You Belong to the Blue Family

I generally avoid taking those quizzes that popup on Facebook or in my emails.  In fact I keep the Platform on Facebook turned off. Some people take those things so seriously and make what I feel are the most unusual comments, some quite heated, plus you have those who feel compelled to make other unnecessary comments  or replies and it drags on and on.  Thankfully it is easy to move on past their somewhat passionate responses to a simple quiz. 

However, I found one that caught my attention that did not require that I change my Facebook platform settings.  Oddly enough there was a time that every suit in my closet was blue and believe me when I say that I had many suits.  I am smiling at that memory.  Pardon me as I digress.  Anyway here are my results from playbuzz.com”

You belong to the blue color family! The color psychology quiz tells us that like those blue colors that you subconsciously most relate to, you're deep, comforting, emotional and naturally intuitive. You've always had a sixth sense or gut feeling that never leads you astray. Rely on your intuition; it will never fail you! But, you probably I generally avoid those quizzes that pop up on Facebook or received by email.  I deliberately keep the already know that. Others may perceive you as overly emotional, and you may even have a reputation for being a bit sensitive or touchy, but you actually just have an incredibly high emotional intelligence. You can be a bit melancholy at times, and you need time and space to recharge your emotional energies.

The Hours by Michael Cunningham

Prologue was of a death as was the ending of the book with several neurotics thrown into the middle. The characters existed in their life differently but really lived it similarly and gave it the same value. They did not really value life enough to make decisions to protect the quality of life they could possibly have had. Lots of mental weakness exists and I honestly could not find a character to like.

They are loved temporarily and they love in a temporary way as well. The word “temporary” best describes the book and thankfully the time needed to read it was just a temporary moment of my overall reading time. I can't even recall the characters. They truly are forgettable and yet I kept picking up the book to read. A great line in the book defines the characters as well as what the overall theme might be: “Better, really, to face the fin in the water than to live in hiding...”

The last two pages are the best part of the book, not because they were the last, but because what was written had the greater meaning and understanding than the entire book. 

Three of our BPW readers rated it an eight on a scale of one to ten with the ten being the highest praise.  For me that is a little high.  However, I liked the author’s writing style and it held my interest but I still cannot figure out why.   Good…no. Bad…not totally. Will I recommend it? Probably not.

Oh well, onto other reading options.  

Summer's List by Anita Higman

Three separate stories and each interwoven in the life of a young woman. Love of family is and was paramount to Summer Snow, the lead character in this sweet book. In fact, her grandmother saw it all and created a bucket list for her beloved granddaughter who cared for both of her parents until they passed. Then she purchased the bookstore from her grandmother because she thought it was what her grandmother wanted. Through it all Summer was happy but it may not have been as full or complete as it could have been or could be.

The first thing listed is for Summer to reconnect with her best friend Martin who had moved away in Summer’s youth.  He had been adopted but certainly not loved by the two biological brothers and the parents had left them to their own devices while living abroad with minimal contact.  Were it not for the sporadic contact from the mother or father, I would have thought that the unexplained, hasty departure was tied to the witness protection program. Alas, it was tied to a betrayal and still more untruths.  

The bucket list and the loss of her precious grandmother did allow for truth to be acknowledged and others truths to be discovered during the journey.

I would be remiss not to include some of my favorite lines.  There are many but I will include my top four favorites, with my favorite being the one on page 205:

Page 56   “Sometimes I think curiosity comes first. Then purpose might show up later.”

Page 173   “…it is better to err on the side of humility and be chastised for it than to be stingy with one’s confessions and risk wounding someone.”

Page 199   “Apparently there’s pain in the healing process.”

Page 205   “Summer gazed down at her grandmother’s frail hand.  …the veins were marks of wisdom and her hands, instruments of love.”

Thank you Anita Higman for another enjoyable read and please continue.  It seemed real and I could share in the lives of most of the characters. Even the brothers redeemed themselves. 

Nightingale by Kristin Hannah

Saying this is a memorable book is an understatement beyond measure. Learning of happenings from the perspective of the French was something I had not read in the same vein as in this great book.  Two sisters, quite different but yet the same, both in their endurance and completely separate accomplishments to something vitally important, that being the French resistance and saving Jewish children during WWII. It has adventure, danger, war related violence, redemption, and held my attention from the first page. This work of fiction is based on factual events and people.  This review may not do it true justice but of the 25+ books I have read this year, this is my favorite. 

