(May 2, 2007) — It should have been a disaster–three sisters out for a little round of golf and before it’s all over there is an out of control cart, a separated shoulder, a trip to the emergency room, and no love lost because they all still love each other just as much. Maybe that’s because for Anna Swindell, Bev Swindell, and Gloria Koontz of Everett (Pa.) Church of the Brethren, golf is more than a game.
“More Than a Game” is their story, and it appears in the brand new “Chicken Soup for the Woman Golfer’s Soul.” In the summer of 2002 the women were playing golf together at the Down River Golf Course in Everett, as is their custom. Anna regularly drives a golf cart because of a disability. For an unexplained reason the cart took off while Bev stood in front of it. In a moment she had been run over, separating her shoulder and causing her extreme pain. Anna in her panic confused the pedals, making the injury worst. Gloria went for help, summoning the ambulance.
What happened next is the subject of the story as written by their pastor, Frank Ramirez. Ramirez found it mildly ironic that his was the last story eliminated from the “Chicken Soup for a Better World” collection, which featured a number of Brethren writers, only to have a story accepted in the golf book when he has never played golf. But the story is a very human one, one he wanted to tell.
The book is edited by Jack Canfield and Mark Victor Hansen, who have made the Chicken Soup series world famous. They are assisted by Matthew E. Adams, a twenty-year veteran of the golf industry, a regular on the Golf Channel, and a bestselling author, as well as Patty Aubery, president of Chicken Soup for the Soul Enterprises.
A portion of the sales will be donated to the Y-ME National Breast Cancer Organization. Y-ME is a Chicago-based national nonprofit organization with the mission to ensure, through information, empowerment, and peer support, that no one faces breast cancer alone.
–Frank Ramirez is pastor of Everett (pa.) Church of the Brethren and a member of the Church of the Brethren General Board.
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