As another year comes to a close, we tend to all have flashbacks of reflection on what we accomplished this closing year. I think, like many, it feels as though this year has flown by. Or is it, the older we get, the faster we feel time fly?
For me, it feels as though the days, weeks, and months kept flying by as I worked on each project I had set goals to accomplish for the year. Last year was basically, a write off for me while my new solo life overwhelmed me at every turn after losing my husband. This year, although my grief was no less, I fought and still fight my grief daily, but I understood that I must find a way to make my life go on and in order to do so, I had to set goals for myself to accomplish feeling I was still part of the living by immersing myself into projects that helped me do so.
After coming back from last winter’s escape to Mexico, I set my intentions for the new year ahead because I always need a plan, that’s how I function. I worked on taxes, planned to write episodes for a podcast I promised myself I’d begin in 2022 and, promised myself to get back to the book I finished writing in 2019 and publish it. I also prepared my columns for Sally Cronin’s Smorgasbord Blog Magazine in my Spiritual Awareness series, as well as lots of intermittent writing for my next book on grief. Being in solitude much of the time reminded me I have to have goals and have to be busy to keep myself from dwelling on the dark side of my life. I can honestly say that I don’t think I’d be here today if it weren’t for writing. Writing is the passion that dwells within, and allows me to expel in words the gnarled mess of emotions that I live with daily. It’s my sanity. My solitary time also afforded me more time to read more books, and books are my ethereal escape into another world, another life, which gives me a welcome break from being in my own skin sometimes.
As this year comes to a close, I’m already setting goals for 2023. First and foremost on my agenda is to once again, get out of Dodge and go back to Mexico later in January. Last winter, going to Mexico for the first time without my husband, overwhelmed me, yet I went. Once there, I learned more life lessons and faced more harsh realities when I learned ‘our’ friends were no longer because my husband too, was no longer. It was another painful lesson on human behavior, but gratefully, the universe sent me the ‘right’ friends, and I forged some new and very tight relationships with new friends. We are all reuniting again next month back in Mexico, and I’m excited for my two-month escape from my real life here for a pause with an active social life – something I no longer have here. No doubts I’ll be learning some new life lessons. My tribe has been cut substantially since my husband passed as tragedy often shows us who is left in our corner when the chips are down. But the quality is excellent, showing me excess quantity was in dire need of spillage.
While away, basking in sunshine and social fulfillment, I’ll assess what my goals are for 2023, then tackle them with fresh enthusiasm, upon my return. I know I will be working on my grief book, which I also know will take a great deal of stamina and time to go through the almost 100,000 words in various rough drafts I’ve written over the last two years. I have good experience with knowing that painful writing requires distance in between revisions. Being a memoir writer means having to relive over and over with each revision and edit, the memories of what we write. I know when I wrote P.S. I Forgive You, about finding forgiveness for my mother, that the emotions that bubbled within as I reread painful memories, had me having to walk away from the computer and letting the words sit until I could gain back the heart to sit down and read it again. In between my distancing myself from the book, I worked on other projects. I assume this next book will probably be the most difficult book I will ever write. But I feel compelled to write it. So no doubt, I will need a distraction project to divert to. Thankfully, there’s never a shortage of work for a writer.
I imagine January will pass almost too quickly as I prepare for the packing and usual travel anxiety, and will remain until I land in Puerto Vallarta and finally letting out a huge exhale. As per all my winter breaks, I won’t be reading blogs on a regular schedule as I do at home, nor will I be posting anything (because I don’t like to close comments and cannot commit to responding to any in a timely fashion), but I will pop into some of your blogs sporadically when I get a few spare moments from my busyness. And upon my return in late March, no doubts I’ll have some fun stories to share about some of the shenanigans that will undoubtedly be going on in Mexico.
Thanks for keeping track of all the wonderful books I’ve read this year #Goodreads. I surprassed my goal and read 56 books! You can check them out by clicking below
I would like to take the opportunity to wish you all a very happy and healthy new year. I always include ‘healthy’, because like my husband always liked to say, “Cubby, without good health, nothing else matters.”
