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Forever Changed

By Cheri Helstrom Published by DriverWorks Ink $16.95 ISBN 978-1-927570-27-2 Change is inevitable. Some changes are so massive that they can change one’s life – dramatically and permanently.
forever changed

By Cheri Helstrom


Published by DriverWorks Ink


$16.95 ISBN 978-1-927570-27-2

Change is inevitable. Some changes are so massive that they can change one’s life – dramatically and permanently. In Forever Changed, Cheri Helstrom relates how a series of changes affected her father, massively and permanently.

In this work of creative nonfiction, Cheri tells the story of her father, William Richard Scott, as if he is telling the story himself. Known better as Ritchie, he lives with his parents and six siblings in Alameda, where his businessman father is the town’s first mayor.

As the title suggests, Ritchie experiences several changes that forever affect him. The first is when his mother dies. Then the Great Depression changes everything. There are further changes when his father dies. The Second World War brings more changes. But perhaps the biggest change, and his biggest challenge, is when he gives up alcohol.

Ritchie begins to realize the only way he can survive the war is to desensitize himself to its horrors. After an assault fails miserably, Canadian troops pull back when the Germans counterattack, leaving Ritchie and his buddy behind. Both men are wounded in a daring rescue, and the army surgeon casually announces he will have to amputate Ritchie’s foot.

Illustrated with 30 black and white photos of Ritchie, his family and his wartime experiences, Forever Changed is Helstrom’s first book. Encouraged by her colleagues in a creative writing class at Regina’s Lifelong Learning Centre, she wrote it as a tribute to her father. This book is a legacy, not only for her children, but also for surviving veterans and their families.

This book is available at your local bookstore or from www.skbooks.com.