“The authentic self is the soul made visible.” Sarah Ban Breathnach
I am very happy to feature writer ,artist and host of #JournalChat Dawn Herring in this guest post. Dawn and I met on Twitter when she invited me to her weekly #journalchat on Twitter (Thursday 2 pm PDT), a delightful and enlightening weekly exchange about all things journaling. If you are interested in journaling, you will enjoy this Twitter chat.
Welcome, Dawn!
Author and Journal Writer Dawn Herring
Authentic Voice
“I knew it was you! I recognized your voice.”
Whether we’re talking on the phone, leaving a message or calling out to a friend we’re meeting for lunch, people often know us by our voice.
Certain vocalists or talk show hosts or teachers we hear are often recognized by voice because their voices have a distinct quality that sets them apart.
Voice through text has the same possibilities especially if we’ve read something an author has written before. The tone, the word choice, the style of writing speaks to their natural, authentic voice.
And in some ways, when we hear or read an authentic voice, recognizing the value and elements that resonate, it speaks directly to our own.
But how do you know when you have found yours?
Whether you’re writing a memoir, poem or essay, or talking to a friend, speaking to an audience, or even singing a song, you know when you’ve discovered the voice that is authentic to you, your personality, your preferences and your purpose.
It carries a certain timber; it reflects your values; it speaks your heart with honesty and candor.
And all of this comes with practice.
A suggested practice approach is journal writing; if you journal every day, it will help you hone your voice, whether written or spoken.
The following ideas may resonate and feel relevant to discovering your authentic voice:
Practice lines of poetry or song lyrics or borrow from a song that resonates with your heart. Then speak or sing them.
Write dialogue from a conversation you had with a friend that held great meaning for you. Apply what you’ve written to a scene for memoir.
Describe an unexpected conflict or challenge in detail, whether yours or someone else’s; determine the possible trigger of this conflict and what changes should be made in reference toward resolution. Pay close attention to any intuitive senses you pick up which will speak to your authenticity.
Express your opinion on a topic that resonates with you either because it makes you laugh, cry or even rage.
Use an image you’re drawn to as a prompt for written or emotional exploration to dig deeper into the soul; ask yourself its meaning for you right now, what it reminds you of and why.
Ask yourself a question that has been nagging at you and determine an answer that reflects your authentic values.
You may be surprised with your journal writing discoveries as you tap into the Real You. Give yourself the time, space, and approach that opens your understanding and enables you to validate your emotions and feelings and nurture your soul in the process.
When you’re getting started with finding your authentic voice, you can learn by noting written or vocal voices of others and determine what sets their song, speech, essay or memoir apart from the rest.
This will help you determine, with contrast, what makes your voice authentic to you no matter how you exercise it.
Whether in word, image, or song, Your Authentic Voice will shine as you gain a fresh perspective on your story and point of view and give space for expression that comes from the heart.
Thank you Dawn for showing us how journal writing can help us to find our authentic voices. It is an important reminder that we need to keep practicing through writing prose, poetry or song to be able to hear our own voices and know they are true.
Author’s Bio
Dawn Herring is a writer, artist and host of #JournalChat Live for all things journaling on Twitter. Her thematic focus is on journal writing, refreshment, positive change and personal empowerment. She has been published in her local city newspaper and in newsletters and on websites and blogs featuring journal writing and self-care. She publishes her weekly Refresh Journal for a fresh perspective in all of life dimensions. She is the author of The Birthday Wall: Create a Collage to Celebrate Your Child, a how-to on creating visual collage to celebrate your child’s birthday, a family tradition she keeps with her daughters and grandboy. She offers private Refresh Sessions to help you discover Your Authentic Refreshment. Her blog is Refresh with Dawn Herring: For a Fresh Perspective and her website is dawnherring.net. Her Twitter is @JournalChat and@DawnHerring. Her Facebook is JournalWriter Freelance where #JournalChat Pick of the Day and Pick of the Week are featured. She always reminds folks not to forget to refresh themselves.
The Birthday Wall by Dawn Herring
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How about you? Do you recognize your authentic voice ? How did you find it?
We’d love to hear from you.
Please leave your comments below~
Dawn has agreed to give away a copy of her e-book, The Birthday Wall: Create A Collage to Celebrate Your Child to a commenter whose name will be selected in a random drawing.
Monday, 7/15: A reblog of “My Authentic Refreshment Interview” from Dawn’s blog
Wednesday, 7/17: WOW! Women on Writing Book Tour: Review of the memoir, Betty’s Child by Donald Dempsey
“Perhaps the truth depends on a walk around the lake.” Wallace Ste
Keuka Lake sign
Keuka Lakeis one of the Finger Lakes in western New York State. Because it is Y-shaped , instead of long and narrow, it has been referred to as Crooked Lake. Keuka means “canoe landing” in the Iroquois language and “lake with an elbow” in the Seneca language. It’s about 20 miles long and varies in width from half a mile to two miles, and is teeming with salmon, bass, trout and perch. Surrounded by well-groomed vineyards on rolling hills, it has many wineries in the heart of Amish country. ( Wikipedia/Keuka Lake)
The Story Behind the Story…
My siblings and I grew up about 20 miles away and were often invited to our friends’ cottages ,wishing we could have our own family cottage.
In 2000, after years of my younger brother Tom badgering our parents to get a cottage on Keuka Lake, Dad relented,
“Okay, go ahead and look,” Dad said one Saturday morning, never expecting him to find anything.
Lake front property was at a premium but Tom , my other brother Gary and their wives were determined.
They drove up and down the East and West Lake Roads for several hours. With the prospects dwindling for finding anything remotely appropriate that would fit into our price range and adequate size for our family, the four were about to call it a day.
Then my sister-in-law Trish spotted the small sign as they were on their way back to Corning. Craning her neck backward and pointing, she flapped her hands on the driver’s headrest,
“Let’s turn around and check it out.”
An elderly lady in a long skirt and with a bandana wrapped around her head was picking up some twigs on the beach when they drove into the driveway and parked the car on the top level. She waved to them from the beach which was two levels down.
They all got out of the car and looked around, then looked at one another in silent anticipation.
The lady, Mrs J was an 80-year-old widow who was anxious to sell the property and wanted to leave everything behind—tools, motor boat, all the furniture in the cottage, beach chairs, picnic table.
“We need to talk with our Dad and we’ll get right back to you.”
