Dedicated book: Storm Clouds Over Sexton

I read the dedications authors put in their books, and like the other two or three people that read author's dedications, I rarely know who the author is talking about. So I thought I'd tell you this story.

The first part of the dedication is easy and every bit as sincere as the second part of the dedication. I dedicated the book to my mom and dad. They were, and are, very supportive of my writing.

The second part of the dedication is to a young man who died recently by the name of Adrian Gerber. I never met Adrian, but I heard about him from people who met him. His bravery inspired me. He died of his illness. I'd like to think his bravery inspired me just because it was bravery, but that's not entirely the case. I suffered an illness that could have killed me and it didn't. Adrian Gerber wasn't spared, but from what I heard he kept his spirit clean and positive.

Dedicating a book, by the way, is pretty easy. You just type what you want to say, and that's the end of it. Unless you screw up, like I did. What I did was get Adrian's last name wrong. I was one letter off when I clicked "accept" and turned Storm Clouds Over Sexton into a book. I spelled his last name as g-A-r-b-e-r. I didn't know how to fix it.

I almost let it go. I almost let my lazy self talk my better self into letting young Mister Gerber be Adrian Garber. Fixing it after the book had already been purchased and was being printed by the good people at Lulu didn't seem like a good idea. After all, wasn't dedicating the book enough? Wouldn't anyone understand a simple typo?

I couldn't let it go. It took me about 5 hours--no kidding--5 hours to study the tutorials, download the file, fix the file, upload the file, download the file, and upload it again. All because I put an "A" where there should have been an "E".

I fixed the error around one o'clock this morning. How could I not? The young man in question didn't give up. Besides, I felt an obligation (and I'll go farther...I felt God wanted me to get it right. I did....I really did.)

I'm glad I did. Mom, Dad...Adrian...this book's for you.