It may be a shameless promotion, but I don’t do it often, and since I just released my new book Fifteen First Times, a week ago, I was thrilled to find some have already read, enjoyed, and reviewed it. I also picked up a few other beautiful reviews for three of my other books, and am thrilled to share. I am also thrilled to announce that my book, Fifteen First Times is NOW AVAILABLE in Paperback.
“Fifteen First Times” is a group of personal stories told in a humorous yet perceptive manner. It felt like I was sitting with Ms. Kaye having a cup of tea while she shared some of her life stories. I found it easy to relate to a first kiss, first heartbreak, or first-time driving. It got me reflecting on many of my firsts and how I navigated life after. The author’s strength, fashion sense, and humor shined through the words, painting a picture of her moments. This is a book of youthful reflections and what we can learn from all our firsts. There was also a loving dedication to her departed husband that touched my soul. This is a beautiful collection of coming-of-age stories I can easily recommend.
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 16 December 2022
Fifteen first times is a lovely memoir by D G Kaye. Reading it I recalled many of my first times too! In this short memoir, she mentions memories such as her diets, first kiss, colouring her hair, Christmas tree, first apartment, getting her driving licence, travel to Israel and Europe and much more. It is a personal, and relatable collection which I enjoyed.
I think it would be enjoyed by all and in particular bloggers, writers (a lot of the content is female centric such as the short section on first period!) This is a topic that needs to be spoke about openly! So hats off to D G Kaye for being so honest sharing her personal memories.
She also shares her sadness at loss of several family members, a dear friend Alba and her much loved husband.
So, at times humourous, sometimes poignant, a sneak peak into the author’s life.
The author has a natural conversational style of writing that draws you in as if she is talking to you personally. Her memories prompt the reader’s own experiences at similar ages, and raises a smile or two at the similarities between girls of a certain age, however many thousands of miles they live apart.
This is particularly true in this collection of stories as Kaye shares episodes from her childhood such as playing in her mother’s stiletto shoes which would fuel a lifetime’s love of footwear, a first kiss, and taking that first puff of a parent’s discarded cigarette.
With the smiles comes the tears, as we identify the moments of loneliness and isolation as a girl becomes a woman without the support needed from a mother, a dysfunctional family life, and the loss of a much loved friend who shared the formative years between teens and late twenties.
At the end of the collection is a wonderful tribute to her late husband, who made her laugh every day and was the first and last love of her life.
D.G. Kaye writes with poignancy but also great humour, which makes these first times all the more delightful and memorable. The experiences are not just relevant to girls growing up, as many are relateable to boys and young men coping with the cultural and social expectations of the day, and finding their way in life and relationships. Take a walk down the memory lane of your own life in very good company. Highly recommended.
Our experiences are stepping stones for much of what feeds our character. We live, we experience, we learn, we become, and we overcome.
I always look forward to reading D.G. Kaye’s books because I know they will be authentic, witty, and compelling.
Throughout D.G. Kaye’s latest memoir, she draws her readers in by sharing her past experiences. A reader can easily relate to fifteen real talk stories that cover topics such as her obsession with shoes, her hilarious experience with her first Christmas tree, her disastrous experiment with changing from blonde to redhead, her first kiss, and many more firsts, at times bittersweet, including the death of a close friend.
In particular, I found her tribute to her beloved husband to be so very touching. She writes how no man could make her laugh. In the past laughter for her “could mask so many scars, aches, and insecurities….It was always me making someone else laugh…That was until I met my husband. Here was a man who made me laugh.”
During this Christmas season, if you’re feeling stressed like many of us are, I highly recommend this book. Relax and give yourself this gift for the holiday season. Your heart will likely smile as you reflect on some of your firsts and take a journey down your own memory lane.
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P.S. I Forgive You
Reviewed by Mac Trish (Alex Craigie) Dec. 12, 2022
This book is a painfully honest account of the author’s fractured relationship with her narcissistic mother.
Throughout Ms Gies’ childhood and into adulthood, her mother not only neglected her and her three siblings, but also ate away at their self-esteem and terrorized them into obedience. The mother’s volatility, frequent absences, lack of interest in their achievements and lives, and the exploitation, punishments and bare-faced lying made for a nightmare scenario that was endured with a loyalty that in the end became so severely strained, it shattered.
