GOSSIP FROM THE GIRLFRIEND GATHERINGS

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NaBloPoMo #2 – My Favorite Character of All Time Is………

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NaBloPoMo November 2013Women Having Coffee

I must admit that I do not have a favorite character of all time because I have many favorite characters from different times in my life.   I have been an avid reader since I was a child, I am the daughter of an avid reader/movie-goer, and I go to the movies almost every weekend.    So, I love everyone from Achilles to Captain Jean Luc Picard.  However,  since I must choose one I will refer back to my middle-school reading days when I was enraptured with Greek mythology.   While my friends were grooving to R&B, I was engrossed with the Greek tragedies – especially the love stories.   They did not always end in “happily ever after”.   One such story is the one about Orpheus and Eurydice.

Orpheus was the son of Apollo (god of the sun, music, medicine, poetry, and the fine arts) and Calliope (the superior of the nine Muses).   Therefore, he was gifted musically and poetically.    Orpheus met, loved, and wooed Eurydice for her hand in marriage.   During the days of their wedding celebration, Eurydice was bitten by a snake and died.  Orpheus was so grief stricken that he beseeched permission from Zeus to pursue the restoration of Eurydice’s life from Hades, god of the Underworld.    Zeus was so moved by the songs of the grief stricken Orpheus that he granted permission.   Orpheus traveled to Hades and conquered all barriers with his beautiful music and songs even bringing Hades and Persephone to tears with his songs.   They released Eurydice but with the stipulation that Orpheus not look upon her face until they had departed the Underworld.   Eurydice walked behind Orpheus as they traveled away from the Underworld but in his longing to see his wife, Orpheus turned too soon and only glimpsed her face before she returned to the Underworld.

Orpheus became one of my favorite characters because he sparked my imagination about the beauty of his music and songs that moved Hades, with the hardened heart, to tears.  The courage Orpheus demonstrated to descend to the depths of Hades for his true love was only diminished by the longing he felt to see Eurydice and hold her again.    Orpheus became one of my compass characters to set expectations for a mate – a man who can experience AND express deep emotions.

Thus, he is one of my all-time memorable characters.

Book Review – “Comfort of Fences” by Stacy Overman Morrison

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Women Having CoffeeA couple of years ago I met Stacy Overman Morrison at the Writers’ League of Texas Agents & Editors Conference in Austin, Texas.  We kept in touch periodically discussing our journey on the writer’s path.    Last week, Stacy contacted me to tell me that her book was released.    I just finished it and it was a great book.    I thought I would send out a quick blog post about it especially since I just posted a few weeks ago about the special friendship between women (Saluting Sister-Girlfriends) which is the thread in this book.    Please consider adding Stacy’s book to your library.

Here is a link to Stacy’s author page on Amazon:

http://www.amazon.com/Stacy-Overman-Morrison/e/B00FYW7OUS

Here is the review I posted on Amazon and Smashwords about Stacy’s book.

I started reading “Comfort of Fences” and was immediately pulled into the relationships of three remarkable women, Ruth, Denise and Georgia and their journeys to acceptance.   This story was so intriguing that it was difficult to find a stopping point at the end of my nightly reading sessions.    I love character-driven stories and the author presented her characters in such a manner that they became living beings in my thoughts.   As a blogger who blogs about the unique bond of friendship between women, I found this story to be an astounding testament to that bond.   It is a “must” read for those women who value the relationships with their mother, daughter, sister, and girlfriend.

The Fairy Tale Setup

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Once upon a time…………happily ever after.     These were the start and end phrases of stories that enthralled me as a little girl.   As an avid reader with a vivid imagination, I was always a silent character in the story watching the knight in shining armor swooped through danger to rescue the damsel in distress.  I could not wait to grow up and experience the same joy that damsel must have known in the strong arms of her knight.

But after years of dating, I soon discovered that the shining armor on the knight sometimes seemed dull and the coma-awakening kiss could lose its power.   To my dismay, I realized that my knight was not invincible and he did not always have all the answers.    The crushing blow came when I had to admit to myself that my shining knight was human after all and I better find a way to deal with my own distress.

This is the fairy tale setup.

Since little girls grow into women, we are prone to enter into relationships with this fairy-tale state of mind.   Even though we may have examples of the true nature of relationships, some of us believe that it will be different for us.   We believe our knight will not have any human flaws.  We believe we will be able to control the situation so that our fate will be the same as Cinderella and Sleeping Beauty.   We believe that our knight will shower us with “happily ever after”!

OK.   But here is my question – why do we always gloss over the beginning of the fairy tale and focus on the end?   All the fairy tales start with “once upon a time” – not “twice upon a time” or “thrice upon a time”.   So, with that fact in mind, it is safe to surmise that all of us who are waiting for the Cinderella and Sleeping Beauty experience are waiting in vain.  It is not happening again.

The truth is there aren’t any more knights.   All we have are flesh and blood men that have human flaws and the capacity to love us.   I am sure they don’t want to be burden with carrying “happily ever after” on their backs but are willing to share their lives with us.   As one male friend told me years ago – the one thing he disliked in a relationship was for a woman to be sitting around waiting for him to come and make her happy.

The life lesson for me was to understand that happiness comes from within – flowing through you and around you.   We are all responsible for cultivating our own happiness.   This process can sometimes lead us to others with the same mindset and be the first step on the path that leads to “happily ever after”.

 

QUESTIONS:

Did you read fairy tales as a child?

Did you yearn for a knight in shining armor?

When did you realize he did not exist?

 

Happy Mother’s Day – Appreciating Momma

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I hope everyone enjoyed your families today.   If you are blessed to still have your mother, I hope she had lots of smiles and laughter with you today.  If you have lost your mother, I hope you had peaceful moments to reflect on your memories of moments with her.

You know there is a reason the first word we learn is “Momma” and that is because she is the first person we meet when we enter this world.   In her arms is where most of us first experience those feelings of love, peace and security.  As a young child, just being in the same room with my mother was comforting.

Growing up and learning the vulnerability of my mother was my first step into adulthood and acceptance that this goddess was human after all.   I realized that one day our roles would reverse and she would need to lean on me.  I call it “Momma Duty” and I am happy to oblige.

“Momma Duty” may not pop up at an opportune time but it always gets priority and my undivided attention.    With patience and love, I put on my “Dutiful Daughter” hat and get to it simply because it is Momma.

Always in the back of my mind are the words of my father when my grandmother died.    He told me, “You and your sister are my daughters and I love you.   Your Mother is my wife and I love her, too.   But, there is nobody like Momma and I have lost my Momma.”

If the laws of nature prevail, one day I will bury my mother.  Until that moment, I will love this imperfect goddess and strive to show her my appreciation each day for all she has done for me in my life.

I hope all of you have the same feelings for your mother.

So on this day, I want to simply say:

God Bless All Mothers and Daughters!

Check Out This Interesting Article

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Hi Everyone,

I am browsing the internet and came across an interesting article to share with all of you.

A Message to Women From a Man:  You Are Not “Crazy”

Check out this link:

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/yashar-hedayat/a-message-to-women-from-a_1_b_958859.html