I have another neat story to share with you today........

I'm an only child and I was extremely close to my dad.  We always had what, as I grew to be an adult, I came to understand as a "connection."  As a child, I loved hearing the story of my mom's pregnancy.......she had wanted a boy. (for the first child anyway. But when it was obvious there would be no more, she was grateful for a daughter) My dad indulged her for nine months, telling her, yes.....he also wanted a boy.  But the night I was born and he found out it was a girl, she knew immediately from his reaction that he'd fibbed to her the entire time. 

The older I got, the more my connection with him seemed to deepen.  I loved the long conversations we'd have about politics, world issues, his landing on Omaha Beach in June of 1944, etc.  My dad became ill in April of 2003 and within two weeks, he was gone, at the age of almost 84.  I was grateful he didn't linger in pain.  He died of congestive heart failure.  Some eerie things happened right before and right after he died, which I won't write about today.  Actually, I think I may have related those events in another blog entry.

But following his funeral and when I got back to Florida, many times I actually "felt" his presence.  I have always believed strongly that a spirit can be around love ones.  But I'd never actually experienced it before.  If you have been fortunate enough to feel a spirit hovering near you, then you know what I'm talking about.  It's a feeling I can't even describe, but calm and peace and a good energy is part of what I felt.

You might recall last month I attended the Florida Writers Asso. conference in Orlando and that Richard Paul Evans was our speaker at the Banquet that Sat. evening.  His speech was so profound and I wish I could share it here with you.  He talked about believing in yourself, the important things in life, dancing to your own music, etc. and all of a sudden......I literally "felt" my father standing behind my right shoulder.  I felt a glow come over me and I was filled with happiness.  An hour later.....my name was announced that I'd won First Place for the Royal Palm Literary award for my unpublished romance manuscript.  Nobody can convince me that my dad wasn't there with me that evening, letting me know how proud he was.

The next morning I met Richard Paul Evans and purchased a few of his books.  For some reason I wanted to share the above with him.  Never thinking it would even matter that much to him.  His eyes got moist, he took my hand and shook it, and after congratulating me on my award, he said, "thank you for sharing that with me."

Last week, the above book arrived in the mail from Richard Paul Evans.  It's autographed and in case you can't read the red circular seal at the top, it says "A tribute to fathers and daughters everywhere."  The book has wonderful illustrations and it's about the little girl dancing throughout her life and her father always smiling and watching.  In the final page, the father passes away with the daughter at his bedside and it says:

                           Then the father went to sleep.  As the daughter sadly left his side, she stopped at the doorway and looked back once more

                           at the father she loved.  And then she danced. And though she could not see him, her father was watching. And he smiled.

I was dancing that night at the Banquet.......and my father?  Although I could not see him, he was watching.  And he smiled.

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Today is December 21 and would have been my beloved Holly's 7th birthday.  Many of you will remember we lost our Boxer/Lab this past May to Lymphoma.  Seldom a day goes by that I don't think of her.  She was one special dog.  And I'm thinking of her more so this time of year.  Last Christmas we didn't even know she was ill.  She taught me so many things......especially to treasure the moments.  Here she was sporting her Christmas scarf.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, Holly girl..........we love you and sure do miss you!

See you here next time........

What I'm about to tell you I find is an amazing story, and just another example of how the Internet is indeed shrinking our world.  Okay........

About ten years ago I purchased the above book and as you can see from the stamp inside the cover, I purchased it at Shakespeare and Company in Paris.  It's essays from a woman that graduated from Vassar in 1969, hopped a plane to Paris, ended up marrying a Frenchman, having three children and living there for 25 years.  I loved the book.....the author captured the flavor (both good and bad) of being an ex-pat and living in the City of Light or a Francophile like me that was living there for 5 and 6 weeks at a time, while hubby worked at CDG airport.  You know how I mentioned recently about downsizing and giving away some books.....well, this was one of those books I'll never part with.  It's been sitting here in my studio in the bookcase.

Fast forward to last week......I'm reading Ronni Bennett's blog at Time Goes by and see a comment from a woman named Alexandra that caught my attention.  So I click and I end up on her blog, Chez Sven.  She's my age, 60, and has lived in Paris for 25 years, now married to a Sweedish man and they own a B&B on Cape Cod.  I'm hooked.  Plus, she had another blog listed there, By Bea's Bedside.....a poignant account of caring for her mother until she passed away last year at age 97.  I was mesmerized by that blog and spent three hours reading it.  But my eye kept getting drawn to her sidebar......where the icon of a book was.  The book happened to be "French Graffiti" and I kept thinking, "God, that sounds so familiar."  I've got a million books in my bookcase about Paris and France, but I finally got up and went to check.  And sure enough......there's Sandy's book. (she goes by the name of Sandy)  I couldn't believe it!

