OAK RIDGE, Tenn. — Calamity's Coffee in Oak Ridge is a popular gathering place for people, but for Gaby Laurent, the coffee shop is where she wrote most of her new book "Wrinkles Welcome."
The book follows Laurent as she goes through her cancer journey while she was pregnant with her son.
"He received three rounds of chemotherapy in utero and was able to live and make it and is a perfectly healthy, wonderful nine-year-old boy," Laurent said.
She went into remission nine years ago and over the last year, she's spent time writing her book, which came out in September. Now her book is available to buy online but it's also available for people to read at the Oak Ridge Public Library.
"My book is in the library, and we actually used my son's library card to request for it to be there," she said. "And that was such a neat experience to get the email that said 'The book that you've requested, Louis, is now in the library.' And it's neat because this story is so much about him and our story and his life."
But for people who may need accessibility tools, Laurent wanted to make sure they could enjoy her book as well.
"Making this book accessible to everyone was a top priority for me, so to have it in local libraries, to have it on e-readers and now it's actually an audiobook too," Laurent said. "Makes it available for anyone who has any need".
She said her story is one of hope. A hope she wants to be able to give to other people.
"For me, if my cancer comes back the thing that will save my life is my younger brother's bone marrow, and just knowing that we really do need each other," she said. "And especially in this holiday season if there's anything that we can do, like donating blood or donating to the Red Cross, those are things that we can do that are really gonna help other people."
You can find Lauren't book on Amazon. You can also follow along on her journey on Instagram.