Lost and Found
by
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Andre
So many questions remained unanswered.
“Who am I?” he asked one day. “Inside, I am Andre Washington, but when I see a reflection, I am someone else. Who was this person that has become me, and will I ever become him?
“This new face definitely has its advantages. I no longer must endure people gawking at my grotesque face; no longer do I frighten little children. Now I am the only one who is frightened. No one will believe me if I say I am Andre Washington; they will scoff and think I am a madman. Maybe they will be afraid of me. What can I do? How can I transcend this medical miracle until it becomes other than a mask to me?
“My gratitude is beyond words. I remain amazed and in awe that such a feat is possible. But I am reminded that I am no longer Andre when I pass a mirror and am frightened that a total stranger now lives with me.
“Who was this man? I will continue to wonder. Was he a kind man? What was his livelihood? Did he pray like Wash? Could he sing? The questions are endless, but I don’t struggle with them; instead, I create answers that I find acceptable. Maybe someday, HIPPA will relax its rules, or this man’s family will share stories of the person whose face I am wearing. I cannot begin even to fantasize the reaction of a wife, a mother, or a child, seeing their loved one on the body of a stranger.
“Only one person knows what I am experiencing. Thank God for Garrett Flynn, who wears the same miracle and who walks with me in my darker moments. Only he knows my deepest feelings, and only I know his.
“What a strange place I find myself; I speak through the lips of someone else. I smell through an unknown nose. I see, thankfully, because I’ve learned to open and close the eyelids of another man. Perhaps one day, I will recognize this person I wear; perhaps, someday, we will be one.”
Andre’s voice was his salvation. When he sang, he was totally immersed in the music. As soon as his face had healed, he spent hours and hours practicing and practicing in his studio, working toward the moment he could walk confidently onto the stage and face an audience again. But he had not yet decided which man that would be.
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About the Book
Andre Washington, the top male opera singer in the world, is walking home from a performance when he hears a child’s screams emerging from a brownstone consumed by flames. Hesitating only briefly, he runs into the burning building and rescues eleven-year-old Elizabeth. Unfortunately, in the process of saving a young life, Andre is badly burned.</p>
Eight weeks later, Andre slowly emerges from a medically-induced coma, unaware that Elizabeth has been searching for him. While recovering and fighting for his life, Andre remains in hiding from both his former existence as a singer and from those who are lauding him a hero. As the years pass, Andre undergoes surgeries that eventually repair his face. His doctor tells him of a radical new surgery called facial transplantation. Through courage, determination, and support from others, Andre begins to build a new life and career with a different name and face. But when a figure from his past reemerges, everything changes for Andre once again as he receives a beautiful, unexpected gift with the power to transform his future.
Lost and Found is a tale of love, loss, and an unsung hero as he attempts to find a new path after a devastating fire robs him of everything he has ever known.
About the Author
Ellenor Shepherd is a native of North Carolina and the author of two children’s books as well as the non-fiction books Holding God’s Hand; Teaching Children to Pray and Grow Your Own Penicillin; Words Prescribed for a Healthy and Happy Spirit. At eighty-three, she wrote her first novel, The Secret Shack. Now age eighty-seven, Ellenor lives in Greensboro where she serves as a church chaplain and enjoys competitive ballroom dancing.