I had to email her right away and she thought all of this was just as amazing as I did.  We've now exchanged a few emails and I'm looking forward to getting to know her better. 

Coincidence?  Small world?  The Internet pulling us all even closer?  Who knows.  All I know is, it continues to delight me when things like this happen.

See you here next time.......

Something has recently occurred in the blog world that's compelled me to talk about it here . . .

About a month or so ago I got a comment on my blog from somebody named "Nora" asking me to visit her blog.  A bit of an unusual request, as normally people just leave a comment and leave it up to the blogger to visit them in return or not.  But I decided to pay her a visit.  Her blog is named "Code Name Nora"......She tells us she's an 80 year old woman who recently moved into a retirement facility and she's going to be blogging about her day to day escapades living there.  Because she's also mentioning other residents she informs the reader that "Nora" is a fictitious name.  Okay.  So far I'm hooked.  So I begin to read.

Good writing.  Darn good writing.  Humorous and entertaining.  But by the fourth or fifth entry something isn't "sitting" right with me.  Call it instinct, call it foolishness.....but definitely call it suspicion on my part.  Despite the talent of the writer, she didn't "sound" like an 80 year woman living in a retirement facility.  It could be because I visited a million of those facilities doing nursing visits.  It could be because I've attended too many writers conferences and learned about "voice" for a writer.  I admit, "voice" isn't easy to define but you read it, you know it.  It rings true.  The author might be a 40 year old, yet the "voice" of the teen telling the story is on the mark.  The author captured the "voice."  For me....while Nora is a good writer.....the "voice" didn't feel right.  Also, I found it a bit odd that she wasn't looking for more friends via other blogs, nor looking to read more elder readers. No.  She was looking for more readers to her blog.

What it felt like to me was somebody.....male, female, young, old, who knows......writing chapters for a potential fiction novel.  Nothing wrong with that, except.......this Nora has visited other blogs looking for recognition and more readers to her blog.  She managed to catch the eye of Ronni Bennett on Times Goes By and Ronni listed her in the blogroll on her side bar.  A few more bloggers began to question the legitimacy of "Nora."  And apparently somebody emailed Ronni to question her integrity by listing somebody of dubious elder authenticity......to which Ronni replied with a post of her own.  She also quoted my comments that I'd left on Nora's blog and gave the reader the feeling "what did it matter."  What did it matter if this Nora isn't who she says she is.  She provides good reading, entertainment, etc.  True.

Except.....I don't totally agree.  Especially not in today's world.  We're lied to constantly.  From the White House, to politicians, to advertisers, to our friends, and on and on.  Society has become a crowd of people avoiding the truth.  We're told there's weapons of mass destruction in Iraq, the President says we must start a war.......and like sheep, America nods her head and says okay.  Well, we all know how that ended up.  As for me.....I'm tired of the lying.  And yes, this Nora could BE an 80 year old lady in a retirement home.  Of course she could be.  I just don't happen to think she is.

As a writer, I know how very difficult it is to "make it" in this industry.  By that I mean obtaining a top agent and top publisher to consider your work and then go on to publish it.  Having talent?  Doesn't mean a thing in this industry.  Having a "gimmick?"  That could help a lot.  Agents peruse blogs looking for fresh, untapped, talent.  Word of mouth is everything in this business.  Anybody recall Petite Anglaise?  She's the British young woman from England that moved to Paris 10 years ago, got a lover, had a little girl with said lover, started a blog......and made the mistake (which turned out to be a blessing in disguise for her) of mentioning her boss on her blog.  She was fired from her job.  She sued the company. (and won) BUT......somebody, somewhere, read that blog.  She was a good writer.  Had talent and NOW........she got noticed!  Her book will be released by a top NYC publisher in 2008.  The rest is history.  Are you getting my drift here?

But Petite Anglaise didn't fool us readers with WHO she was.....we might not have known her real name, but we knew she was a 30-something woman from England, living in Paris, raising a daughter on her own.  Her "voice" rang true with each and every blog entry.  For me......Nora's does not.

And so.....whether Nora is for real or not, my problem isn't with "Nora."  My unsettled feeling is all about honesty.  In the meantime, she's getting herself some notoriety.  If that's what she set out to do.....then I'd say she accomplished it.

Just my opinion.  See you here next time........

Ray turned 65 on December 8, so we've been getting bombarded with material in the mail concerning Medicare, Medicare supplements, the Medicare D prescription plan, etc. 

He retired from Continental Airlines 3 years ago this month but during these 3 years we've both been covered by the wonderful health insurance that Continental provided.  Since he was management with the company, we haven't had to pay one penny for premiums these past 3 years.  Due to his accrued, unused sick time, it was all paid for.  And for me as well.  And I am also covered for the next 5 years, until I turn 65.  Yes, it's a terrific benefit and believe me I know it and I'm very grateful for it.  But although we continue to have my health coverage for the next five years as free with no payments, it now became time to figure out Ray's health insurance.