It is clear that the author did everything she could to understand and excuse her mother’s behaviour. It is also clear that she was desperate for her to demonstrate some motherly affection, but none was forthcoming. The hateful responses and the game-playing took such a toll that in the end, in a desperate attempt for self-preservation, she cut her mother out of her life. ‘I crested the wave of poison my mother tried to drown me with, and I snapped’.
The empathy Ms Gies had for her parent clearly made the situation very painful for her. When it became clear that her mother was dying, she struggled with her feelings, but she couldn’t bring herself to go to her because she was afraid of being damaged yet again by another of her vicious barbs.
After the death, came the soul-searching. I found the turmoil the author facedheartbreaking. ‘Guilt doesn’t subside; it resides in the hidden nooks and crannies of our hearts’. She did all she could to try and understand what had made her mother like this, but there were no easy answers. In the end, she knew that she couldn’t rest herself unless she could forgive her mother and release her own bitterness and resentment. She writes ‘So I set her free of her sins, and in turn I set myself free’.
This is a beautiful book and one that had a profound impact on me. It is to the author’s credit that she takes such an honest and candid approach. It is truly remarkable that she was able to forgive someone who had hurt her so badly.
This was a quick, fun read for all those adventurous souls who love to travel or read about it. It took us back to days of more effortless traveling, to current times when there’s a lot more involved. Told in a personal, humorous tone, I immediately connected to the antidotes told. I’m glad I’m not the only one who over packs and then had to pay for it when checking the luggage. I shook my head, knowing how hard it is to get traveling purchases home in luggage — and through customs. Luckily, I’ve only had my bags searched once. I can’t imagine being a target when I came back to my country. I thoroughly enjoyed this; it not only made me want to travel but long for the good old days when planes offered more room. This ends with some sound advice for traveling that includes a luggage scale. An excellent read for travelers!
Twenty Years: After “I Do” is a memoir by D.G. Kaye regarding her 20-year marriage to Gordon, a kind man 20 years her senior. While I believe the author wrote this book for people in a similar situation that have a spouse considerably older or younger, I think it is an essential read for any married couple.
Having read previous books by this writer, I knew I would get honesty and humor—two elements that make any read better. Kaye doesn’t try to sugarcoat anything and describes the many challenges married partners face, particularly in her situation, having a much older husband.
Some priceless nuggets included the importance of a sense of humor, communicating about and listening to each other’s problems, giving each additional space to follow individual hobbies and passions, and being flexible enough to take on different roles over the years.
I liked that there were so many relatable topics—health challenges, hearing loss, and depression, just to name a few.
Welcome to my Sunday Book Review. To end off the year, I’m sharing my reviews for five different books I read this year that I hadn’t had a chance to feature yet on my Sunday reviews – The Worst Noel by Amy Reade (A Christmas Cozy Mystery), Life Work by Lesley Hayes (A women’s relationship character study), It’s Okay to Laugh by Nora McInerny (Finding laughter even in grief), Baking Bad by John Dolan (An off the wall diary of a crazy guy) and Clay Tongue by Nicholas Conley (Mysticism)
The Worst Noel
The Worst Noel is a cozy mystery, perfect read for the holidays or anytime – Book 1 of the Juniper Junction cozy Holiday mysteries by Amy Reade.
Blurb:
On the busiest shopping day of the year, Lilly opens her jewelry store to discover it’s been burgled. Then she trips over a body. Talk about a Black Friday.
When a second victim is murdered, Lilly finds herself squarely in the crosshairs of suspicion. The clock is ticking as Lilly tries to unwrap the mystery of the real killer’s identity.
As the bodies pile up like so much snow, Lilly is shocked to discover her ex-husband has returned to town after a fifteen-year absence. Could his reappearance have anything to do with the murders? One thing is sure: Lilly doesn’t want him anywhere near their two teenage kids, neither of whom remember him, or her mom, whose mental health is declining.
Can she figure out who killed the victims before she becomes one herself?
