God sure has a funny way of teaching life lessons. For me, faith was a merely a concept until I had a major health crisis. Spending an entire summer in the hospital changed everything.

Summer in the Waiting Room: How Faith, Family, and Friends Saved My Life is my story. It’s the tale of a boy who grew up in a working-class neighborhood, failed miserably at college and fell into despair and hopelessness, met the love of his life, married, finished college, raised a family, and found success in business and public office.

It’s also the story of a man who vowed never to fail again and worked tirelessly to redeem himself, only to find true redemption, while in a state of complete helplessness in the ICU, through faith in God, and the love and support of family, and friends.

Since January, East Side Eddie Report.com has posted 26 excerpts of the story. After a one-month hiatus,  Summer in the Waiting Room will return next Wednesday!

If you need to catch up before next week, click on the “Summer in the Waiting Room” tag to the right of this page. Here’s a summary of the first 26 excerpts:

Prologue The Prologue uses the Giant Dipper, a 1920s era roller coaster at the Santa Cruz Beach and Boardwalk in Santa Cruz, California, as a metaphor for the first 46 years of my life.

Part One The Giant Dipper: November 6, 1963 – June 17, 2010

Chapter 1: 48 Viewmont Avenue Chapter 1 chronicles my life growing up in a working-class east San Jose neighborhood at 48 Viewmont Avenue. This chapter sets the foundation for the values I learned from my parents and follows my idyllic childhood through my failure at college, and subsequent period of drinking and dead end jobs.

Chapter 2: Sandra Peralta Chapter 2 introduces my future wife Sandra and her family, a loyal and tightly-knit unit. This chapter describes our long courtship, marriage, and starting a family. It also recounts my efforts to return to college, graduate, and start my journey toward redemption of my college failure.

Chapter 3: Redemption Chapter 3 follows my obsessive quest for self-redemption following college graduation. For 16 years, I worked around the clock seeking success and recognition as an entry-level political aide, corporate manager, director, and vice president, political chief-of-staff, and high school trustee.

Chapter 4: 360 days Chapter 4 opens on June 10, 2009, with me presiding over my high school alma mater graduation ceremony as a member of the Board of Education. With each professional accomplishment, my desire to succeed intensifies until stress and a frenetic work schedule bring it all down 360 days later on June 7, 2010.

Chapter 4 begins on August 6th…Don’t miss it!