"It is a unique experience to read a book that speaks directly to your heart.

If you live with a rare life-altering disease, you spend a lot of time in your head. It's hard to put the thoughts into words. In Bedtime Stories for the Living, Jay Armstrong accurately articulates the thoughts of any person living with a rare disease or anyone simply struggling to overcome their challenges."

Kyle Bryant, spokesperson for the Friedreich's Ataxia Research Alliance and host of the Two Disabled Dudes podcast

A regular dad. A rare brain disease. A chance to live forever.

A cell phone's ring interrupts the silence as Jay Armstrong sits in his high school classroom preparing for the year ahead. Something about the ring makes his stomach drop. It's his doctor.

The words, "diffuse cerebellar atrophy, a rare, degenerative brain disease" float through the speaker. All of Jay's youthful dreams of being a writer rush back, flooding the twenty years he has spent teaching students how to appreciate novels, memoirs, and poetry. The care he put into teaching them how to write with clarity, insight, and humor, and how to dance at the prom. The bedtime stories he never told his children spin in his imagination. It will all die when he dies.

Bedtime Stories for the Living is an episodic memoir in which Jay shows his children how to accept their limitations and find joy. The collection of tender, witty stories about fatherhood, persevering despite illness, and pursuing your dreams, demonstrates how love gives us the strength to face heartache with bravery, humor, and grace.

Despite being diagnosed with a rare neurological disease, Jay Armstrong presses on. He lives in the suburbs of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania with his wife, their three kids, and their dog Maggie May. He makes dad jokes, frequents Target, and will only accept a cordial invitation from Oprah to join her book club.

You can visit Jay at writeongihton.org or at jayarmstrongwrites.com.

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