Squealing and chattering, they climbed into the car and began strategizing how they would present this to Dad. Dad was a child of the Depression and was very careful about saving and spending his money. It would be a hard sell.
After several sessions and a few nights of lost sleep, Dad continued to struggle with how he was going to pay for it.
The “Hail Mary pass…
“Dad,” Tom pleaded , “When you die you will leave us all your hard-earned estate and we’ll buy a cottage at the lake. We’ll sit around and talk about how much you would have enjoyed watching the sunset and seeing your grandkids play in the water. If we get this cottage now, you can experience it all for yourself.
When Dad woke up the next day, his decision was made. He would sell some stock. He would buy the cottage but the four siblings would be responsible for the taxes, and maintainence. Deal!
And that’s what he did , a few days BEFORE the stock market plummeted. We always said, Dad lived with the angels.
Making memories…
That was in 2000 and Tom was right. Dad did get to enjoy 10-years worth of sunsets and family fun at the cottage before he left us in 2010.
Collage of Keuka Lake memories, 2007
The family endures…
Each of the four siblings gets one vacation week at the cottage with their families and friends. Boating , water skiing , swimming, playing cards, fishing off the dock .We sit on the dock or wooden swing on the beach to watch the mother duck and her entourage of ducklings glide across the water. We reminisce, laugh, cry. Huddled around the bonfire we reconnect and soak in the love of family and friends, forgetting our cares and worries, if only for a moment.
Last week was my week and the most fitting tribute I can think of comes from this poem by my youngest brother ,Gary:
The Crooked Lake
For our family, sons and daughters
Thank you for the peace bestowed by misshapen waters.
Where rocky shores draw boundaries
If distant memories and current quandaries
Whose vista leaves one thinking of life
Intertwined with inevitable and continuous strife
The hills and vineyards tower over the water not aloof or too proud
But protects the lake with a majestic shroud
Our lives, not easy, most human with turns and bends
Like the lake itself gives us pause to make amends
Good times, tough times, changes for sure
The crooked lake is our sanctuary that helps the family endure.
Rainbow over Keuka Lake while grandson tries out stand-up paddle board,2013
Keuka Lake sunset, 2013
Cousin reunion at the lake with my brother Gary (the poet), 2012
How about you? Do you have any “crooked lake” memories in your life?
I’d love to hear from you . Please leave your comments below~
Announcement:Congratulations to Lynne Spreen! Your name was selected in a random drawing of commenters to receive Sharon Lippincott’s e-book The Heart and Craft of Writing Compelling Descriptions.
On Thursday, July11: Writer and #JournalChat host Dawn Herring will discuss ” Do You Recognize Your Authentic Voice?
“Don’t tell me the moon is shining. Show me the glint of light on broken glass.”Anton Chekov
I am thrilled to interview author and writing coach Sharon Lippincott on how she turned blog posts into a marketable e-book and paperback. Sharon and I met in 2009 through The National Association of Memoir Writers(NAMW) and have been following each other ever since.
Her recently released e-book and paperback, The Heart and Craft of Writing Compelling Descriptions,is rapidly gaining international attention as an excellent resource for writers from many genres who want to take their writing to a deeper level. My reviews are on Amazon and Goodreads.
Welcome back, Sharon!
Life Story and Memoir Writing Coach and Author Sharon Lippincott
KP: Please tell us about your book, The Heart and Craft of Writing Compelling Descriptions.
SL: The book is a compilation of forty-eight blog posts relating to description writing. Collectively, they cover the gamut from using adjectives to pruning dead “would.” Several posts include tips for widening windows of awareness and using vocabulary you already have. These tips will add zest to your writing and life in general.
KP: Your The Heart and Craft of Lifewriting blog posts are always rich in descriptive details so I’m not surprised you have packaged them so effectively into a book.
What made you decide to tackle this ambitious and creative project?
SL: Three years ago I compiled a shorter anthology of posts about description and on a whim I thought I could pop that into a .99 Kindle book “in about three hours.” I immediately ran into snags. All my blog posts include images, and those proved to be a huge challenge in eBook format. The simple solution took weeks to discover.
Meanwhile I discovered two dozen additional posts and all forty-eight needed editing. Thank goodness for my awesome writing group buddies!. More writer friends kept my feet to the fire until the cover worked. With the additional posts, the book was long enough to justify a print version, and the rest is history.
KP: I know your knowledge and skill with the technical aspects of being an author have come about from your sheer determination and initiative to master the how-to’s. I have known you to be very generous with sharing what you have learned with others.
What tips on learning the technology would you share for those of us who may not have the same “technical fortitude” as you to take on a project such as this.
SL: I do love being a tour guide for segments of the writers’ journey!
Tip #1: Learn to use Styles in Word and you have the keys to the publishing kingdom. Once you get the drift, you’ll see how easy it is to begin with predefined styles while writing your draft. They are mandatory for uniform layout, and if you hire someone to do that for you, your groundwork will save the designer time and you money
.
YouTube has hundreds of tutorials to help you understand and use styles. Download your free copy of the Smashwords Style Guide from Smashwords.com. The process it describes works for both print and eBooks. Your time investing in learning to use styles will pay huge dividends.
Tip #2: Find a strong group of writing buddies and trade critiques. You’ll learn from each other, and your stories gain depth from additional perspective. Join a group online or form your own. Paid editors are great if you can afford them, but they are most valuable as icing on a cake leavened by group input.
KP: Can you briefly outline the steps you took to turn your blog posts into a marketable book?
SL: I did not follow a smooth path, but here is a list of things that must be done for any book, whether paper or pixels:
Select posts or stories (write content for new book).
Arrange anthology parts in logical order.
Edit!and proof-read! everything. Many times. Get help with this, whether paid or from qualified writing buddies.
Study published books for placement of copyright info, Table of Contents, etc.
Finalize design details.
Prepare cover.
Prepare promo material.
Here the path diverges. Save a second copy of your file before proceeding. For print prep:
Add blank pages as needed for proper layout.
Insert headers, footers and page numbers according to design.
Convert to PDF layout.
For eBook prep:
Check with Kindle and ebook consolidators like Smashwords.com for latest instructions.
Create new Table of Contents with hyperlinks instead of page numbers.
Add bookmark for TOC.
Save as HTML (filtered). This is optional, but recommended.
KP: Are there any tips you’d like to share on marketing your book?
SL: Start working on your book description when you start writing. Do NOT leave this for the last minute! Get lots of input.
