Have you had someone close to you pass away and then at some point you felt their presence constantly next to you?
I read an interesting article yesterday about Sherman Alexie, author and filmmaker, who just published his memoir, “You Don’t Have To Say You Love Me.”
Right there, the title of the book tells us that this poor man wanted love from his mother, which she did not or could not offer him.
So, Sherman is on his book tour and he keeps seeing signs that his mother is haunting him.
It seems to me that her presence was so strong in his life when she was alive that even after her death, he feels he must do what his mother wants AND that is cancel the book tour.
I think, like most mothers, even if a mother is not perfect they want to go down in the history books as being “perfect.” I believe Sherman knows his mother would not have approved of this memoir, so it is his “subconscious” that is tormenting him. However, you should read his announcement to cancel his book tour here. There are some coincidences that make us “wonder” if his mother is indeed a GHOST.
I once felt I saw a ghost! Well, not a ghost exactly, but do you see that Kudu? A few years ago my ex/father/n/law died. I was very close to him and was missing him. I was on a trip in Namibia and we were in a jeep touring the land in hopes of seeing various animals.
Suddenly, the driver STOPPED the jeep and in the middle of the road was this Kudu, exactly like the photo. The Guide handed me the binnoculars and told me this was a very old Kudu, I could tell by the horns, one was broken. As I looked into the eyes of the Kudu I FELT VERY STRONGLY that I was looking at my ex/father/n/law (Opa, we called him). I welled up with tears and said to myself, “Ah, Opa, you look good and you came to Africa to be FREE!” It was a special feeling.
A few days later, before we left the camp site, Opa appeared again. He ran in the middle of the road, stood and stared at us. Again, I felt the Kudu was letting me know my Opa was doing well, thinking of me and wished me a safe journey.
Was it a ghost? Who knows, for Sherman, I hope that as he grieves his ghostly mother “somehow” sends him a “sign” that she is PROUD of him! He needs closure!
Off to the library… I’d like to get the audio of this book. This way I can better understand WHY his mother is haunting him! Happy reading!
I grew up swimming in Lake Michigan. Swimming in a Lake is carefree. You might run into some minnows, or step on a big brick – YES, there are bricks at the bottom of the Lake, but you would never run into a shark.
We also did a lot of boating on Lake Michigan, but I was not prepared for the boating they do in Wilmington. Wow – we went out on Saturday and there were boats everywhere. It’s “the” thing to do on the weekend. I felt like we were on a busy water freeway. The boats were very orderly, just like on a normal road, staying in their lane. Of course, there are always the “hot rods” even on the water.
There were the party looking boats with a lot of young people. They were doing water skiing and water tubing. There was a little island with a palm tree. As the day went on and the water started rising it covered the little island. We drove by a red Tow Boat, and later in the day hurried to dock the boat as we could see a storm coming in.
There have been a lot of thunder storms this summer. That day we could see the dark clouds coming in over the Atlantic Ocean. The lightning looked like fireworks in the sky, similar to this photo. Every few minutes behind the clouds we would see a flash of pink and silver. The thunder was incredible, so loud too. When I lived in California we had rain storms, but no thunder or lightening.
When I was a child growing up, we lived for the beach. We especially enjoyed thunder storms, which came without much warning. Suddenly the sky would become dark, the thunder, lightening and wind would start howling. We were on read alert for tornadoes.
Summer 2016 this book program was in Detroit. This summer they are in Florida. The program called, “Soar with Reading” was created to offer summer reading to children in communities where there are no books, which they call “book deserts.” The program has been successful in Washington, D.C. and Detroit. Children have started book clubs and parents/teachers say children have increased their vocabulary too.
Today I was taking a walk and something shiny caught my attention in the grass. I looked down and THERE I saw a LUCKY PENNY! It’s ALWAYS a good day when we find a Lucky Penny!
Not long ago I went to an art show. It was one of those shows where you walk around town stopping at different shops to see art galleries, clothing, antiques, furniture, etc.
Today is Sunday, a perfect day for a post about praying. Most of us know that airports have chapels, but how many of us have actually stopped in one. I confess that when I have been in an airport, even with a long lay over, I have never sought out a chapel. In fact, never even gave it a thought. My main goal was making sure I made my connecting flight.
So, it was a complete surprise to come across the “Cappella Madonna di Loreto,” chapel in the Milan/Linate airport recently.
I say this, because my mother was a born and raised in Florence. So, my next thought was that my Italian grandmother who is in Heaven (well, I am sure she is there and not Hell) was drawing me to the chapel, so we could have a sweet moment together. I admit I got a bit teary-eyed, because I miss my grandmother. She didn’t speak English, but when I visited her we got by. I quickly learned Italian and we sure used our hands a lot to communicate. She was a TREASURE!
My Nonina LOVED to play the game Bingo. She would go every Wednesday night. We always laughed when she came home, because if she had won, she would have either some olive oil or a big roll of salami under her arm.
For once, I was not irritated for the delay with flight check in. My little Guardian Angel had a surprise for me, the message was “slow down,” take a moment to appreciate my Italian heritage, sit, give thanks and send LOVE up to my Nonina! WHICH I DID!
For those of you who travel, you know it is hectic and after a long flight ALL we want to do is get our luggage and head to the hotel. When I landed in Milan//Linate Airport I went to Baggage Claim. It seemed like we were waiting forever for luggage to come out. That is when I thought, maybe I should find a place to sit. As I looked over to the bench area I saw what appeared to be a “book shelf.”
Suddenly, I wasn’t in a rush for the luggage, because I was in “exploring mode.” I love books and was pleasantly surprised to see that this airport had a “book sharing” post.
Sadly, this meant two things. First, the airport has not promoted the “Book Fly Zone” area enough. Second, maybe with most of us being able to read ebooks, people are not traveling with hard cover books anymore, so there is nothing to share or donate (hard to believe). What a shame! I would have LOVED a book from a different country/author to read while on my trip.
While exploring Dublin, I came across “Powerscourt Centre,” off of Grafton Street, which was a very charming looking house that had been converted into a shopping center.
I was walking in Indiana and came across this statue of a young girl with a Fireman to the left and a Policeman to the right. Apolgies that I could not get a clearer picture of the faces in the statue, but the sun was not cooperating that day.
Brilliant Viewpoint 