Boys will be boys

Our grandsons standing in order of height, being unnaturally still, restrained, looking uncomfortable in this forced line up.
And then, they became more relaxed, acted like themselves instead of one dimensional stiff characters. Two seconds later they were live wires, wrestling and rolling around on the lawn proving that boys will be boys.


If you are having trouble developing a character and your words are up a tree, escaping your grasp, don't give up. Allow your characters free rein. Observe, meander, allow them to surprise you. If you have to back away, catch your breath and let your characters rest, then do so. If you need to prod them into action, don't hesitate to climb that tree and go after them. Just as I posed the boys for a photo, writers position words into sentences, phrases, paragraphs and essays.

Allow for playfulness.

Entertaining angels

I said yes to Nicole when she wanted to go to the park on a drizzly day last week when we were on spring break.
She bent over and looked into a puddle and said, "Nana! Look! I'm an angel."


A few years ago, on an isolated beach in Florida, early one morning, as I scuffed along downhearted, I beseeched my late mom and God for an answer, as my faith was faltering because of a family tragedy. I came upon a woman writing in a prayer journal...the only other person on the beach. My mom's very words came out of her mouth. If she wasn't an angel, I believe the angels were instrumental in putting her in my path.

Chicken Soup sent me a "you've made the cut" contract today, but the final decision will be made in October for Chicken Soup Finding Your Faith.

My mom always quoted scripture and often said that we never know when we are entertaining angels unaware. Many of you are my angel friends too. You provide me with uplifting words, you make me laugh, you support me, and I thank each of you who read my blog.

Inside scoop for writers: Chicken Soup will be doing a book on ANGELS, so think about an encounter you have had with someone who just may have been an angel on earth.

Happy Easter

Look what I found in the hostas! Happy Easter to all of you.
In about an hour the children, grandchildren and friends will arrive. I can't wait to hear them when they discover the cupcakes and my newly "hatched" deviled eggs.


I have an Easter album at school, album as in LP record. On our last class day before spring break I wore a deeper groove into it playing my favorite song over and over. Easter Parade...In your Easter bonnet... That melody, the resonance of Bing Crosby's voice soothes me, takes me back to childhood when I wore an Easter bonnet too. Fake green grass in my basket and real hard boiled eggs. That song reminds me of my mom. It reminds me of my children, my daughter in her Easter bonnet, and all of the Easter mornings when she and her little brother excitedly discovered their hidden baskets filled with candy, and their beloved stuffed animals.

I love the song so much that I drove my coworker crazy replaying it all morning, but then she does the same to me at Christmas with the Muppets singing Christmas songs. :)

When my grandchildren were very young, my daughter hid the eggs outside early in the morning. Then she and the kids left for church. Her now ex-husband awoke, saw the eggs in a bowl on the table and got busy doing bunny work. When the kids came home they were amazed that the bunny did double duty; the same eggs were back in the grass again.

Jesus died 2,000 years ago, but nowhere is history has He been referred to as the LATE Jesus, because he is risen and He is our living savior. A blessed Easter to you.

Tour the riverfront with me?

On a warm afternoon this past weekend we drove to the St. Louis riverfront where the Gateway Arch towers more than 600 feet. I took my first grandchild to the top many years ago and I can still hear her squealing as she looked down from the observation window, "Wow! Look at all those wind up cars and the ant-size people." It is quite an experience. I watched the Arch being built from my high school window, and when the workers went to put the last section in place...it didn't fit. The Museum of Westward Expansion, inside the Arch, is a wonderful, free museum with incredible exhibits.

Imagine Lewis and Clark making their way to the St. Louis riverfront. This bronze statue of them was commissioned by a friend of a friend. When the river floods, this goes underwater.
Tourists and locals enjoy taking a horse drawn carriage ride along the riverfront and also on the cobblestone streets along the Landing, which features restaurants and bars with live music.
On Saturdays, there are bridal parties galore riding in the Cinderella carriage and having wedding photos taken under the Arch.
The Huck Finn and Becky Thatcher are twin replicas of paddlewheelers that take visitors up and down river for an historic overview of the muddy Mississippi and St. Louis wharf.
You wouldn't get me up in a helicopter, but many tourists line up for aerial views of the city. On the fourth of July, the Arch grounds are packed with people, elbow to elbow, sprawled on their own section of grass to hear big name bands and performers (for free) before the gigantic fireworks display. One of the most memorable for me was Bill Cosby. He was hysterically funny. The Beach Boys, and many other well known groups have performed under the Arch. If you ever get to St. Louis be sure to visit the tourist attractions; many are free, paid for by our taxes.

