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She Blew Him Straight to Heaven: The True Story of Troy Patten
By Lola Cross
ISBN-10: 0979527600
ISBN-13: 978-0979527609
The old adage that there is a book in everybody takes a sad turn with Lola Cross’s She Blew Him Straight to Heaven, the story of her youngest son, Troy Patten, and how he died at the hands of his own abusive wife. Lola Cross was clearly compelled to write this memorial to Troy but I am certain this was not the story that she would have wanted to write.
When reading the first part of this book I was drawn in by the many tales Lola Cross recounted about meeting and marrying her first husband, the father of her three children, and the many tales of a prideful mother recounting the happenings in that family. I could see myself in the story. Many of the things that Troy did growing up I truly related to as my own siblings and I did the same things. The breakdown in Lola’s marriage was also a story I was familiar with without having ever met the woman. I could relate to her family life.
Things went wrong for Troy, obviously badly wrong, when he met his wife. She was abusive and out of control. Was it not for keeping his own family together Troy Patten would still be with us today. Troy was ultimately shot to death in his own home with his wife plea bargaining for a lesser sentence. Justice was only partially done.
In reading the book it is very apparent that this is a first go for the author but hers is a story that needed to be told. When those who have gone before us cannot speak for themselves, have not left their own testimony, it is our responsibility to make their stories known to their posterity. Lola Cross responsibly took up this burden for Troy so that his story will be with us forever.
God bless you both!.
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