Posts Tagged: blogging

Hillbilly Elegy — A Resilient Memoir

April 21st, 2017
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Hillbilly Elegy

Friends and colleagues told me Hillbilly Elegy was the book to read if I wanted to gain a deeper understanding of white working class voter participation in the 2016 Presidential election.

Yes Hillbilly Elegy, a New York Times best selling memoir, does deliver compelling first person thoughts and experiences about how it feels to be white and poor and growing up in rust-belt Ohio but more importantly, it gave me unexpected insights into the ability of a young child to find the inner strength to keep going while living in trauma.

If read from that point of view, Hillbilly Elegy… Read More

Grief Sucks

April 8th, 2017
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My Dad At A Gonzaga Rally  Dear Faithful Friends: Excuse my French, but as the title of this post suggests, grief does suck. I haven’t been on social media very much lately though it’s not for lack of trying.  Since my Dad’s death in February, I can’t tell you how many times I have tried to sit down and write something but all the words get balled up. I know I am stating the obvious but it needs to be said.  When you call something what it is, you bring it out into the open.  Maybe it just sits in… Read More

Best Friends To The Rescue

January 22nd, 2016
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Random and spontaneous acts of kindness are never forgotten. The kind and generous acts that my friends have given to me throughout the years stand out as Technicolor slides in my memory bank. I will never forget the many wonderful gifts of spirit and self that have come my way when I was going through troubled times and when I am reminded of some of them I quickly think of the hospital visits, the long telephone calls and face to face chats, the home cooked meals, and especially the watching of my son when he was a child. I feel… Read More

Mermaid — A Memoir

January 8th, 2016
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My wonderful son and I share a love of reading all kinds of books.  It doesn’t matter whether it’s fiction, non-fiction, or biography. A good story always grabs us and we like to share books that we discover and enjoy so much that we can’t put them down until we arrive at the last word. As a Christmas present, he gave me a memoir titled, Mermaid, a book that neither of us had read but still his instincts told him that this would probably be a book I would enjoy. He was right!  I loved it and whipped right through… Read More

A Younger Point of View

March 28th, 2014
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Just to briefly, and I do mean briefly, follow up on yesterday’s post about the ever changing dynamics of going online to share grief and loss experiences, a friend sent me the below link to a fantastic New York Times story addressing this very topic. I loved this story about Millennials and hope you do too because it introduced to me some new websites I enjoyed discovering plus it highlighted the thoughts and feelings of a younger generation in the midst of trying to figure out the best way to deal with their grief their own individual way while helping… Read More

Internet Loss

March 27th, 2014
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Have our electronic devices separated us from each other so much that it’s now normal to text people about a loved one’s death?Has it become routine to attend the funeral of a friend or a loved one and start snapping selfies?Why would someone let their cellphone ring during a funeral service and then answer it and continue talking?We are in a strange state of communications today. The first time I saw a selfie taken at a funeral I have to say I was really shocked. I didn’t know the young girl in the picture but she tweeted a picture of… Read More

Baby Steps

March 16th, 2014
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Ugh.  I feel as though I have been stuck in a lot of life’s drama lately and it is distracting me. Big drama has been happening to me on all fronts of my life and I just thought I would let you wonderful readers know the reason why I haven’t been able to post on my blog as much as I would like.  Not that you are hanging on to every word I ever post but I thought it would be nice of me to give an explanation for cutting back lately. I can’t and don’t think it would be… Read More

Giving Thanks!!

November 28th, 2013
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Today is a day when I pause to give thanks for all of the incredible gifts God has sent my way and also it’s a day when it’s okay to eat too much. I am lucky to have wonderful friends and family and to be able to visit some of them today.  I know that during the hustle and bustle of this holiday that I will scan the room and think about the blessings in my life. I never take what I have for granted for I know how quickly a person’s life can change.  I also am thankful for… Read More

Joy Of Motion

October 17th, 2013
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Blogging plus my full-time job equals too much time in front of the computer. When I am involved in a deadline project and super concentrated on what I am doing, it is very easy for me to lose track of time and forget to move from my chair.  Sitting at my desk for hours on end may help me get my work done, but researchers also say it increases my chances of getting diabetes, heart disease and shortening my life.  So as comfy as it feels to sit or hang out on the couch, I’ve got to get moving. Because … Read More