“Only you,” my husband said, “would trade a shoe for a book.”
“What’s worth more?” I asked, “Maimonides, or some old shoe?”
I knew that I had the better of the argument, and my husband would understand. After all, our first date had been a trip to a bookstore. But he just shrugged and sighed. Where had my book-loving husband gone?
“You’ve changed,” I said.
“It’s not that you have a book instead of a shoe,” he said, “It’s that you never remember making the trade. You’ve changed.”
It’s true that I sometimes head to the kitchen hoping to get a chocolate éclair from the freezer and return holding a small frog. I don’t know how the frog got into the kitchen. I just know that it’s something new, and interesting enough to make me forget the chocolate éclair. My husband should be glad that I can be distracted by a frog in the kitchen. Certainly, my waistline thanks me.
And I still have my wits about me. To prove it, when we returned home, I sat on the couch, opened Guide for the Perplexed, and started to read. I was, after all, perplexed, and could use a guide.
Author's Comment
I woke from dreaming of the images in the first sentence of this story, and knew I had to elaborate – but just a little bit.
As the 20th century careened towards the finish line, author Victress Hitchcock moved with her husband from their familiar urban world to a remote 160-acre ranch in the mountains of Colorado. Within months, their lives unraveled, and out of the wreckage a new path opened to a radically new way to be in the world. She was broken hearted but ready to meet whatever was to come with insight, horse sense, and humor.
A Tree with My Name on It is not a handbook on healing trauma. It is a living, breathing, messy story, filled with joy and sorrow, of one woman trying her hardest to free her wounded heart and uncover her true self.
It is a story that will resonate with anyone who has reached a moment in their lives when they are ready to tear off the bandage and take a deep look at the fears that have held them hostage for too long.
“It is rare to find a memoir that entwines elements of Buddhist wisdom with psychological insights…with the grace and metaphorical prowess of an author who wields poetic description and psychological reflection with equal strength. A Tree with My Name on It deserves a prominent place in libraries, recommendable as a book club or women’s reading group choice.”
— D. Donovan, Senior Reviewer, Midwest Book Review
Visit Victress’ Website for more information.
Available from Amazon, Bookshop, Barnes & Noble, and your local bookstore. 
Lynn Gazis grew up in the suburbs of New York City, spent her young adulthood in the San Francisco Bay Area, and now lives in Southern California. She has worked for around 40 years in IT. More recently, she has started writing short fiction. Her stories have been published by Cathedral Canyon Review, Air and Nothingness Press, and Friends Journal. 
As an artist, musician and poet, Donna Bauman says, “my life has been all about being a seeker, asking questions, exploring, creating. As a creator of beauty, I feel inspired to radiate as much of the feminine spirit as possible. I am here to bring inspiration into form. My desire is that my creations will enter into people’s lives in an inspiring and transforming way.”