Send out emails asking skilled reviewers if they are interested in receiving a review copy of your book. Do this a month or more before your planned launch date, and let them know when you want them to post (as soon as the page goes live). Ideally you want at least ten great reviews posted before you formally announce the book.
KP: Do you have any final thoughts you’d like to share?
SL: There has never been a better time to publish. You want your book to be awesome, but don’t invest more than you can comfortably afford to lose. The reader pool size is stable, and the number of books is skyrocketing. Give it your best shot, rejoice in a monumental achievement, and be happy with whatever results you achieve.
Thank you , Sharon for sharing so many helpful details about turning blog posts into a book. Your expertise is greatly appreciated and your enthusiasm is contagious!
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Author Bio:
Sharon Lippincott is an evangelist for lifestory writing and memoir and the author of four books including The Heart and Craft of Lifestory Writing. Her most recent, The Heart and Craft of Lifestory Writing Compelling Description helps writers transform blah stories into brilliant ones. She teaches memoir and other writing courses online and in Carnegie Mellon University and University of Pittsburgh Osher programs and cohosts the Life Writers’ Forum YahooGroup. She is founder of WE WRITE! Creative Writing University in Pittsburgh and serves on the National Association of Memoir Writers advisory board.
The Heart and Craft of Writing Compelling Descriptions book cover
Sharon has agreed to give an e-book copy of The Heart and Craft of Writing Compelling Description, in the format of your choice, to a commenter whose name will be chosen at the end of the week in a random drawing.
How about you? Have you thought about turning your blog posts into a book? We’d love to hear from you. Please leave your comments below~
Announcements:
Congratulations to Lorenzo Martinez and Audrey Chin. Lorenzo is the winner of Singing to Silence by Pam Richards and Audrey is the winner of The Woman I’ve Become, an anthology compiled by Pat Lapointe.
Congratulations to Barbara McDowell Whitt. You are the winner of Mary Gottschalk’s memoir. Sailing Down the Moonbeam.
This Week:
I’ll be over at Sarah Freeman’s blogWrite by Gracewith a guest post on “God’s Grace in My Life” starting on Tuesday, July 2.
Next Week:
“The Crooked Lake: A Memoir Moment” on Monday, July 8
“Do You Recognize Your Authentic Voice?” , a guest post by #journalchat host Dawn Herring on Thursday, July 11
I am very pleased to feature Memoir Author Mary Gottschalk in this guest post on how memoir writing is similar to fine wine. Mary and I met in Sonia Marsh‘s Gutsy Indie Author Facebook Group. Mary explores the many life lessons she learned while writing her memoir and explains why it took 20 years to do so.
Like fine wine, memoirs need to age to perfection.
In her memoir, Sailing Down the Moonbeam, Mary uses her sailing adventures as a metaphor for telling her story. My reviews can be found on Amazon and Goodreads.
Welcome , Mary!
Author Mary Gottschalk
Fine Wine and Memoir Writing
I have often been asked why it took me 20 years to write Sailing Down the Moonbeam, a memoir of my journey when I abandoned my New York City career to cruise around the world in a sailboat. After all, I had a stack of journals with daily entries covering virtually every day of the nearly three years on board. How hard could it be?
Very hard, as it turns out. I did indeed write a “memoir” during the year after the voyage ended. That first effort, documenting places I went and things I saw, felt flat and without a point. In writing that first memoir, I didn’t yet appreciate why the sailing journey mattered.
What Happened — The Illusion of Control
At age 40, I had a big job in a big city, with all the markers of success … two cars, a country house, millions of frequent flier miles.
I didn’t feel successful. Most of the time, I lived in a constant state of anxiety, exhausted from the effort of trying to keep life from flying apart. I worried about everything … satisfying my clients … whether my staff got the client report completed on time … if I’d catch a taxi in time to get to my next meeting.
What happened on the sailing voyage was that I discovered—that gut level, pit-of-the-stomach sort of discovery—that control is illusion. I began to see sailing as a metaphor for life itself. You can’t control your environment. You can set a goal, but your progress towards that goal depends on the winds and the currents … and you often end up somewhere quite different from where you set out to go. In sailing as in life more generally, you may be able to control the next decision you make, but you can’t control the outcome of that decision.
It was a powerful insight. I decided that even if I couldn’t control my life, I could avoid being trapped by others’ expectations. At the very least, I would spend it doing something I was passionate about.
Why It Mattered — Stepping Outside Your Comfort Zone.
Moments of insight were not new in my life. Over the years in New York, I’d attended many workshops on personal development. Invariably, I came away from those confabs determined to do better. Stop being a control freak. Be more patient. Listen more carefully. Don’t make snap judgments. The list of ways I wanted to improve was nearly infinite.
None of those insights had any lasting impact, as I remained a prisoner of the unspoken assumption that I’d feel more successful—that I’d spend less time worrying—if I did a better job of meeting people’s expectations. Each time I returned to the real world, confronted by the same all-too-familiar expectations and challenges I’d had before the workshop, I fell right back into the same bad habits, born of trying to direct people and things that were not mine to control.
That insight at sea was different, as Mother Nature has no expectations. Since it didn’t matter where we were on any given day, there was no reason to worry if the weather delayed our arrival or our departure by a few days. I didn’t have to worry about the dinner menu since my options were limited to what was in the larder. And there was no point in worrying about violent storms, whales, or freak waves, as I couldn’t do anything about them until they were hard upon us.
Then too, I had three years to learn another way of doing things. Three years to grow accustomed to making decisions for myself, instead of responding automatically to the expectations of my mother or my boss or my neighbor. Three years to learn how much more I could accomplish—how much more content I felt—when I wasn’t worrying about what to do or when to do it. Three years in which to develop new habits to replace the ones I’d wanted to break in my New York City days.
When I returned to the corporate world—the point at which I wrote that first memoir—I was concerned that this nautical insight, like the earlier ones, would be decimated on the altar of the everyday.
In fact, this time it was different. I was no longer a prisoner of other peoples’ expectations. I had grown accustomed to a worry-free existence. I refused to take on projects that did not interest me. If I took on a challenging project, I was no longer afraid to admit the gaps in my knowledge or ask for help. I was no longer afraid to tell my boss that his deadline was unrealistic.
Conclusion
The answer to the “20 year” question is that the story I wanted to tell wasn’t over the day the voyage ended. The most important insight of all—the why it mattered—came only after I’d been back at work for enough years to see the results of that different mindset.Not only was I more successful, professionally and financially, than I’d been before the sailing journey, but now I also felt successful. I was making a difference. I was doing things I loved. It felt wonderful.