Find out if Lilly is about to have herself a merry or scary little Christmas in this cozy, small-town mystery. Recipes included!
My 5 Star Review:
A fun cozy mystery read with mom Lilly as the protagonist divorced mom with two teenagers, her mother with early dementia, and her jewelry store on main street in the cozy town of Juniper Junction. Just as Lilly has prepared her store for the big day, Black Friday, she discovers her store has been broken into and one of the town’s other store owners was found dead in her store. The woman was not well liked among the chamber of commerce circles and besides this fact, Lilly’s store is closed down by the police for the investigation, Lilly finds she is also a suspect in the mysterious murder case because her fingerprints were found on a pearl necklace, but heck, it’s her store where she helps customers try on her jewelry. It’s a good thing her brother Bill is a cop who also keeps her in the loop and safe from an elusive ex-husband who mysteriously shows up at the same time-frame as the murder. But wait, there is another murder. Herb the yoga instructure from down the road of businesses is also found dead. Lilly didn’t particularly like Herb, so she may again be a person of interest.
All kinds of characters and shenanigans are happening. While Lilly is ridiculously, a suspect, someone is also after her. Her house is broken into, her dog goes missing, and then she is ultimately, kidnapped. What else could go wrong? Every few chapters the author will have us sidetracked choosing a new suspect.
With the colorful characters and all the mayhem around the snowy holiday season, this cozy little whodunit will keep you turning the pages as we read along to try and figure out what is going on in Juniper Junction. A perfect read for the holidays or anytime.
It’s Okay to Laugh
This is the third book I’ve read from Nora McInerny, who I refer to as the ‘grief author’ who shares slices of humor in her heartfelt and sometimes funny stories in the midst of her grief, It’s Okay to Laugh (Crying is Cool Too)
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Blurb:
NATIONAL BESTSELLER
“Thank you for the perfect blend of nostalgia-drenched humor, wit, and heartbreak, Nora.” — Mandy Moore
comedy = tragedy + time/rosé
Twenty-seven-year-old Nora McInerny Purmort bounced from boyfriend to dopey “boyfriend” until she met Aaron—a charismatic art director and comic-book nerd who once made Nora laugh so hard she pulled a muscle. When Aaron was diagnosed with a rare form of brain cancer, they refused to let it limit their love. They got engaged on Aaron’s hospital bed and had a baby boy while he was on chemo. In the period that followed, Nora and Aaron packed fifty years of marriage into the three they got, spending their time on what really matters: Buffy the Vampire Slayer, each other, and Beyoncé. A few months later, Aaron died in Nora’s arms. The obituary they wrote during Aaron’s hospice care revealing his true identity as Spider-Man touched the nation. With It’s Okay to Laugh, Nora puts a young, fresh twist on the subjects of mortality and resilience. What does it actually mean to live your “one wild and precious life” to the fullest? How can a joyful marriage contain more sickness than health? How do you keep going when life kicks you in the junk? In this deeply felt and deeply funny memoir, Nora gives her readers a true gift—permission to struggle, permission to laugh, permission to tell the truth and know that everything will be okay. It’s Okay to Laugh is a love letter to life, in all its messy glory; it reads like a conversation with a close friend, and leaves a trail of glitter in its wake.
This book is for people who have been through some shit.
This is for people who aren’t sure if they’re saying or doing the right thing (you’re not, but nobody is). This is for people who had their life turned upside down and just learned to live that way. For people who have laughed at a funeral or cried in a grocery store. This is for everyone who wondered what exactly they’re supposed to be doing with their one wild and precious life. I don’t actually have the answer, but if you find out, will you text me?
My 5 Star Review:
This is the third book I’ve read by Nora. As a new widow myself, I find Nora so relatable and her stories, although heartfelt and crushing, always offer something humorous betwixt her grief that sparks a light. Nora tells stories of her past through her triple journey of grief and loss, losing her her father, her husband, and a miscarriage, all in the span of a very short time.
