Second Acts that Change Lives

Stories from mid-life trailblazers who share their better selves and skills to make the world a better place  

Are you realizing that the first half of your life is over? And you've been so busy concentrating on building a career or raising a family, or both, it has suddenly dawned on you that you may have lost yourself in the process and that the dreams you had when you were younger were set aside for more immediate concerns. Or are you frustrated that you have not had the time to truly give back? Mary Beth Sammons offers readers a chance to change all that in Second Acts That Change Lives.

The book offers a collection of honest and inspiring stories delving into the lives of a community of mid-life trailblazers who wanted to make changes in their lives and found that as they reached inward for the strength to change, almost unanimously reached out to share their better self, their skills, their talents to make the world a better place.

Among the stories are:  A 60-year-old divorced mom and grandmother, blind in one eye, who sets up a program for single mothers in Nicaragua to teach them how to make quilts that will financially sustain them.

A single woman and high-powered career person who met the love of her life at 50. He died two months later when hit by a car while training for a triathlon. She went to Russia and adopted two children and brought them home to raise in Michigan.

A 45-year-old prosecuting attorney who loved to swim as a child. He returned to school for a degree in physical education and now teaches swimming lessons.

Second Acts That Change Lives is a wake-up call, an intervention of sorts to help turn the "someday I'd love to" into "today I will" and, by doing so, make a profound difference in the world.