Today, as I read the flurry of memoirs that come to market, I wonder how many of the authors have tried to tell their story before they knew how it ended.
Like fine wine, memoir writing requires suitable aging, enough time for the events to ferment and the essence of the insights to come through.
Photo Credit: Wine by LMRitchie uploaded from Flickr Creative Commons
Thank you Mary for sharing your insights about the memoir writing process and for showing us the importance of giving ourselves time and distance to allow our stories to “age to perfection” like fine wine.
Sailing Down the Moonbeam book cover
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Mary C Gottschalk Bio:
Mary has made a career out of changing careers. She spent nearly thirty years in the financial markets, working as an economist, a banker and a financial consultant to major corporations. She has worked in New York, New Zealand, Australia, Central America, Europe, and amazingly, Des Moines, Iowa.
Along the way, she dropped out several times. In the mid-1980’s, Mary embarked on the multi-year sailing voyage that is the subject of her memoir, Sailing Down the Moonbeam. Twice, she left the world of high finance to work with the nonprofit community, first in New York and later in Des Moines.
In her latest incarnation, she defines herself as a writer. She is working on her first novel, writes for The Iowan magazine, and lectures on the subject of personal risk-taking.
Mary is on several non-profit boards, including the Des Moines A.M. Rotary
“Real courage owns up to the fact that we face a terrifying task, admitting that we are appropriately frightened, identifying sources of help and strength outside and within ourselves, and then going ahead and doing what needs to be done.”
Finding freedom from domestic abuse is a theme in my memoir-in-progress and the topic in this discussion with Pam Richards. We both believe that increasing awareness of domestic abuse prevention may help others who may feel trapped in abusive relationships.
We explore the role faith played in our experiences in honor of National PTSD Awareness Month 2013. This post is adapted from the original interview on Pam’s site,Candle to the Sun in 2/2013.
Q: Was there a moment when you knew you would come forward with your story?
Kathy: It took many years of writing before I decided to share my story of abuse. I think abuse comes in many forms and while I did not incur bruises or broken bones, I subjected myself to years of mental and emotional abuse at the hands of two different husbands. The key for me was not establishing healthy boundaries for myself and relying on the other person to change. I hadn’t found my voice. When I felt physically threatened by my second husband, I escaped in the middle of the day with my two children. It wasn’t until after I left my second husband that I fully realized I had subjected myself and my children to not just one but two abusive relationships. That was in 1989. When I started writing a memoir in 2000, it was to be about dealing with my alcoholic son. As I wrote, I realized that I couldn’t tell his story until I told my own. The theme that has emerged in 2013 is one of the consequences of not embracing your inner voice that tells you something is not quite right.
Pam:Singing from Silence began as a very personal project. It gave me a way to explain to Richard why I couldn’t get in touch with him at the end of his life. I’d never had a chance to tell him what was going on with me while he was alive. When he died, I had so many unresolved feelings. I threw myself into writing both the parts of the story he knew, and the parts he’d never heard–the things no one else could tell him because they were my own perspectives. I was uncertain about what to do with the book until I asked for his decision. It became clear to me that he would have wanted me to publish. That’s when I knew I would bring it out, regardless of the personal cost to me.
2) Can you describe what catalyzed your commitment?
Kathy: In both cases, the welfare of my two children was an overriding concern that guided me out of two abusive relationships. Though it seemed to take much longer than, in retrospect, I wished it had taken, I was able to extract myself from both marriages before any more damage was done.
Pam: Not long ago, a woman I know was threatened by a domestic partner. He threatened to take one of his guns and kill her, himself, and two of her family members. I was with her when she showed the text message to police, when she filed the paperwork for a restraining order, and when she went before a judge and got her temporary order. And I was with her just a few weeks later, when she learned he’d carried out his threat of suicide. It was a tragic loss, but thankfully no one else was harmed. I prayed with gratitude that God has put her on the path of peace, and kept her and her family out of harm’s way.
Ever since then, I can’t consider staying silent when I know so many lives are at stake, and that God has a place for all of us in his plan. With Richard, I will sing for the meek.
3) What role did your faith in God play in ending your abusive situation?
Kathy: I always had a faith in God and yet, it wasn’t until I was a single parent with two school-aged children after my first divorce that I found God in a personal way. However, I must have lost sight of that connection, for a few years after, when I met my second husband, I seemed to be driven by a need to be an intact family again rather than guided by faith. It turned out to be at a steep cost.
Pam: I finally figured out that God’s grace applied to my hopeless marriage. I was trying to live by the letter of the law, and it had never worked. I felt I really needed God’s forgiveness to end my marriage and get my children out of danger. Once I accepted that grace, I knew I was on the path God wanted me to follow.
4) What was the single most important factor in getting to safety?
Kathy: First, awareness and acknowledgement that you are indeed in an abusive situations (denial can play a big role as it did for me) and need to get out and second, develop a support system and an escape plan ahead of time. Have your bags packed. This can only happen when you admit you’ve made a mistake and need to act on your fears . Also, you need to love yourself enough to want something better for yourself. Again, listen to, honor and embrace your inner voice.
Pam: For me, it was having a friend–just one–who believed in me and helped me face the red tape needed to carry out my safety plan.
5) What would you say to someone who is going through what you went through?
Kathy: Don’t put up with unacceptable, hurtful behavior, whether it be mental, emotional or physical. The first time another person violates your boundaries, take action to protect yourself. No excuses and don’t listen to their excuses. Do not accept unacceptable behavior from anyone. Ever.
Pam: Forget your reputation. Don’t worry about the lies people are inclined to tell about you: just tell your truth as only you know it. Ultimately, Jesus is the truth, and he sets us free. If you have made every effort on your part to make peace in your home and your community and it’s still not working, then recognize that some things are beyond your control. God gave me a great gift when he taught me that inner peace is actually within our control. Almost nothing else is.
Learn to prioritize the peace within your heart that no one can take from you. There is no better family name than child of God, no better reputation.
“Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called sons of God.”
6) What safety measures would all of us be wise to follow?
Kathy: As I mentioned earlier, establishing a support system of family, friends, community agencies with phone numbers, safe places to go. Most important, do not isolate yourself. Seek counseling if you find yourself in an abusive relationship to understand your own role in attracting and allowing abusive people in your life.
