
    Author

    Tara R. Alemany

    Tara Alemany defies a simple definition. She is a multi-award winning author, speaker, business consultant and publisher, as well as a serial entrepreneur.Although she’s started many businesses during her career, her favorite by far is Emerald Lake Books, which she co-owns with her best friend, Mark Gerber. This hybrid publishing company specializes in working with positive people who have an engaging, exciting or entertaining message to share with the world.Using a unique, goal-oriented approach to publishing, Tara combines her business and publishing knowledge to help her authors set and attain goals for their readers, their brands and their books.And many of those books have gone on to win international awards and recognition, thanks to Emerald Lake’s “Publish with a Purpose” framework.Tara’s latest book, Publish with Purpose (April 2019), reveals the unique process developed by Emerald Lake Books to help their authors set and attain their own goals.In addition to publishing, consulting, writing and speaking, Tara serves on the Board of Directors for a Christian writers’ critique group, acting as both president and chaplain of the group. In her spare time, she is a winemaker, a military Mom to 2 kids (one of each), step-Mom to 1 lovable mutt and is owned by a black cat.

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      Book preview

      The Best is Yet to Come - Tara R. Alemany

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      Praise for The Best is Yet to Come

      This book is about finding hope against all odds, even in the darkest of situations. We all face pain, disappointments, heartaches and struggles in life that can sometimes lead down a seemingly hopeless path of deep devastation; yet Tara shows us there is always hope. Through brave and inspiring honesty about her own difficult personal experiences, she shows us that hope is always within our grasp if we make the choice to embrace it and that, no matter our situation, the best really can be yet to come.

      Ivan Misner, PhD,

      NY Times bestselling author and founder of BNI®

      When the doctors place paddles on your heart they do it to shock you back to life. Sometimes, that is exactly what we need spiritually—a shock back to reality.

      Grieving is healthy, but wallowing in remorse and regret is hurtful—to yourself. This book will lovingly and gently shock you back toward wholeness with one simple and seldom used technique… HONESTY.

      Tara gracefully walks you through her pain and shows you how to find the BLESS in any mess so you can graciously let go of the hurt and gratefully move toward healing.

      Barry Spilchuk,

      author of THE cANCER DANCE

      When a relationship finds its genesis in God and is based on a three-way relationship with God in the middle, death provides a temporary interruption, but no more than that. For here is a story of the love between two people that is only waiting for its final reunion… and that part of this story remains on hold.

      Rev. Dr. Clive Calver,

      Senior Pastor of Walnut Hill Community Church, Connecticut, and former president of World Relief

      The Best is Yet to Come is an inspiring masterpiece. Its message will give you a whole new perspective on God’s plan for your life. Tara is a remarkable writer and a gripping storyteller who will keep you enthralled to the very last page.

      Arvee Robinson,

      The Master Speaker Trainer, international speaker and author

      Inspiring! Tara uncovers how one can trust God and self in the face of real testing. Through her story, she illustrates how we each can overcome the difficulties in our lives and come out stronger in the end.

      David Horsager,

      bestselling author of The Trust Edge

      Through The Best is Yet to Come, Tara reminds us that God often says yes and we take it for granted. Sometimes, God says no because he knows what we are asking for is not in the best interest of those affected. It is at these times when the child in us asks Why not? The book flows from the life of the author with wonderful anecdotes of the joy of meeting Frank and the emotions that followed.

      Dr. Michael C. Redmond, PhD,

      psychoneurologist, reverend, speaker and author of How To Be Happy and Master Your Work Life Balance

      Tara shows us through her story how to avoid turning against God during trials, but to keep Him on our side—trusting that He ultimately knows what is best for us.

      Haley Hatch Freeman,

      professional speaker and author of A Future for Tomorrow: Surviving Anorexia, My Spiritual Journey

      The Best is Yet to Come is delightful, then heartbreaking, then inspiring, in its portrayal of the revelations a sovereign God uses to demonstrate His love, both in and for Tara and Frank.

      It is the true story of how a quirk leads to serendipity, and ultimately turns out to be an unexpected grace! An overlooked feature in an email program starts a relationship that only God could use to bring the joy, comfort and reassurance of His presence in the lives of two people who might not have found it on their own.

      Yes, I will admit that halfway through the book I was shaking my head, asking How could You do this? You’re supposed to be a loving Father! But by the time Tara finishes telling their story, I’m drawn even closer to Him, and I think you will be too!

      By all means, read and share this wonderful story!

      Howard J. Tuckey,

      author of Mattie’s Place

      Tara R. Alemany systematically communicates spiritual strength and mental discipline as she fueled and guided me from heart to head and back again. I am forever grateful to her for sharing her open-hearted journey embracing the magic and mystery of self-love, love of another, and God’s love.

      Carol Metz Murray,

      transformational change agent, speaker and business consultant

      Also by Tara R. Alemany

      Christian Nonfiction

      My Love to You Always

      Celebrating 365 Days of Gratitude (13th ed.)

