This is a wonderful, easy to read, memoir. When I first started reading it, I forgot it was a memoir, it read so much like the prose of a novel. Once I was reminded that it is a true story, it was all the more meaningful. What a story Tyra had to tell. I’m so glad she told it. It’s good for people to read about what military families endured and continue to endure due to deployments and war. Tyra is very open about the mental illness she dealt with. I’m so glad she was open about and … [Read more...]
Book Review: The VVA Veteran
Some people who never take part in a war still have trouble finding “home” again after the war is over. Having a spouse or family member go off to military service, even temporarily, can put undue stress on the children and spouses back home. Of course, many families are permanently broken by loved ones who never return home, either physically or mentally, from their time in service. In Where the Water Meets the Sand (Greenleaf Book Group Press, 256 pp., $15.95, paper), Tyra Manning, the … [Read more...]
A dream come true…
A dream come true... As I pulled into my driveway, I was thrilled to see three boxes sitting on the front porch. I could barely contain myself. I’d received the Fed Ex tracking number the day before. My books had finally arrived. This journey began more than 30 years ago when I started writing about the devastation of losing my husband, Larry, the time I spent in a psychiatric hospital, and the love and support that enabled me to persevere. For three decades I dreamed of bringing hope … [Read more...]
Jen McDonald Review
I was privileged to receive an advance reader’s copy of Where the Water Meets the Sand, a memoir by Tyra Manning. While not specifically a “military spouse” book, I think most military spouses will be able to relate to much of her journey as Tyra faces her worst fear–receiving the news that her young husband had been shot down and killed in Vietnam. Pause for a second. Typing those words seems so matter-of-fact and clinical, but understanding the reality Tyra found herself thrust … [Read more...]
Call Me
Not long ago I was out for a walk in the beautiful Westwood Village neighborhood of Los Angeles when I came upon something that stopped me in my tracks. It was a telephone booth. With a working pay phone! What was such a familiar necessity during my teenage and young adult years now seemed like an antique. But there it was, mounted on a wall next to the sidewalk. My first reaction was to take photos of it…with my cell phone. Then I started remembering…all the times I stayed out too late … [Read more...]
