A Labor of Love, Volume 2

Book excerpt: You hold the second of two volumes of one giant love story! This story is about Arapakos’ father and how she came to care for him when he was elderly. There is no more popular Greek myth than the one of the hero Hercules, and while you may not know her father or her, by the time she superimposes her father’s saga onto the labors of Hercules, you will! Arapakos’ overarching aim is for you and your parents to benefit from what she has to tell you. Hercules and she had much in common: they both wanted to help make things right despite the odds, and both proved victorious. In Volume 2, the roles reverse, and you find Arapakos taking on the part of Hercules as she performs her adaptation of the twelve “Herculean Labors” to care for her father when Huntington’s disease began making its mark on his life and person. She retells each labor Hercules undertook before making parallels to what she did for her father. She is confident the herculean myth and her father’s story will move you. The circle of love can continue through your actions and a better-informed mind and heart-set for your loved one in need.