      Business Leadership

      The Character-Based Leader

      80 Easy Ways to Supercharge Your Business Growth

      Authorship

      The Plan that Launched a Thousand Books

      Publish with Purpose

      The Best is Yet To Come

      Copyright © 2021 Tara Alemany

      Cover design by Mark Gerber

      Cover illustration copyright © 2021 Mark Gerber

      All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced by any means, graphic, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, taping or by any information storage retrieval system, without the written permission of the publisher except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.

      The Best is Yet to Come refers to actual people and events. Events, locales and conversations have been reconstructed with as much accuracy and detail as possible. In order to maintain their anonymity, in some instances, the names of individuals and places have been changed.

      The email excerpts throughout the book are actual quotations, shared without alteration.

      Books published by Emerald Lake Books may be ordered through your favorite booksellers or by visiting emeraldlakebooks.com.

      ISBN: 978-1-945847-39-4 (paperback)

      978-1-945847-38-7 (hardcover)

      978-1-945847-40-0 (ebook)

      978-1-945847-43-1 (large print)

      Library of Congress Control Number: 2021931036

      Contents

      Prologue

      Surprised by Frank

      The Open Door

      Past Experiences

      The List

      Ongoing Pain

      Negotiations

      The Object of His Desire

      The Simple Things

      Beaten by a Girl

      Spiritual Warfare Begins

      Growing Together

      Blending Families

      Working Together

      Dueling Poems

      The Gift of Dirt

      Praying on Our Knees

      Studying the Word

      The Test of a Relationship

      Too Much Quiet

      Hope Arises and Then Swan Dives

      Finding the Courage to Call

      The Awful News

      A Storm Within and a Storm Without

      In the Aftermath of Alfred

      Calling Papa Frank

      Identifying Frank

      Making Arrangements

      The Best is Yet to Come

      A Protective Family

      My Breakfast Meeting

      The Funeral

      Meeting Papa Frank

      The Service in the Village

      An Eternal Love

      A New Beginning for Grasshopper

      In the Valley

      The Irony of Pain

      The Gift Frank Left Behind

      A New Beginning

      Author’s Note

      Discussion Guide

      Acknowledgments

      About the Author

      Dedication

      This book is dedicated to anyone who has stood at a crossroads with a friend and waited patiently with them as they decided which way to turn.

      Mark Gerber, you’ve been that person for me. Your friendship means more to me than I can say. Your steady, kind and gentle presence helped a broken heart to heal and a spirit to dream again. My life would have been much emptier without your support and encouragement. Thank you for being there for me and believing in me, even when I doubted myself.

      Without you, this story would have been incomplete.

      I’m a success today because I had a friend who believed in me and I didn't have the heart to let him down.

      ~ Abe Lincoln

      Prologue

      Have you ever experienced a situation where life as you knew it completely changed? That’s the position I found myself in during the latter half of 2011. Over the course of four short months, my life went from stable, uninteresting, mundane, but secure, through the roller coaster ride of new love to the devastating effects of unexpected loss.

      This is my story. It’s a love story set in the Internet Age, but what love story isn’t these days? More importantly, this story reflects how God still moves in the world, even when we struggle with what He is doing.

      Perhaps for you the name God has too much religion associated with it. Please don’t let that stop you from reading this book. If, for your own comfort, you want to substitute God with the Universe or Life or whatever else it is that you believe in, feel free to do so. The lessons shared here are universal. They are part of the human condition when living with loss.

      I refer to the time that began with these events as my year without walls. I’m not talking about physical walls, but the mental and emotional ones we erect to keep ourselves safe. As you journey through this story with me, I’ll share the lessons I learned and the incredible blessing that comes from truly connecting with others without the hindrance of barriers.

      These lessons don’t just apply to those mourning the loss of a loved one. Grief comes in many shapes and forms. You may be mourning the loss of a job, a career, a home, a marriage, a business, a dream or any number of the other setbacks of life.

      Hopefully, as you read my story, you’ll start to see how simple changes in perspective can help you take a devastating loss and turn it into the foundation of something new and powerful in your life. As Vivian Greene is quoted as saying, Life’s not about waiting for the storm to pass… It’s about learning to dance in the rain!

      I look forward to sharing the journey with you.

      Tara R. Alemany

      Sherman, Connecticut

      January 14, 2013

      Surprised by Frank

      Within a few short days, it became difficult to tell where he left off and I began. I wasn’t looking for love anymore. I thought for sure those days had passed me by. Then, I was surprised by Frank.

      Our time together became a microcosm of the life we wanted to have, running at full speed.

      It’s hard to say where it all began, but I can pinpoint a specific series of events that was clear and obvious. So that’s where I’ll start.

      There’s an online group in the area where I live called ReUseIt. The ReUseIt Network helps get material goods from people who have them, but don’t want them, to people who want them, but don’t have them. Simple enough…

      I had an old broken-down push mower. It was beyond repair, but could potentially be used for parts or a student project. Before taking it to the dump, I wanted to see if anyone might want it, so I sent an email to the group with the specifics about the mower.

      Part of the group’s guidelines dictate that you can’t include links or attachments in any posts you share. This protects the membership from viruses and unsafe or unexpected content.

      Now, let me tell you a little bit about the email system I used… It’s inexpensive. As such, it reserved the right to do things I don’t necessarily like, but never thought twice about before. For example, when I pressed the Send button, it added a little three-line, text advertisement to the bottom of

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