You Are Not Alone: Encouragement for the Heart of a Military Spouse is a book of 30 daily readings, all valuable and trustworthy written by a seasoned experienced military spouse whose been through the trials of single parenthood, deployment, and all the opportunities and challenges inherent in the lives of families dedicated to the service of our country. Jen is a sensitive writer, mother, military spouse, and an experienced woman whose marriage has forced her, like so many who serve our … [Read more...]

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...]

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...]

I saw many breathtaking works of art on a recent visit to the Getty Museum in Los Angeles, but I was most moved by the haunting beauty of Vincent Van Gogh’s Irises.  I was drawn toward the energy of his vivid colors, but even more toward the angelic aura of a single white iris on the left side of the painting. Reading on the label that Van Gogh painted this while in a mental hospital at Saint-Remy, France, a shiver ran down my spine.  Since I was a child, the iris has been for me a symbol of … [Read more...]

One of my favorite memories of my time in Illinois is of an annual tradition I began when I was superintendent of the schools in River Forest, a Chicago suburb. Two classes of students came at a time.  The children sat on the carpet, while my staff and I served them hot cocoa and sugar cookies. I pulled up a rocking chair in front of the fireplace and opened my traditional read-aloud book, The West Texas Chili Monster by Judy Cox and illustrated by John O’Brian. The children loved the bright … [Read more...]