Pam: Know the high-risk factors. Stop denying it–those conditions mean you’re in trouble. Have a safety plan. Follow it!
7) How do you look at life and God differently now than you did before you experienced an abusive relationship? Kathy: With counseling, faith, supportive friends and family, I have been able to see my role in allowing abusive relationships and to forgive myself for subjecting myself and my children to unacceptable behavior. I am very grateful that I was able to extract myself from two abusive marriages and learn from my mistakes. In finding my voice, I found a life of joy, peace and gratitude. I finally feel deserving of all the gifts God wanted for me all along. It is very empowering for I know I am in charge of my choices.
Pam: Rich Mullins was a very introspective person, and through my friendship with him, God taught me the value of examining myself and challenging myself to grow. The experience of my failed marriage has opened me up to the need to keep growing, and never to expect to ride on a plateau of self-satisfaction in my personal growth.
I learned that we may think we’re making peace by escaping conflict or avoiding it, but nothing is further from the truth. Conflict postponed is conflict multipled. Sometimes despite our efforts, the resolution of conflict is outside of our control. When our safety is compromised, that must be addressed immediately. But unresolved inner conflict can still entangle us and steal peace from our hearts. We may even begin to want to retaliate. It may take time, but instead we need to let go of those injuries which are outside of our control so we can find peace within.When we do, we can begin to see that jealously, or abuse, or lying, or gossip are universal human ills. We don’t have to take them personally.
There is no personal battlefield unless we ourselves march onto it with weapons in hand.
God wasn’t on the beach, watching a mountain sunrise, or dreaming by a babbling brook when he said those words he spoke. He was on a battlefield:
“Be still, and know that I am God.”
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Pam Richards is the author of Singing from Silence, the story of her friendship with creative genius Rich Mullins, in which she shares the back stories of many of his well-loved songs. Which of his songs centered on the topic of domestic abuse? That would be Richard’s song for the meek, “I Will Sing.” She claims she’s not a great singer, so she intends to find ways to go on giving a voice to the meek in her own way.
Singing From Silence by Pam Richards
I am a contributor to The Woman I’ve Become, in which 37 women share their journeys from toxic relationships to self- empowerment. Currently, I have two memoirs-in-progress. The working titles are: #1 Choice and Chances: A Jagged Journey to Self and #2 Hope Matters: A Memoir of Faith. Choices and Chances opens with my escape from my second husband due to fear of physical abuse. It chronicles my journey up to that point through a previous failed marriage. It is about finding my voice.
The Woman I’ve Become Anthology
How about you? Have you ever found yourself in an abusive situation? Do you have any lessons to share or words of advice for others?
We’d love to hear from you. Please leave your comments or questions below~
Announcement: Congratulations to Barbara Techel. Your name was selected in a random drawing to receive Karen Levy’s memoir, My Father’s Garden!
This Week: I’m over at Dawn Herring’s blog with a guest post interview on “Authentic Refreshment.” Hope you’ll stop by there, too.
Next Week: Lifewriting Teacher and Author Sharon Lippincott will discuss “From Blog to Book.” She will give away a copy of writing book, The Heart and Craft of Writing Compelling Descriptions to a random commenter.
“A man travels the world over in search of what he needs and returns home to find it.” George Moore
I am very pleased to feature Memoir Author Karen Levy in this guest interview about finding peace through memoir writing. Karen and I met when her publisher at Homebound Publications, Leslie Browning contacted me to do a review of her newly released memoir, My Father’s Gardens.
When I finished reading her memoir, the main thought that surfaced was how memoir writing can help one find peace. My Father’s Gardens is a story of a young girl who comes of age in two languages, and on two shores, between warring parents and rules that change depending on the landscape and the proximity to her mother. It is a gripping story of heartache, conflict and ultimate transformation. My reviews can be found on Amazon and Goodreads.
Welcome , Karen!
Memoir Author Karen Levy
KP: You have a very compelling story, Karen, of moving between Israel and America every few years while you were growing up, based upon your mother’s whims. When did you decide to write about it? What was it like for you to resurrect painful memories?
KL: The moving was due partially to whim and partially to my father’s work, but my mother suffered bouts of nostalgia that pulled us away from America when she missed Israel and towards America when she tired of Israel. Leaving was always accompanied by heartache, and it was frequent enough to become a familiar, somewhat exciting but also dreaded emotion. At the same time, that gypsy life became second nature, so staying in one location for lengthy periods of time while appealing, was also unfamiliar and when it became quite obvious that America had become permanent, once I married and had children here, there was a restlessness that I needed to handle in some way. And writing about it allowed me to travel great distances in my mind and on paper and give voice to emotions I was uncomfortable or incapable of expressing out loud. So while painful, it was also a release.
KP: Did you keep a journal when you were younger? If not, how were you able to resurrect so many memories in such vivid detail?
KL: I had a few diaries which I was very excited to go through once I decided to write, since I thought they would be a treasure trove of information. Yet they were quite disappointing and probably one of the dullest reads a teenage diary has ever afforded. They seemed to be more an account of daily activities instead of thoughts and emotions, they switched languages and started and stopped whenever we moved. And I believe that at some point I had the notion that my mother was reading them, so that may very well be why they contain absolutely nothing that reveals what I was actually doing or thinking beyond the very superficial. In other words, they were pretty useless sources of information. So I began to ask questions of anyone who was willing to dredge up the past, of which few people were. Fortunately I recall scents and textures and sounds quite vividly. I seem to embed places in my mind, how Jerusalem stone feels beneath my fingers, what an Israeli morning sounds like, how a California summer evening smells. I inhale locations.
KP: Your unique voice comes through and your writing has a lyrical tone to it. How did you find your voice?
KL: I’d like to think that it found me. I stopped trying to be someone else and allowed myself to be nothing other than who I am. The writing, like me, speaks its mind in as honest a way as it can, and I realized that I appreciated other writers who took risks and spoke from the heart. It feels more satisfying to read and write that kind of voice.
KP: You structured your memoir as a series of vignettes, very effectively I will add. How did you decide on this structure?
KL: I came across this style of writing in Sandra Cisneros’ book, The House on Mango Street, and I remember thinking to myself that I could do that, unlike full-fledged novels that seemed, and still do, like a daunting challenge to take on. Writing in what I like to think as snapshots, gives the overall effect of looking through a photo album at someone’s life, and listening to a story that is attached to each picture. Part of me also thought that it would be easier that way, soon to find out that getting the conclusion just right for each vignette was not as simple as it seemed.