Having been an RN in home health care, doing mainly Medicare visits, I understand the system pretty well.  But I have to tell you, as I sat down to actually read about this supplement and that supplement, my head quickly began spinning.  From doing recent research (mainly on very savvy blogs) I knew we didn't want to go with an Advantage plan.  From what I could understand, it seemed to be similar to the Humana plan I vividly recall some of my patients had years ago, and I remember how many had wished they hadn't enrolled in that plan.  So right away, I threw out any material pertaining to that kind of plan.

I went through this four years ago when my aunt moved in with us.  She had Medicare and her supplement from Massachusetts was no longer effective living in Florida, so I had to find her a new one.  I ended up going with BCBS of Florida and was never sorry.  So that's what we've decided on for Ray's coverage as well.

I read it all carefully and there are three different levels available.  Each level costs more for the premium.  But we decided to go with the middle one.  It's $183 per month, but......there's no deductible at all.  It pretty much will cover all that Medicare doesn't, including lab tests, x-rays, etc.  And....very important for us.....this particular level of the plan also covers "foreign travel."  Some of you will recall Ray's hospital stay in Paris just 2 months ago. BUT.....the very best perk on this particular plan......the premium rate of $183 per month is locked in!  YES!  Locked in forever.  No matter how many claims are submitted, no matter how many times you're in the hospital, etc.  The rate stays the same till you die.  Now that alone, to me, is certainly worth it.  So if any of you will be pouring through all this healthcare material in the near future, DO make sure you investigate for a plan in your state/area that offers this.

For the Medicare D Prescription plan, we've gone with the one AARP is advertising on television.  The level we chose will cost $29 something per month.  From what I could see, it was a good plan and covers just about most of the meds one might need.

It's a LOT of work pouring through all of this and one must read, and REread all of the information to be sure you understand it correctly.  My friend, Alice, over at Wintersong also has a very informative entry on her blog pertaining to this subject.  Pop over and read about her Medicare maze.

So as much as I thought I knew and understood about Medicare supplements during my nursing career, even I had to sit and slowly digest all of it.  Well.....the good news is, that in five years, well heck, maybe I'll be a pro at this stuff.

See you here next time.......

Despite all the busyness of the season, I still find time for my reading.  So here's some of what has kept me turning pages.

My girlfriend, Joyce, let me borrow this book and I really enjoyed it.  Human interest stories taken from Pulfer's columns in the Cincinnati Times.  I was sorry to Google her and see she's no longer writing that column. 

I'd recently heard about this author, Dorothea Benton Frank.  So I went to the library and got this novel.  I think it was her third.  Written in first person, it grabbed me immediately.  I loved it.  Love the characters, loved the plot, but......by page 300 something (there's 407 pages) I was yearning for it to finish.  And then.....in the Epilogue?  I was totally confused.  It was about somebody named Susan and her wedding.  I actually put the book down and shook my head, saying, WHO the heck is Susan?  I paged back, but I couldn't find a "Susan" in the entire novel.  So sorry....but that made no sense to me.  I'm afraid it really ruined the ending.  Not to say I won't try one of her other novels though.

Sue Miller has always been one of my favorite women's fiction authors.  This was a good one, but I won't say it's her best.  She is very good though at taking basic family issues and weaving them into very compelling reading.  So I'd definitely recommend this one, if you haven't read it.

This was written by my friend, Marian, over at the Elderwoman website.  I enjoyed it a lot.  She deals with those years after age 50 in a very realistic way.  It reminded me a lot of the book, "Women Who Run with the Wolves" which I read in my 40's.  Thought provoking and I can highly recommend this one.

And this one was written by my friend, Daphne, another Elderwoman member.  I haven't had a chance to start this one yet, but I have no doubt I'll enjoy it.

I would be so lost without my reading.  Not a day goes by that I don't read something.  Either in the afternoon, sitting out on the porch with my coffee, or at the end of the day in the few hours before bedtime.  When is your favorite time to read?  Even if I only get to read a chapter, my day wouldn't be complete without reading.

And an update on this author......I've been busy pitching Seeking Sydney, sending out queries, etc.  So I'm in the waiting mode.  I'm ashamed to say I haven't touched my current manuscript, Betrayal Encore, since before I left for Paris in October.  I have 150 pages finished and did finally begin reading/editing it a couple days ago.  So I'll be working on that for awhile, while waiting to hear something on Seeking Sydney.

What are you reading at the moment?  Do you find you read less during the holiday season?

See you here next time.......