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Happy Holidays, Truly

12/17/2014

I'm not trying to be politically correct. Chanukah began last night and ends on December 24th. And Christmas begins on December 25th. It truly is the holiday season and time for celebration for both faiths.

For all my readers and followers, I wish you a season filled with unconditional love and friendship. For me, the Christmas season begin on December 24th and lasts until January 2, 2015. I will be off-line during that time to rest, rejuvenate and spend time with my loved ones. I just finished my first round of edits on Season 2 of Snow Blood with Lonnie, my editor, and will pick up on it in the New Year. The break will give me great perspective on more revisions!

In the spirit of celebration, I had to leave you with two videos. The first is Adam Sandler's Chaunkah Song. I've loved it ever since I first saw him do it on Saturday Night Live years ago. It expresses the light-hearted fun of which all my Jewish friends are capable. To all my friends celebrating it, Happy, Happy Chaunkah!

And, for my Christmas-celebrating buds, here's a thoroughly-modern video that exemplifies how we communicate with each other in this 21st Century. Merry Christmas!

Till next Year!
Carol

The Epilogue to Riding Through It

12/11/2014

At the beginning of the end of this year, I wanted to share the Epilogue to my memoir, Riding Through It. I wrote it so that others could learn from my mistakes. I hope that they do.

Epilogue
The sum of my years is divided into three distinctively different lives. My childhood was a kaleidoscope of two people who didn’t know how to love each other. As a result, I grew up not knowing how to love, or what love really meant.

My life with my first husband was one of confusion and weakness. I didn’t understand how everything could be better if I would only take control of my life, be responsible for it and believe in myself. Everything changed when I finally did.

In the third part of my life, the best part, I found a strength I didn’t know I had. I discovered a self-respect that emerged when I released my past and started living in the present without fear. Mark, husband for 40 years, helped me to do that, but I realize now that when he came into my life I had already started taking control and so I was able to let him into my life. I’m no longer that little fat girl who grew up to have an obsession about her body. It took persistence and time, and even though I still have bumps, I keep riding through them.

A few years ago I took up riding again. It was something I had loved in my childhood, but it was also a big challenge. Training with a horse takes a lot of time, discipline and hard work. You learn to keep trying even when you’re having a bad day, and you learn to hang on tight with your legs when the horse is giving you trouble. And, if you fall off, the old saying is true. You have to get right back on again.

It’s easy to give up when things get tough. The hard part is sticking with it to the end. Looking back at it all, I realize that I rode through the difficult parts of my life, stayed on and didn’t let them get the best of me.

When we let go of what other people expect from us and learn to love who we are, then we can live without fear and can make the needed changes in our lives. I didn’t do it alone, and you don’t have to either. But the key is to surround yourself with people who love you for who you are. For those of you out there in life’s saddle, hanging on for dear life, just keep riding through it.

Til Next Time,
Carol

What Fate Will Bring...

12/4/2014

Meet June Bug. She spent almost a year in an animal shelter before she came to us. Broken, her spirit damaged, fear guided her existence when we met.

We were told she was aggressive, so my husband Mark worked diligently to make her feel safe, secure and unafraid. And then, just when she started to relax, an aggressive visiting dog attacked her. She tried to fight back but just didn’t have the will to do it. One hind leg and her head were punctured, her ear torn and requiring a number of stitches and her spirit totally traumatized.

Mark and I were sick at heart, and Mark hurt his chest pulling the aggressor off her on top of it all. After the vet visit, June Bug appeared to go back into her shell, sad and alone. We slept on the sofa with her that night, willing her to heal and feel better. And, miraculously, the next morning she awoke with that loving spirit we knew was inside her.

She was asleep next to Mark’s feet as he worked on the computer when fate intervened. An email from the vet’s assistant. She fell in love with June Bug, and talked about her to a friend looking for a companion Pit Bull for her Pittie. Could she have photos? Will they be compatible? Only time will tell, but maybe June’s world had to grow darker before she could walk into the light of her new forever home that fate will definitely put before her.

Such it is with the way of dogs; such it is with the way of people. Sometimes our problems seem insurmountable. Often, like June Bug, we want to just give up. But every now and then, with the help of loving friends, that special spirit will shine through us … as it did with June Bug … and we’ll know that somehow something wonderful awaits us just around the corner.

If you can be a special friend to a human or canine in need, don’t hesitate. You can make all the difference in the world to them. And, it will brighten your life to do so. I know that it has for me.

Til Next Time.

Carol

Riding Through It

Happy Holidays, Truly

The Epilogue to Riding Through It

What Fate Will Bring...

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