The Bumpy Ride of Life

By Gabe Snow

In this thrilling short novel, a laid-back father-and-son conversation turns into a life lesson of trials and optimism.

A successful journalist invites his son for an award ceremony, which may seem as something that could be either unusual or common at the same time. But for Gabe and his son, Mike, that rather bland and solemn moment turned into both a trip of a lifetime and a lesson on overcoming challenges and living life to the fullest extent.

As the conversation progresses, with lots of flashback memories, Gabe's life lessons of resilience, strength, and positiveness captivate those around them and turn into a message that life is the best adventure that you could go on. Even if the ride of our lives is bumpy and full of gridlocks and roadblocks along the way

• Language: English
• Publisher: Page Publishing, Inc.
• Release date: Jun 2, 2023
• ISBN: 9798887935836

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The Bumpy Ride of Life

Gabe Snow

Copyright © 2023 Gabe Snow

All rights reserved

First Edition

PAGE PUBLISHING

Conneaut Lake, PA

First originally published by Page Publishing 2023

ISBN 979-8-88793-572-0 (pbk)

ISBN 979-8-88793-583-6 (digital)

Printed in the United States of America

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

9

10

11

About the Author

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Please note the information contained within this document is for educational and entertainment purposes only. All effort has been executed to present accurate, up to date, reliable, complete information. No warranties of any kind are declared or implied. Readers acknowledge that the author is not engaged in the rendering of legal, financial, medical or professional advice. The content within this book has been derived from various sources. Please consult a licensed professional before attempting any techniques outlined in this book.

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Acknowledgments

For starters, I'd like to say a huge thank-you to my wife, Dani, who has been hugely supportive of my writing career in every step of the way and a huge inspiration to my work as a writer.

A big thanks to the literary development agent and to my publication coordinator at Page Publishing. You have been so amazing along this process, and I am so grateful that you guys have taken the time to appreciate my work and make this wonderful opportunity possible.

Last but not least, I would like to thank the Tom Green County Stephens Public Library in San Angelo, Texas, for allowing me to sit and work on this book. The environment there is very inspiring and very inviting, two ingredients for a quality work.

1

It was a foggy day on a very unusual month of February, given what every February had been so far to me. Usually made of boring episodes, which vary from average Valentine's Days to boring and messy President's Day shopping, there was something I could cheer on that hazy time.

Gabe Riccardi, the author of this monologue, is pleased to receive an award for his achievement in reporting news to the world, after several battles in his fifty-seven years of earth life. I can confess that all efforts paid off after all the decisions I made in life, especially after moving to a different country, where my earthly existence acquired a whole different meaning. My individual choices and efforts built a whole different self than what I used to be in a distance past of grief and struggles.

The car that took me to the ceremony in that cold and hazy Chicago morning had arrived just on time, with a millionth-of-an-inch precision as an anticipation of the thrill that would be coming to my soul that day. While on the smooth ride, I could barely see the beauty of the Michigan Lake shoreline, which is so clean that is the beach of most Midwesterners far from the real oceans. Joining me on the ride was my son Mike Riccardi, who is a proud twenty-five-year-old electronic engineer and owner of a successful information technology business.

Although we may not agree with every view we have—especially when it comes to politics—Mike was asking me about how everything started in the marvelous world I build for my family in America.

Dad, do you remember how you got here? asked Mike with a smile on his face.

To which I responded, It all began with a day like this.

And it all indeed began with a day like that foggy Chicago morning. In fact, things started to happen way before that foggy morning of the day that changed my life. It was a Sunday in Porto Alegre, a 1.5-million-people city in the south end of Brazil, a huge country with beautiful places but with difficult people that mismanaged the nation for centuries. My brother Marco was at a friend's house, playing some Grand Theft Auto on a video game console. He had spent the previous night at this friend's place, and my mother, Carmen, was worried and asked me to go pick him up.

The ride until the southern tip of Porto Alegre's peninsula was smooth, although the street layout seemed more like a corn maze on a Halloween week, with uneven and confused lines and scary faces and places everywhere you went. After driving for over half an hour, I finally arrived at Marco's friend's apartment building on a new car that sailed through the maze.

After waiting for over ten minutes, Marco came down to the car, apologizing for the late arrival to the front of the building. I asked him why he was running late, and he replied with the game was tough, that took longer than usual.

We took the road only thirty seconds after Marco got into the car I was driving. The corn maze streets came back again on the ride home, with traffic lights taking a little longer than usual for a day with less traffic in town. Everything seemed normal on that July night on the southern hemisphere. We pulled up to my building's driveway, and the Halloween fun turned into Grand Theft Auto in a matter of seconds.

Three robbers with Walther PPK guns, and