BECAUSE I CAN
Doing what I can, with what I have, where I am
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.From Rhizome Publishing, publisher of Because I Can
Available on September 20, 2011
One moment, she was savoring life on sunny Malibu Beach and the next she almost lost her legs and her life.
Janet Oberholtzer is not a celebrity or a superhero, instead she could be your mom, your wife or your daughter, but her story will give people hope to heal if they find their world has become dark and hopeless due to a life-changing event.
Because I Can chronicles Janet’s struggle after a horrific accident while she was traveling around the country with her family.
After being trapped in a wrecked motor home with her legs decimated, her pelvis shattered — paramedics and firefighters rushing to save her life — her struggle wasn’t only to survive her physical injuries, she also had to learn how to live with her new normal.
This included the struggle of keeping her marriage together, fighting through anger and depression and liberating herself from physical limitations to run again. Why?
Because she can.
Because I Can is not a Pollyanna story — Janet still has disappointments and still asks questions. In spite of that, she’s made a choice to live life to the fullest …
Doing what she can, with what she has, where she is.
Order Because I Can here.
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Endorsements for Because I Can:
In Because I Can, Janet Oberholtzer shares a raw and powerful survival story, one in which she not only reclaims her life and her leg, but also her faith, her relationships, and her passion for running. It is a story that is honestly told–both physical and spiritual scars are revealed–and yet it manages to inspire on each and every page. You won’t want to put it down.
- Rachel Held Evans, author of Evolving in Monkey Town.
Janet overcame the unthinkable. Her amazing recovery and return to running has motivated, inspired and encouraged me to keep pressing on.
- Dana Casanave, Ran 52 marathons in 52 weeks
Janet Oberholtzer is a wonderful writer, a storyteller with a wry yet heartfelt sense of self, grace, and beauty. All of those things shine brightly in Because I Can, a passionate memoir that reads familiar, as if it’s a collection of hopeful letters from an old friend. Whether she’s talking about trauma, depression or growing up Mennonite, we learn and grow because Janet is learning and growing. Never preachy or assuming, Janet is wise enough to let the narrative do most of the talking and honest enough to keep the reader wanting to listen. The stories that Janet unfolds inBecause I Can will make you believe that you not only can overcome, but that you will overcome. Because She Did.
- Matthew Paul Turner, author of Churched and Hear No Evil
Janet Oberholtzer inspires me. Not just because she pushed through the physical pain of her injuries to become a runner and athlete, but because she traveled through the tunnel of psychological and spiritual pain without giving in to cynicism. Some people allow unanswerable questions and unforeseen setbacks to paralyze them into a passive existence. Janet used them as a springboard into action. Because I Can isn’t a book about injuries and accomplishment or faith and doubt. It’s about what a well-lived life looks like in and through those things.
- Jason Boyett, author of O Me of Little Faith: True Confessions of a Spiritual Weakling
Although Janet’s experience of trauma and loss is different than my own, I’ve come to know her as a kindred spirit in relating her healing journey with authenticity that will resonate with anyone wondering how to thrive amidst the losses of life.
- Janelle Shantz Hertzler, author of Seasons of Solace and creator of Journey through Grief