KP: What is the main message you want to convey in your memoir?
KL: My quest has always been to find home, to find a place where I belong, and through this writing and from experience, I discovered that home can be found in more than one place, and among certain people, as well. For the longest time I thought I had to make a choice but it doesn’t work that way. Both countries have made me feel at home in different ways. This desire is not mine alone. I believe many of us need to know when and how we will be able to tell that we’ve arrived where we belong.
KP: You take us on a journey of self-discovery and ultimately to a point where you have reconciled the conflicts of your past. Did writing this memoir help you find that sense of peace?
KL: I believe it has to a certain extent. Because of this duality that has always been part of my life, there will forever be an underlying restlessness. My heart and mind are always in two different places at the same time, but overall, that discovery that I didn’t need to choose between them, that I could love both, was a relief. And writing about it all certainly allowed me to figure it out by forcing my hand in a sense, to examine so many pieces of my life.
KP: Do you have any memoir writing tips you’d like to share with us?
KL: Try to find a theme around which the information will revolve, otherwise you might feel as if you need to tell your audience everything, and that isn’t necessary. Be as honest and authentic as you can. Be yourself. If writing comes from the heart it will reach an audience.
Karen Levy is an Israeli-American writer. Born in Israel, Levy spent most of her childhood traveling between her native land and the United States. Commuting between these two countries and having a keen eye for detail have afforded Levy the knowledge necessary to recount the immigrant experience in a very candid style. Following her military service, Levy pursued her studies in the United States where she earned a B.A. in Comparative Literature from the University of California at Davis, and an M.A. in English/Creative Writing from Sacramento State University where she teaches composition and interpretation of literature. Her work has appeared in Welter Magazine, So to Speak, the Blue Moon and The Meadow. She lives in Davis, California with her husband and two children.
How about you? Has writing helped you to find peace?
Karen has graciously agreed to give a way a copy of her memoir to a commenter whose name will be selected in a random drawing
We’d love to hear from you. Please leave your comments or questions below~
Next Week: “The Role of Faith in Finding Freedom From Domestic Abuse: An Interview”
“What a father says to his children is not heard by the world; but it will be heard by posterity.” Jean Paul Richter
In paying tribute to the memory of my own beloved father on this upcoming Father’s Day, I find myself digging into family archives to pay tribute to the father who fathered him, my Grandpa Paul.
Because love begets love and cycles through the generations.
The tattered journals pounded out by my witty and upbeat paternal grandfather, Paul, for his daughter, my Aunt El, who was stationed with her husband in Texas during World War II are a tangible reminder of that love; a treasure of memories and a glimpse at the times in which they lived.
An Epistle of Paul to His Favorite Blond Daughter, Volume One , 1945
In 1945, seventeen years after his wife Edna had died, Paul detailed everyday life in wartime Schenectady in letters bound as journals to Aunt El. Her sister, my Aunt Ruth, enhanced these journals with her artwork and cartoons. He never stopped loving or missing Edna. But it seemed like he made the most of what he did have. Cherishing his four children, he’d recall little details of their lives as he knew it and as only he could recount:
Paul’s Epistles, 1945 Volume 1, No. 3
“I remember when your mother and I had to be separated after being married for about three months. I went but 200 miles away and, of course, corresponded regularly, but the four weeks I spent in Ithaca alone looking for suitable living quarters seemed almost a lifetime. So when young kids are separated I can feel an understanding sympathy for them.”
It helps me to understand the special bond that my father felt with his family; Grandpa Paul’s mantra “All for one and one for all” being the key to that bond.
As previously told in this post on Preserving My Father’s Stories, Paul, a traveling salesman for a printing company was forced to put his four children in a children’s home after the death of his wife Edna in 1926. Then the Great Depression hit the country in 1930 and they were forced to stay for several more years. They were 12, 8, and 6 years old (My Dad was the youngest) at the time of this picture and I can feel their pain. Every time I look at it, I want to hold them in my arms and melt their pain away.
Grandpa Paul visits his children in the children’s home, circa 1926
Somehow, poring over these bits and pieces from the past, I feel I may be capturing part of myself. Maybe in discovering more about my father and his family, I can understand myself better.
Then , my 8-year -old grandson handed my daughter, his mother this note written on lined paper one morning as he left for the school bus a few weeks ago:
“A Special Person
I will always remember my (great) Grandfather! He passed away 2 years ago and I miss him so, so much.
I will always rember his love and kindnes that he showed me. I will always have a speacial part of my heart that will hold the memarious.”
And I thought of all the love that ripples through the generations…
Great Grand PopPop with grandson Jacob, 2009
Fathers are so important.
Blessings to all fathers whose love and guidance echoes through the generations.
***
How about you? Do you have stories of love about your father that ripple through the generations?
I’d love to hear from you. Please share your comments below~
Announcements:
Congratulations to Gwen Mayes. Your name was selected in a random drawing to receive a copy of Carol Bodensteiner’s memoir, Growing Up Country: Memories of an Iowa Farm Girl!
Next Week: Memoir Author Karen Levy will discuss her newly released memoir,My Father’s Gardenin a guest post on “Finding Peace Through Memoir Writing.” She will give away a copy of her memoir to a commenter whose name will be selected in a random drawing.
I am very happy to feature Carol Bodensteiner in this guest post on why mundane matters in memoir writing. Carol and I met through Sonia Marsh’s Gutsy Indie Publisher Facebook group .
When I read her memoir, Growing Up Country:Memories of an Iowa Farm Girl, I was mesmerized by her ability to weave such a delightful tale from her day-to-day life on a farm. I asked Carol to describe how she turned mundane into magic in her memoir.
“Sorry, but no. We need a character in conflict.” That’s what I heard from publishers when I sent out the manuscript of my memoir, a collection of stories about growing up on a family farm in the middle of the country, in the middle of the 20th Century. If I wasn’t running with sharp tools or dusting off ashes, my collection of everyday stories was deemed not commercially viable.
Because I was one of the lucky ones who had a happy childhood, there simply was no character in conflict.I was left wondering if my memoir could be successful, if anyone other than my mother would read it. I gulped and elected to publish independently, prepared for Growing Up Country: Memories of an Iowa Farm Girl to wind up being what it started out to be – a reminiscence of the mundane events that comprised my childhood, a collection of stories about my family, of interest to only my family.
