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A passion for severe weather and storm chasing brought S. Charles Decker to Oklahoma from his hometown of Richmond, Virginia. One storm made him an Oklahoman.
On May 3, 1999 a horrible series of storms ravaged the heart of Oklahoma. Unable to leave work to storm chase, he watched the events unfold live on television as an F5 tornado destroyed the city of Moore.
The human toll of the storm was unknown, but it seemed impossible that anyone could have survived being in the path of the tornado. When he arrived home from work late in the evening, he remembered that there was a blood bank about two blocks away from his home. Normally, they would have long closed, but he thought they might have extended their hours because of the storm. He decided to walk the two blocks to the blood bank, but was only able to walk one. The end of the line, a line of people that wrapped around the blood bank and down an entire block was before him. In that moment, he became an Okie. In the following years, a different storm changed his life.
The author and his wife, Deborah, started a family. They had two beautiful boys, Matthew, and then 16 months later, Nathan. Following the birth of Nathan, their joy began to mix with concern. They noticed that Matthew was not reaching many of his developmental milestones. Specialists later confirmed their fears. Matthew had autism. A year later they learned that Nathan did as well.
Today, 1 out of every 150 children is diagnosed with autism. In the case of the Decker family, it was 2 for 2. Having two sons with special needs, it became necessary for one parent to stay home to care for them. Mr. Decker was in a unique position where he could leave his job as regional manager of industrial engineering and return at a later date. However, that never happened. The needs of his children for a steady routine, intensive therapies and close supervision came first.
Over the years, he learned that his sons preferred books with poetry to simple prose. The author wrote this book entirely in rhyming verse for the benefit of children with special needs and for the enjoyment of all. His book began as a story for his children. However, it evolved into a passion to inspire all kids with special needs and to change the world’s perception of them.