The youngest daughter wanted to do something important in the war effort, had the heart of a warrior patriot, and minimized the thought of taking risks. She certainly did make a difference, experienced the rush of excitement, saved lives and was tortured in the process. The oldest daughter had a gentle soul and personally experienced a horror but to save her children and to live until her husband might return from the war, she endured. She may have killed one man and should have killed another. In times of war one cannot say what one would do or not do or what one may be capable of doing. 

They had the same father but could not understand the distant man he had become after the death of their mother. The choices that each of the sisters made is directly tied to the neglect of a man who did what he thought best at the time. He gave them up and placed them in a home to be cared for by strangers until they “aged out”, were kicked out of school (many times), or married which left the younger sister truly alone.  Please do not think too ill of him since he was participating in the war effort as well and needed to protect his daughters in the process. He loved his daughters in the best way he could and literally sacrificed himself in the process. 

  

The changes that death, all manors of death, created was paramount to the three of them.  It created and fed what was needed to allow them to endure the horrors and ravages that come with war and the necessary risk of life to save many, many lives of military airmen (British, USA, etc.) and then there were the innocent children.

Yes, bad things do happen to good people, some by the choices that needed to be made and some by circumstances over which one has little or no control.  Through it all I found the strongest thread of love, not the mushy kind, but that being the sacrifice of self for the life of others. That is “the” ultimate love which is extremely well written by an accomplished, much favored author.

The movie rights have been sold, thankfully for the non-readers and those of us who will make a point to see it. I will be breaking my own rule since it will bear the dreaded “R” rating which is appropriate for the violence, etc. and to maintain the integrity of this book based on actual events and real people.  I will for sure be making every effort to see this film. 

Thoughts and Requests this 2015 Thanksgiving

I have some thoughts and requests after sharing this quote: “The English word "crisis" is translated by the Chinese with two little characters; one means "danger", and the other "opportunity" by Jean Hough.”

Two years ago this month my mom had just returned home from the hospital for the second time in five months. What we were told during that stay was that she had and form of dementia, Alzheimer’s. This came as a shock, as one would expect. She was admitted with what was thought to be an extreme anxiety attack (shaking, not recognizing her surroundings or even her husband) and while there was treated for dangerously low levels of magnesium and potassium as well as physical therapy since her legs were so weak. She was admitted that previous June with similar symptoms and was diagnosed with thyroid deficiency.

The point of the quote is that even with this "crisis" in the health she had known and presented a new "danger" that this was also an "opportunity" for closeness within our family. Take the time to tell people how much you love them and appreciate the life that you have shared together. Share your life experiences and memories. Make new memories. Take pictures (lots of them). Give up the things that you have harbored because it is really your own interpretations of events anyway. Your perceptions are your realities but not necessarily true. Make amends. Be forgiving. Love the family that you are given. Make a difference while you can because there are no "do overs". It is not always someone else's fault. One is either part of the problem or part of the solution.  

In this season of Thanksgiving, please share your life with others freely, with honesty and integrity.  Do not be stingy with your love. Memories provide great warmth in the process of living your life and not just existing in life.  Spend your life wisely.

Yes, this message may appear long but my thoughts and appreciation for each and every person in my life are now longer and deeper. My mother has now been gone ten months and 20 days so my feelings are still somewhat fresh, close in thought and with precious memories. I will be forever thankful for being one of so many who shared in her life. 

My dad and a memorable moment

     He wasn't always the one to start a conversation BUT he was the one who explained "the facts of life" conversation to me on the night of my first date. Scared me half to death and I could hardly wait for that date to end so I could get back to the safety of home and the bedroom that I shared with my three siblings. It was many, many months before trying the dating game again. The calm encouraging words from my mother helped. However, I am clearly convinced that the choices I made for my life are directly related to his decision to have an uncomfortable conversation with me which had the full support of my loving mother.
     He was a WWII veteran who was fortunate enough to have served stateside, father of four children, and I miss our conversations. My dad  would have been 91 on November 13th. Happy Birthday to my dad who has been gone from this life for 21 years and who always had time for me and time to talk.