Growing with gratitude for life's challenges
I’ve started a second TikTok account just for the exploration of dreams. (@DreamCrone). It had 600 followers and lively discussion up until 2 weeks ago. Then I decided to lead my followers through an exercise examining the power of symbolism. I used my dream as an example. The exercise requires telling the dream aloud, using […]
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Days before she turned 65, Mom confessed that she suspected she had cancer. “I’m thinking about just letting it take me,” she said. There were many things I wanted to say in that moment, such as: You should be discussing this with a therapist and not your daughter, but; this was the nature of our […]
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I ordered Lois Hoitenga Roelofs’ book, Caring Lessons: A Nursing Professor’s Journey of Faith and Self, after having been a fan of her blog for several years. Lois writes with candour about her life challenges, and on the blog in particular, about her journey through her husband’s terminal cancer. It is the candour with which […]
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I have a crush on my brother! I know that’s not right, but he is so gorgeous! Long golden hair, blue, blue eyes, and a smile that makes me melt. I can’t look at him without feeling all funny inside, and I’m sure he can tell. He doesn’t talk much, but once he picks up […]
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It’s difficult, at eleven, to understand the rationale of adults. Why the lies? Who are they protecting? I know now that my “cousin” is actually my brother. This makes sense. Not just a brother, but my oldest sister’s twin! I cannot imagine the pain that separation has caused them. I’m so excited to have brothers! […]
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The boy at the door was tall and slim, and although I had no idea who he was, he said: “You must be V.J.!” A whoosh of Mom’s skirt obliterated my response. She was hugging and kissing him and exclaiming: “Oh my! Can’t believe it is you!” Then my sisters were there, crowding our small […]
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“Mom, I want you to know that I don’t harbour any ill will toward our past. If I seek to know what happened, it is only to understand myself so that I might heal.” Mom nods, considers my words. “There is so much I could have done differently.” “No. You did what you could with […]
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Subtitled My Secret Life with Anaïs Nin, Apprenticed to Venus is the part memoir, part novel of Tristine Rainier, who mentored under the famous diarist. Although  I have been inspired by Nin’s words, I have known very little about her, so I was eager to read this book.  Rainier, on an errand from her artist aunt, encounters […]
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(The Story Circle Network published two of my pieces in their quarterly e-journal.  The category is “True Words” and the following article plus my poem “Retirement” were both accepted. ) Dead Ends and Surprise Beginnings The emails started arriving the morning after I presented at the regional conference—invites and accolades validating my life’s passion. Here I […]
Read MoreThe riddle closes in. I can hear its heavy footsteps, echoing in my ears. The dark brings out that which the day hides. (Excerpt from Beautiful Affliction) Lene Fogelberg knows what it is like to live with an undiagnosed medical condition and to be turned away time and again from doctors. In Beautiful Affliction she […]
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One Woman's Quest II 