Imagine my surprise and delight when time and again readers thanked me for writing these simple stories. They told me things like: “You told my story,” “You could have been living in our house,” “I’ve thought about writing about my life, but now I don’t need to; your stories are my stories!”
In the course of doing countless book talks at libraries, for book clubs, women’s groups, and bank clubs, I’ve become an advocate for preserving everyday stories. Most of us don’t spend our lives climbing Mount Everest or finding a cure for cancer. Most of us spend our days getting food on the table, getting the kids off to school, doing the laundry, earning an honest living. We live good, simple lives, and here’s the thing: Those good, simple lives are valuable. These simple, everyday actions bind us together as human beings, as a society.
When I ask my audiences if they’ve written or thought about writing their own stories, invariably someone will say something like, “I couldn’t write a book. I haven’t done anything special. Nobody would care.” I encourage them to write their stories regardless. Maybe the stories will be just for them, helping them put some meaning to their own lives. More likely, those stories will mean everything to a child or grandchild. Some might even make it to book form. If writing is beyond them, I suggest telling the stories into an audio or video recorder or simply sitting with someone in their family and talking.
I give tips to trigger memories:
Go back to the place they grew up. Place triggers powerful memories
Look at old pictures. But I urge them to be like Paul Harvey and go beyond who’s in the picture to tell “the rest of the story.” Why do they like that particular picture so much? What does that picture remind them of?
Play music from the time.
Stroll through an antique storeand see what stories pop to mind.
When they do write, I urge them not to worry about grammar or sentence structure or spelling or how long it is. Just write.Write the first thing that comes to mind and then write what that makes them think of, because one memory leads to another. Always.
The genesis of my memoir was talking with my parents about their lives. The jobs Dad had during the Depression. Mom’s experiences teaching in one-room schools. How it was to start their farming lives on a farm with no electricity and no indoor plumbing. Each story they told, triggered a memory in me. Those memories became my memoir.
During book talks, I tell a few stories of our farm but leave plenty of time for the audience members to talk. Because it’s the same for my audiences as it was for me. One memory leads to another. All I have to do is toss a traumatic chicken story into the crowd and watch the memories fly!
When I wrote my stories, I was writing my life. Little did I know I was also writing for others who grew up in rural areas. In writing my mundane stories, I affirmed their lives.
***
Thank you , Carol for sharing how your everyday memories became your memoir and for showing us how storytelling helps us all to connect with one another. You have turned the mundane into magic!
Carol Bodensteiner – Bio
Carol Bodensteiner is a writer who finds inspiration in the places, people, culture and history of the Midwest. After a successful career in public relations consulting, she turned to creative writing. She writes regularly for The Iowan magazine www.iowan.com blogs about writing, her prairie, gardening, and whatever in life interests her at the moment at www.carolbodensteiner.com She published her memoir GROWING UP COUNTRY in 2008 as a paperback and as an ebook in 2011. She’s working on her first novel, historical fiction set during World War I.
Growing Up Country: Memories of an Iowa Farm Girl is available in paperback and ebook forms from Amazon
GROWING UP COUNTRY book cover
How about you? What everyday memories can you resurrect that can turn into a memoir? What magic can you weave out of the mundane?
We’d love to hear from you. Please leave your comments below~
Carol has graciously offered to give a copy of her memoir to a commenter whose name will be selected in a random drawing.
Announcement: Congratulations to Rhonda Baker, Nancy Stephan and Debbie Pierce. Your names were selected in a random drawing to receive free e-books version of Pubslush’s debut title, a beautiful mess by Ali Berlinski!
Next Week: “A Tribute to a Father’s Love: A Memoir Moment”
I am very pleased to feature Justine Schofield in this guest post. Justine is the communications coordinator of Pubslush, a global, crowdsourcing publishing platform for authors to raise funds and gauge the initial audience for new book ideas. Pubslush also operates an independent imprint that acquires books from the platform, and for every book sold, donates a children’s book to a child in need.
Justine is currently enrolled at Lesley University in Cambridge, MA, earning her MFA in Creative Writing. She graduated from Emerson College in Boston, MA with a degree in Writing, Literature, and Publishing. She specializes in social media and public relations and has held various freelance editing and writing jobs, and her work has been published in many online and print publications.
She will discuss what Pubslush has to offer authors seeking way to fund their projects.
Although the focus of this post is on memoir writers, Pubslush’s service apply to all genre. Of note: Pubslush Press’s debut title, a beautiful mess, is a memoir.
Welcome, Justine!
Crowdfunding Your Memoir
As a memoirist, you pour your heart and soul into your work and that’s something you deserve to share with the world. Unfortunately, as writers, we know all too well that the publishing industry is very difficult to break into.
Self-publishing of course has become a great and even sometimes preferred—route, but that also comes with a financial risk.
Enter: crowdfunding.
Crowdfunding is a way for artists to mitigate financial risk and build their audience.
It has become a groundbreaking means of funding creative projects that otherwise wouldn’t have the means to become a reality, but even with the buzz around crowdfunding, it’s a very new concept that a lot of people have trouble understanding.
So how are you supposed to know if crowdfunding is right for you?
6 Ways to Know if Crowdfunding is for You:
* You have a built in network. This is where a lot of people go wrong in regards to crowdfunding. Some people believe all they have to do is throw their campaign up on a crowdfunding site and others will magically back them. This is how it would work in a perfect world, but, alas, that’s not the world we live in. Crowdfunding is a lot of work and a majority of people who support your campaign will be from your own personal network.Prior to the launch of your campaign you need to compile a list of everyone in your network you can reach out to.
*You’re not afraid to ask for support. Along the same lines, you have to be willing to ask your network to support you. Ask and you shall receive—remember that saying? It’s definitely applicable to crowdfunding. Just casually mentioning your crowdfunding venture won’t yield results. You need to be proactive and ask people to support you. Also, you need to make it as easy as possible for them to do so. If you’re asking via e-mail be sure to include a link right to your campaign. People like easy.
* You think outside the box. Yes, having a network is key, but developing new, creative ways to find your audience and gain support outside of your network is also extremely important. Especially being memoirists, there’s a niche market out there that you can tap into, you just have to figure out how to reach and sell yourself to that market.
* You must know your goals. Different people have different goals when it comes to publishing. Some people just want to publish e-books through Amazon. Others want to conduct a full-scale publishing effort, including hiring an editor, cover designer, PR agent, etc. Obviously, your funding goal is going to depend on the scale of your publishing project. You need to have a solid idea of the outcome you’re hoping for at the end of your campaign so you can plan your goal and your reward levels accordingly.
