Gerry Tales: How I Lived Happily Ever After Despite... by Gerry Boylan

Gerry Tales: How I Lived Happily Ever After Despite... by Gerry Boylan. Synergy Books. August 2010. 256 pp. ISBN #: 9780984387939.

If you know how to laugh at yourself and regard the craziest incidents in your life as humorous moments that have shaped your life in a wonderful way, Gerry Tales is for you to enjoy and share with your family and friends with the same attitudes!

Gerry Boylan begins his tales with some childhood escapades that defy the
Imagination and are stories readers may recall in their own lives or wish had happened to them. From being the chosen boy to lay the china doll Baby Jesus in the crib at midnight on Christmas Eve – a ceremony that goes awry but leaves the entire congregation rolling with laughter – to adventurous accounts of teenage escapades that always seemed to wind up with being nabbed by the local pastor or police and a few nasty scars that were well-deserved but viewed as innocent adventures and nothing more, the stories continue with strict but wise parents who knew when to laugh and let go and friends who admire the robust willingness this boy had in the face of any challenge.

Then Gerry gets married and the children rapidly arrive, and now it’s his turn to wade through the comic world of parenting, with scenes like lecturing on behaving which seems to go over the kid’s heads because they’re staring at something gross on Dad’s face. Or there are the many moments of supporting children engaged 200% in the world of sports, with its ups and downs of winning and losing, a presence that values good sportsmanship over all the efforts, wins, losses, broken bones, etc.

And of course there’s the business world that Gerry navigates where he learns the hard way that all those amenities in the posh hotel refrigerator really aren’t included in the price of the room, where stereotypical appearances and behavior of the “salesmen” can be one’s friend or even one’s nemesis, and so much more.

Words cannot begin to convey the humor and wonderful spirit in these short but memorable tales shared by Gerry Boylan. Give this to your parents and your kids or even your siblings, as well as your friends! It’s an absolutely delightful collection that will make you want to embrace life more and, by the way, meet the author some day!