We had 70 degrees and sunshine for Easter and Christmas this year in northwestern Pennsylvania. You can’t beat that for pleasant weather. Especially when we are entertaining twenty to thirty people…and that’s just part of our immediate family! This Easter we had twenty four, and four of them were under the age for five. We truly enjoy young children. I will never forget the look of sheer joy on the face of our beautiful two year old great granddaughter when she found her Easter eggs, one by one. (The young adult early birds had tossed the eggs randomly around the yard.) Our teenagers decided to sun themselves, including an exchange student from San Paulo, Brazil. A sweet and very bright girl, I asked her when she speaks English, which she does flawlessly, if she thinks in English or Portugese, and then has to translate. She said she thinks in the language she’s speaking, but then looked a bit perplexed and said, “But I’m not sure when I dream which language I dream in.” She is living with our son and family this semester. We will all miss her when she returns to Brazil.
My brother’s daughter, Hannah, sang a solo with her choir from Texas A&M at Carnegie Hall in N.Y.C. on March 12th. When he told me it was coming up, I said, “Oh, I wish I could go but I am so busy, etc.” A few days later I told my husband I really wanted to go, but he wasn’t interested in going at all. I realized I’d always regret not going, no one from our family has ever performed at Carnegie Hall before, and who knows if it will happen again. My new motto, ‘If Not Now, When?’, propelled me into action! I called my brother for the Carnegie tickets discount info. Our daughter-in-law, Suzie, and their two girls plus the Brazilian exchange student signed on, as well as our oldest granddaughter whom we picked up two hours down the road. I drove my van to Manhattan with no difficulty, thanks to Suzie’s outstanding GPS navigation/guidance. Their daughter, who is attending Stony Brook on Long Island, and her roommate met us at our hotel, it was the first day of their spring break. The weather was beautiful. We stayed two nights, and had two rooms, with two double beds in each room, two people slept in each bed. But we were not in the rooms much more than to sleep and get ready to see the city. Friday night we ate at ‘Bubba Gump’s‘ in Time Square. it was delicious and so much fun! (HINT: If you go there, brush up on your Forrest Gump trivia.) Saturday night we ate with my brother and his wife at ‘Planet Hollywood’, also on Time Square. It was another delicious and fun place to eat. We walked to Carnegie Hall from there. After the show we all walked to a cafe a few blocks down the street for ice cream, Hannah joined us. It was a short but memorable trip that none of us will ever forget. We had such a great time!
I read several books this month. I found Mrs.Tom Thumb by Melanie Benjamin in a dollar sales bin, (I love bargains!) It was a fascinating book, so well written and researched. I have met Melanie, a bright and personable woman, and have read her, The Aviator’s Wife. Also a very good book.
I read A Touch of Stardust by Kate Alcott, it was an interesting period novel about the making of Gone With the Wind and the behind the scenes maneuvers of movie making.
Brushed by the Sacred by Lee Beckes, is poignant, inspirational poetry. It is beautifully written, something for everyone and you don’t have to be heavily into poetry to be touched by his poems.
I am reading Anne Tyler’s Digging to America now and loving it, as I do all of her books.
Our book club book this month was The Nightingale by Kristine Hannah. I read it a year ago and was happy it was chosen. It generated a great discussion with the wonderful characters and all the layers of intrigue the author created.
We are reading Me Before You by Jo Jo Moyes for our April book.. It is a poignant, thought provoking novel with lots of British wit.
We watched the movie, Room. It was so well done that we felt like peeping toms watching real life through someone’s window! I had read the book and I was impressed that the author, Emma Donoghue also wrote the screenplay.
I’ve been mostly busy with helping my husband edit his memoirs, for the last few years he’s been writing random essays and thoughts about his life. I am helping him organize it into a chronological memoir, and sorting out the repetitions. It will still be in his words, of course, because after all, it is his story. And trust me on this, he has led a compelling one of a kind life!
Also I keep submitting my work… and I have started my next novel.
Till next time, keep reading my friends.
Later, Ann