I love how Nora tells us how she creates her own kind of grief therapy, whatever works for her, escaping to the gym or into a TV program to take her away from herself. I also love how she explains, she is not depressed, just sad. These two emotions are very different. She explains the difference between ‘clean pain’, the actual pain of loss, and ‘dirty pain’, the part where us grievers go through the pain of guilt for 101 different things we shoulda, coulda done, as we beat ourselves up mentally. She touches on some of the small things that are very big – like coming home to an empty house and upon entering, shouting, ‘I’m home’. This is me. Nora talks about all the things she does to vent frustrations and a good list of things to do in those moments – as well as, what not to do.
One of my favorite lines, “Marry someone who thinks you’re funny.” Such an important piece of advice. I am blessed that I did, and my husband found me equally amusing. It was our sense of humors that brought and kept us together.
Nora talks about the difficulties of being around family when there is a loss, because everyone’s grief is personal. That of a parent’s grief is different to the grief of the spouse left behind, how lonely grief leaves us, not feeling like ourselves anymore, the loneliness of once being someone’s person and now we aren’t. Nora uses her great sense of humor to emphasize all the emotions a griever endures and more, by sharing some of her crazy stories about trying to find herself back in social standing – and The Widow’s Club.
While the book reads as though it’s about her life with Aaron, it encompasses much more of her personal life, other people, her family, other relationships she’s had, and stories about her growing up and being a blacksheep.
From Nora:
“I wrote this book in the six months after my husband and father died, right after my miscarriage. What you read is me sifting through emotions and memories.”
The author has learned how to move on with her life and is remarried with more children. Her words about doing so are: “This is not moving on. This is moving forward. Aaron is forever a part of my life, and a part of me. Falling in love again didn’t mean replacing him, because there is no replacing the people we love. It meant finding space in my heart to fit all of us.”
Nora on people who never know the right things to say to a griever: “It can be hard to know what to say to a person who is going through something difficult, but you can probably wipe these options from your list of conversation starters.” She proceeds to list quite a few common things that come out of people’s mouths – some with good intentions, some without thinking how silly they sound.
All round, this was an entertaining read that had me nodding my head in agreement to plenty, and appreciating some of the interlude stories with humor, to lift weight of grief a little.
Life Work
I was drawn to Life Work by Lesley Hayes because of my interest in observing relationships – both the functional and dysfunctional. This fictional book involves six different stories and romantic relationships depicting different women, all with a story to share – their struggle and how they handled their situations.
Blurb:
Women – looking for, disappointed in, and learning about love. Some are mothers, while others are lovers. Friendships with other women reveal that not all are loyal to the sisterhood, especially when it comes to men. A new collection of stories from Lesley Hayes that opens windows into the minds of six different women, caught in the searchlight of romantic realism as they navigate the turbulent waters of relationships.
My 4 Star Review:
Hayes takes us into various short stories about women and relationships. In each of these stories we get to stand outside the box and glimpse in at how a woman values herself in romantic relationships. In the first, Placebo – Caroline complains to her best friend Imogen how she is tired of being taken advantage of by men, not treated well, used, unappreciated, and always left ghosted. She pines for a man who will treat her right – ironically, when she meets the perfect man, Andrew, who treats her like royalty, she feels smothered and breaks up with him. It leaves me thinking that she was so used to being treated like crap that she couldn’t handle a good man. In Double Dealing, we learn that Chrissie is either under a spell or has such low self-esteem when her cheating husband Jack talks her into thinking it’s cool to have affairs as Jack says, they have an ‘understanding’. Oddly enough, he gets tossed by all his conquests. In Springtime, a nameless woman sharing a flat with her friend Jane, complains about her studious boyfriend Mike coming back home from university. She’s been fooling around on him all the while he’s been gone and makes it clear to her friend Jane that she couldn’t care less anymore about Mike, that is until Mike notices the change in her and lets her know he’s been seeing Jane now for sometime. Just desserts.
This book is a short read with some well written stories about various relationships, human nature, and characters that make us think.
Baking Bad
I am going to preface my review here by saying – Baking Bad – Notes from my Diary by John Dolan is definitely not for everyone. Dolan writes this short book with a warped sense of humor including some very dark comedy, definitely not for the faint of heart.
Blurb:
“I need to spend some time reburying in the garden. Next door’s dog has dug up a foot.”