Messages from Heaven

Chicken Soup for the Soul: Messages from Heaven is a national bestseller!
My true story, Soul Friends, about witnessing my friend's spirit leave her body at the moment of her death is in this book. Please check it out, buy a copy for yourself or someone else.

Amy Newmark, coauthor of the book and publisher of Chicken Soup for the Soul, has been doing a series of radio interviews about the book and this Friday she will be the featured guest on George Noory's Coast to Coast AM show. This Friday night, if you would like to stay up into Saturday morning, you can listen to Amy talk about messages from heaven for two hours, starting at 10 PM Pacific Time (1 AM Eastern Time).

Coast to Coast is the most popular overnight talk show in North America and is heard on 564 radio stations in the U.S., Canada, the Virgin Islands, and Guam, as well as on Sirius-XM Satellite Radio (XM channel 168). Please click on the link below to find the radio station in your market that carries the show:

http://www.coasttocoastam.com/stations

Sadly, I am leaving to go to visitation at a funeral parlor. My son's thirty-eight year old buddy and childhood friend was killed in a one vehicle accident. Heaven has another one.

I have just returned. Coincidentally, a disc jockey from a Christian radio station, (who had attended the same school as my son's buddy) was in attendance. My son introduced himself, because he listens to the station. I asked the DJ if he knew a woman named Janet who also had attended the same school.

I said, "She was married to ___ but they're divorced."

He said, "Yes, I married her."

I thought he was a pastor and had married them. NO! He is married to her. I taught her kids years ago, but we lost touch.

So Jan, if you are reading, please contact me. billin7@juno.com

It IS a small world! And there are no coincidences, I must remember this.

None of your business!

Back in the mid 80's my next door neighbor, Rose, and her sister, Millie, and I had been shopping at K Mart. Directly across the street on the corner was a small neighborhood bar, in a tiny wedge of a building. We saw a poster in the window advertising a live weekend band. We decided to stop in and see what the establishment was like. We ordered Bartles and Jaymes, flavored wine coolers and asked where the ladies' room was. The bartender directed us downstairs. An elderly gentleman wearing a hat, white shirt and tan slacks hobbled slowly down the stairs ahead of us. We sat at a table in the vacant room and waited for him to exit the one and only bathroom. We lost track of time laughing and talking. We had to "go" and we wished the old guy would hurry up. We waited until we couldn't wait anymore.

I volunteered to peek in. I opened the door an inch hoping that there were stalls with doors. I leaned way down and scoped out under the doors of the two closed stalls. I saw the old guy's tan slacks.

I ran back to the table and told my friends he'd be out in a minute. We waited several minutes, but he didn't exit. I peeked back in and noticed that he was still standing in that stall. I could see his shoes and pant legs facing forward as if he were about to open the door.

"Something must be wrong with him, maybe we should go get the bartender."

"Let US see!" We all snuck into that small john, bent down, and whispered that it was really none of our business what the old boy was doing. I peered under like a three year old in a dressing room. That's when I saw a guy in gray pants standing behind him. I snickered and motioned for my girlfriends to participate in my peep show.

Inside that stall was a life-size cardboard cutout of Bartles and Jaymes. Bartles was wearing the gray pants and Jaymes was wearing the same color tan slacks as the old man who must have slipped past us as we were talking and laughing.


Neither door was locked; they were both closed. We did our business and laughed all the way home snorting and spewing the Bartles and Jaymes wine cooler slogan, "And we thank you for your business."

Getting Sasee

Click HERE to read my story in Sasee Magazine, He Married Me Twice. Please leave a comment. Also return to Sasee's homepage and check out Lynn Obermoeller's story. She is a fellow writer and critique group member. PLEASE leave a comment for her too, at the bottom of the story.

This actually came as a big surprise. I received a "Thanks, for sending" repsonse from the editor, but not an official acceptance, so when Lynn emailed me, I thought sure it was an April Fool's prank.

It's going to be almost 90 degrees today. The sun is shining. My andrenaline is pumping and I need to get out of the house. I'm taking my camera. Toodles.