"Heart and Soul" by Bill Donohue

-- typically, sweet and mischievous

We cherish the energy, fun, and familiar comfort he brings.

March is National Disability Awareness Month.

Bill Donohue is a disability advocate living in Winston Salem. Most of his writing (ncwaiveractionteam.com) informs and prods legislative inertia for the 15,000 with Developmental Disabilities waiting a decade or more for services while potential caregivers struggle for a living wage. Bill’s first novel is a family’s saga with early onset dementia, chronicled in “The Kind of September,” Amazon (2013).

Bill Donohue

Author’s Talk

“Heart and Soul” is a pretty big reach for a short story. When we tell the family stories of our children with special needs, authors can generally represent only a small time and place snapshot. Our stories are all unending, still twisting. The twists and turns medically and psychologically are unique to each family and disability. Telling a short story for publication becomes largely about target audience. When talking to a friend or family member who “gets it,” it can be freeze dried and abbreviated; coded in understanding. When the target audience is for those unaware of the personalities and changing circumstances, it requires special care and context to explain diagnostic acronyms and always the background for humor or tragedy. My son’s compounding diagnosis and expanding resilience are a challenge to chronicle, but a duty to share.—Bill Donohue