A young beautiful wife and mother lives gracefully and gratefully each day while battling a vile disease. Her story is captured by her loving yet hopelessly optimistic husband, who helps care for her and the three children while struggling to maintain a positive outlook and good health in what seems to be the fight of this family's life. The narration is both an endearing tribute and an honest account of a family trying to live each day to the fullest, as they knew tomorrow was not a guarantee. Weaving various adventures from before, during, and after they met and fell in love to begin a family, you are taken on an odyssey of love and unwavering strength. Cancer is not the only monster to spin its treacherous web capturing this family in its gripping clutches. The struggle within each member emerges as they navigate through their darkness. This love story takes the reader on an uncertain yet fulfilling journey. The first in a series, an homage to his wife, subtitled Shock, the disbelief one goes through when handed down a grim life sentence on a random summer day, will bring you from the skylines of Manhattan to the sleepy Village of Brewster, the Palm trees of Florida and the wild Jungles of Ecuador... and beyond. This young couple's story of love, faith, and commitment endures and yes......at times transcends, the harshness and richness of what it means to be human. makes you grasp just how short time is and to live in the moment and have no regrets. Great read! Looking forward to part 2. Smashing Spiders was born of a "love" and forced out from a  place I never wanted to visit—grief. But what I found there surprised me: beauty, memory, and unshakable love. This first book, Shock, captures the dizzying, surreal experience of falling in love so deeply that the world itself seems to shift, and then losing that love before you're ready to let go. It's memoir, yes, but it's also myth, metaphor, and raw poetry. Like a Shakespearean tragedy dressed in modern skin, it's the story of two lives colliding in brilliance... and one being left behind. Writing this book was not just an act of healing; it was an act of preservation. I didn't want the laughter, the morning coffee rituals, or the whispered dreams to vanish. I wanted them to stay in the world. To matter. To live on the page. If you've ever loved someone so much it scared you... If you've ever lost someone and felt the ground fall away... If you're still putting the pieces back together... This book is for you. And maybe, just maybe, there's a pearl tucked in the rubble. Joey Lambert Joey Lambert is an author, educator, and storyteller whose journey began as a child reading signs in store windows and menus in neighborhood diners, ultimatley, discovering early on that words opened a portal to a world of make believe. That curiosity grew into a passion for literature and poetry, shaped by the voices of Walt Whitman, William Shakespeare, Langston Hughes, Mark Twain, and the lyrical storytelling found in rap music. Lambert's first published work, Smashing Spiders, is a love story told through memoir — part Shakespearean tragedy, part modern reflection. It captures a deep and personal romance that bloomed, burned bright, and was ultimately transformed by loss. It is the foundation upon which all of his writing rests: the idea that love, no matter how fleeting, leaves behind something eternal. Pencil and Clock - Pearls for Life followed, offering students, parents, and educators a collection of wisdom, humor, and heart. Rooted in his 32 years of teaching, it delivers daily reminders that learning isn't just about answers — it's about questions, kindness, and showing up. Joey continues to write, tutor, and share his "Pearls for Life," hoping to help others find strength in stories, freedom in knowledge, and comfort in the shared chaos of being human.