Sarah Verardo felt compelled write a book about her “handsome hero” husband after her 3-year-old daughter Grace came home from pre-school complaining, “Someone said Daddy is gross.”
Grace’s classmate was referring to the injuries Mike Verardo suffered from the Afghanistan War, leaving him a double amputee.
“I realized I needed to give them the tools to deal with what I’ve already been dealing with for years — the stares, the questions,” Sarah Verardo, 33, told The Washington Post, “them” referring to her three daughters
And from that incident came her self-published children’s book, “Hero at Home,” which depicts a veteran who has a prosthetic leg, a wounded arm, and a brain injury that causes him occasionally to put his “keys in the fridge and milk in the closet.”
The book’s intended audience includes her three daughters, ranging in age from 3 years to 9 months, as well as those who want to understand what war veterans who sustain severe injuries go through.
“I’m his caregiver and case manager, but the most important thing I do is keep his dignity and my children’s dignity. That was being challenged,” Sarah Verardo told the Post. “I wanted to explain to people: This is what it’s like to live with war.”
And in writing the book, Sarah became a “Hero at Home” herself, as well as a hero to other disabled veterans. She’s donating proceeds from her book to The Independence Fund, a national nonprofit helping wounded, ill, and injured war veterans and their caregivers regain their independence. Sarah is executive director of the organization.
The life of Mike Verardo, 33, was changed dramatically and forever in 2010 when he was severely injured by an improvised explosive device while he was stationed in southern Afghanistan as an Army infantryman with the 82nd Airborne Division. In addition to losing two limbs, he suffered an extreme brain injury.
Sarah and Mike Verardo were dating at the time of the incident. They married three years later and Grace came along year after that.
Although Sarah Verardo acknowledges their life hasn’t been easy, she emphasizes “our blessings far outweigh our burdens.”
“Hero at Home” was released to five-star reviews.
“This is a beautifully written and illustrated book which tackles a tough topic in a way that’s understandable for children,” one reviewer wrote on Amazon. “It’s a must for all family libraries!”
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