Ted Stamp

This Was Just the Way Ted Stamp

Disability is a heartbeat away. It's a fact none can deny, but one that few pay much attention to. We all realize life can change forever in a moment, but we seldom think it will happen to us. Ted Stamp was no different. With high school graduation just behind him and college just ahead, he was going through the ordinary motions of work one morning when, while goofing around with a friend, he sustained the spinal cord injury that left him permanently paralyzed from the chest down. This Was Just the Way is Stamp's candid reflection on life before and after disability, the mixed emotions of life inside and outside of hospital and home, from heartache to healing. Along the way, words like normal, need, ability, and privilege get redefined, as do the dynamics of family and friendships. Lots of questions naturally arise: Why did things turn out this way? What if things had happened differently? How to come to terms with so much loss? How could a loving God allow such things? Could there be purpose in it, after all? This Was Just the Way explores how our circumstances shape not just our decisions and beliefs, but ultimately who we become--for better or worse. It reveals just how quickly and profoundly anyone of our lives and personalities might change at any given moment. At the same time, it cautions against too quickly labeling inconvenient experiences as "bad" or "tragic." Because sometimes roads less traveled prove to be better teachers than we anticipate-and redemption too might well be closer than we realize.