* You believe in your project. Crowdfunding is tough. You need to have the attitude that the world just won’t be the same if your book isn’t published.Especially with so many other crowdfunding projects bouncing around the Web, you need to be your own biggest advocate. If you believe in your book, others will, too. Passion in infectious.
* Be familiar with crowdfunding. Since crowdfunding is so new, a lot of people aren’t even familiar with the concept. You’re going to have to explain crowdfunding in general to a lot of people before you even get to your own specific project. You have to be prepared to do so.
Pubslush offers an abundance of resources and information about crowdfunding and publishing in general. To learn more, visit Pubslush 101.
Debut Pubslush Memoir, a beautiful mess by Ali Berlinski
Memoir Synopsis:
Imagine what your life would be like if you laughed through all the mayhem? Biracial and bicoastal, Berlinski spent her childhood flying between the dysfunctional families of her divorced parents, always feeling like an outsider. Fortunately, she never lost her sense of humor, which is apparent on every page of her debut story collection, a riotous and revealing exposé of the new normal and the consequences of too much air travel, cultural diversity, and conflicting and conflicted parents. With an open heart, she recounts her somewhat misspent youth and a wildly exciting (though equally torturous) love affair with the guy of her dreams, eventually leaving it all to start again abroad.
She’s Carrie Bradshaw reimagined as a third grade teacher in Brooklyn with zero interest in Manolo Blahnik. She’s a tough New Yorker with a tender twist of California sunshine whose journey will be oddly familiar and utterly unique to anyone who’s ever believed that love would save them – if not with this guy, then maybe with the next.
As her grandfather once said, “Well, it may not be the party you hoped for, but since we’re here, we might as well dance.” So now she lives in Spain and, despite everything, continues to dance through this messy, magnificent life. Say yes to your mess.
***
Thank you Justine for letting us know about your services to writers and authors. It’s nice to know there are alternatives to ease the financial burdens of marketing both with traditional and self-publishing options. And I’m thrilled your debut title is a memoir!
How about you? Have you ever considered crowdfunding your writing project?
We’d love to hear from you. Pubslush has offered to give away three ebook versions of ” a beautiful mess” to three random commenters. For those who do not have an ereader, you can download Kindle or Barnes and Noble apps to your computers to access the ebook.
“The challenge with memoir is to make it interesting to someone other than the writer.”David Colin Carr, editor
Photo Credit: “Reading is Magic” by Sodanie Chea from FlickrCreativeCommons
One of the biggest challenges in memoir writing is to turn the events in your life into a story someone else would want to read. Writing with the reader in mind becomes an essential part of the process but I have found it does not occur in full force until the rewriting/polishing phase.
Keeping the reader in mind as I write my memoir is something I’m working on as I grind away after three years of writing vignettes and two rounds of professional editing by a developmental editor.
I am finally ready to focus on my reader.
Why now?
Because I didn’t know the true heart of our story until I had poured out many drafts on the paper—often referred to as “sh*#! first draft or the vomit draft–just getting it on the page with no regard for editing or censoring.
That’s been my experience.
This point was brought home to me in a recent discussion on Belinda Nicoll’s blog, My Rites of Passage during her A-Z Blog Challenge. In Challenge #23: Writing Models, she discusses paying attention to creative techniques in the hopes of crafting a story that will be of interest to the readers. Belinda had posed the question,
“Do you keep your readers in mind as you write?”
In response to my comment that the longer I write and revise, the more I find myself writing with the readers in mind, Lifewriting Coach and Author Sharon Lippincott had replied:
“Kathy, your comment prefaces what I was about to write. Only you can say for sure, but I suspect your early focus was more on the personal cost of disclosure and less on how it would affect readers. Ideally, I think we all need to “write like nobody will ever see” in the beginning, then tailor down to our disclosure comfort level balanced with reader impact.”
Bingo!
Initially, I needed to pour the words on the page before I even knew what my story was. My focus was on digging and excavating.
Now that I have my story—the narrative arc— I can concentrate on writing with the reader in mind.
But I think there’s a fine line between giving the reader credit for figuring out the details and giving the right details to make it clear.
I have a responsibility as a writer to transport the reader into my world in a way that is grammatically correct, nicely paced, appealing to the senses and action-packed.
As a memoir writer, I need to offer lessons learned from life experiences so the reader will have something to take away from reading my memoir.
With that in mind, here are a few tips I’ve gleaned along the way to write words so the reader will be moved:
Have enough emotional distancefrom the life events to be able to be objective in conveying the story.
Be clear on your intention for story and stay true to your theme throughout the story. Avoid distracting tangents. Yes, this means “killing your darlings.”
Offer reflections on the wisdom gained from life events rather than listing chronological events.
*If you are stuck on who your target audience is, try writing with one reader in mindand focus on what you want them to learn from your story.
Read your manuscript aloudto yourself and to others to listen for inconsistencies in pacing, clarity, voice. I use a digital recorder and tape some chapters. It’s amazing what I have been able to hear when I listen to my own words.
Use a critique group and/or beta readers for objective feedback. In the end, it is your story but being open to how potential readers view your story is crucial to getting your best work out there.
Commit to excellence on all levels.Invest (as you are able) in professional services for all levels of editing, book cover design, promotion. If finances are an issue, explore creative options for funding, such as kickstarter campaigns, beta readers, sharing services with other writers.
“It matters to put your best foot forward.” Jami Carpenter, The Red Pen Girl
Keeping the reader in mind as we build our characters and move our plot along through a series of event and actions that will keep our readers turning the pages seems like a reasonable expectation.
Photo Credit:” Reading Books” from Google Free Images
How about you? How do you move the reader with your words? As a reader, what does it take to keep you turning the pages?
I’d love to hear from you. Please leave your comments below~
On Thursday, May 30: Justine Schofield, Communication Coordinator of Pubslush a global crowdfunding publishing platform will discuss: ” Crowdfunding Your Memoir: 6 Ways to Know If Crowdfunding Is For You.” She will give away three (3) ebook versions of Pubslush’s debut title, a memoir, a beautiful mess by Ali Berlinksi.
Memorial Day, 2013
We remember and pray for our living and deceased veterans and thank God for the freedoms of this country.
My WWII Hero Dad Saluting the American Flag, Memorial Day,2004
