Loaves of Bread
My Life as a Veterinarian
by
Book Cover & Preview Text
I dream we gather at Kensington Park to wait for a reunion to begin. The clouds are deep charcoal gray and heavy with rain that has not fallen. The air is warm, humid, and comforting. I drive my white Mustang around to the different picnic areas, unsure of where we are supposed to meet. I finally identify a wooden lodge with an extensive front porch and metal roof and am certain this is the building where we are supposed to go. After I park the car, I walk up the wooden steps and tentatively push the screen door open. It creaks as I open it and bangs shut behind me.
I walk into a large recreation hall. Several people mill about and talk to each other. They drink punch in paper cups dipped from large plastic punch bowls set up on folding tables, covered with plastic red-and-white checked table cloths. I don’t recognize anyone in the room, so I sit down cross-legged on the white linoleum floor and wait for him to come.
Although I’ve never met him in person, I know I will recognize him when he gets here. I don’t worry that he will not show up. I am certain he is coming and expect him. I know he will be the tallest man in the room and have a kind face. Several minutes later, I see his vast shadow cross the porch and hear loud thumping footsteps as his work boots clomp to the door. The screen door creaks as he pushes it open. He sticks his head inside and smiles at everyone in the room.
Everyone there knows him and shouts out greetings to him. They call out his name, and some of the guys walk over and give him the “half-guy-hug-handshake-backslap-good-buddy” gesture. As he greets everyone, his eyes search the room and finally fall upon me. He wanders over to where I sit on the floor, looms over me, and smiles. Crouching down, he lowers his large frame and kneels beside me on the floor. Covering my shoulders with his broad left arm, he pulls me close to his chest. Wrapping his other arm around me he kisses the top of my head. He holds me there for a long time. I feel warm and completely loved.
When I wake up, I feel breathless and desperately want to go back to my dream. In the dream, I think it is the man on Facebook, but on further thought, I wonder if the man in the dream is Jesus.
Formats
Book Details
About the Book
Jennifer E. Embury delves further into the traumatic events that took place during her childhood, which she introduced in her first book, A Drink of Water: A Memoir about My Life with Men.
In Loaves of Bread, she shares how despite so many obstacles, she became a successful veterinarian.
She also looks back at how on November 4, 2007, she was baptized and received her first Holy Communion. About ten days later, while she was sleeping, the Lord raised her up to the ceiling so she could not move. For about three hours, she was suspended in the air.
The next morning, when she woke up, she had an insatiable hunger for the Word of God. She read every word in the Bible like it was the bread of life. After many months of study, she memorized all of Scripture.
In this memoir, she explores how she found success despite an interwoven cycle of child abuse, drug addiction, codependency, and domestic violence. She also shows how counseling combined with her deep relationship with Jesus Christ allowed her to heal.
About the Author
Jennifer E. Embury is a 1998 alumna of University of Florida’s College of Veterinary Medicine. She served as assistant professor at UF’s College of Medicine and is the author of numerous peer-reviewed articles concerning gene therapy and neuropathology. She recently received her juris doctor degree from Western Michigan University Thomas M. Cooley Law School. She lives in Branford, Florida.