“As Dark as it Gets
from Chains to Grace”, is the title of an autobiography by Laura Dunavent, a resident here, and our friend. But it’s more than that. It is the story of a troubled family in these United States, circa now, but it’s more than that. It is an improbable story of survival against seemingly impossible odds, but it’s more than that. It tells of God lifting Laura on a few occasions when she needed it, which essentially saved her life.
Laura was born in mid-century America to two individuals who should never have become parents. The cruelties inflicted on Laura and another, a few years younger sibling, Rodger, are almost graphic. Laura survived, but Rodger, after bouts of drinking and drugs, took his own life in middle age. The parental relationship (I hesitate to call it a marriage) produced two more children, one of whom, a daughter, also died young. The children were subjected to sitting hours in an unheated car while Daddy enjoyed pleasures with women not his wife. Besides all that, Laura’s mom constantly belittled her, privately and in public. How she managed to acquire an education, become a health care professional against seemingly impossible odds, and hold it together is a near miracle.
This is by no means an easy or pleasant read, but feels like an accomplishment once you get through. I highly recommend it.
As Dark as it Gets, by Laura W. Dunavent, MS, BSN, RN, Parker Publishers, 2025
Rogernarc 