Thus begins a surreal journal the like of which (if you’re lucky) you have never encountered before. Author John Dolan’s unnamed diarist plumbs the depths of black comedy in a way that might make your hair stand on end. Not recommended for the PC-aware or those with a weak stomach. Contains helpful tips on cooking and on murdering people.
My 4 Star Review:
I’ll preface my review here by saying, this book will not be for everyone, but if you appreciate dark humor, a bizarre telling, and far from politically correct, there is laughter to be had in this book.
The diary is written by an unnamed character who enjoys stalking the internet, indulging in unhealthy habits and people as he rolls through the days in his bizarro life. He shares his deranged accounting of daily observations, which are sometimes crude and even vulgar, as well as some farout characters, shady women, a few horrifying events, and throws in a little murder and some interesting recipes in between, mostly all taking place in his neighborhood, and a crazy 60s themed party he holds in his home, where one may risk their life just eating or drinking at the venue. If you think that’s a crazy mixture of happenings in one short book, it is. But if you are a fan of Dolan’s tales, which I am, you will find this book a hilarious smorgasbord of entertaining weirdness. Beware of some strong language and sexual content.
Clay Tongue
Clay Tongue is a beautiful novella by Nicholas Conley. The author writes compassionate stories that usually contain a bit of mysticism. In this case, we’ll learn about an inquisitive girl who searches for what is known as the mythical Golem that she discovered was hidden in her own backyard – at least, that’s what her grandfather’s writings in his notebook told her.
For those of you who aren’t familar with the term ‘golem’, there are many said myths, mostly from Judaic mysticism, said to be a human like structure built of clay and given life and human abilities, created by mysticism. Alice Hoffman uses a golem in her story I reviewed a few years ago – The World That We Knew.
Blurb:
From the author of the award-winning Pale Highway and the radio play Something in the Nothing comes a short fantasy of love, shyness, and the secrets of human communication.
Katie Mirowitz is a small little girl with an even smaller little voice. She possesses a deep love for her grandfather, who suffers from aphasia after a bad stroke cuts loose the part of his brain that processes verbal language. When Katie uncovers a miraculous secret inside the pages of her grandfather’s old journal, as well as an ancient key, she goes out into the woods in search of answers — hoping to uncover a mythical being that, if it exists, may just have the ability to grant wishes.
My 5 Star Review:
Ten year old Katie loved her grandfather who’d recently returned home to live with her and her parents. This home was originally grandfather and grandmother’s house. Grandfather suffered a stroke and was left aphasic and in a wheelchair. He couldn’t speak, only in garbled words, but Katie knew from his animated facial expressions everything he was trying to say when he spoke.
One day Katie found a notebook on her grandfather’s desk, knowing her grandad could no longer speak or read she was curious to see what he was writing. But grandpa noticed her eyeing the book and snatched it away and put it in his drawer. She glimpsed the title – The Golem from Abeodan.
One night Katie awakes in the wee hours to take the book out and read it. She discovers the story is about her grandparents when they first were about to buy the house she was now living in. The realtor told them there was a cave way back on the property and gave them the old rusted key that belonged to it. Grandma thought it was crazy and didn’t believe in any folklore, but grandpa was mystified and kept the key – right beside the book in the drawer. The legend said, a mad scientist, Aszerowicz, had been exiled from the community after trying to erect a 50 foot tall golem there that could grant wishes – only one wish per person. As Katie continues to read, she discovered that when grandpa realized grandma couldn’t have a baby, he decided to take that key to the cave to find the golem to ask his wish for a child. And boom! End of writing! Katie was left hanging (and so were we).
Katie surmised her grandpa couldn’t finish the story because of his stroke, so she took the rusted key, put it in her pocket, and wandered down outback in the still of night to find the cave. She had to find out what happened. As she approached the cave and entered dark caverns she heard voices telling her not to be afraid and sees electrical torches leading a path through a grotto like cave, rocky walls and a pool of water glowing blue. She discovers a small clay sculpture that looked like a baby swaddled in a blanket. Then an enormous stone carved face with Hebrew characters engraved in its forehead, jutted out from the rock wall, and a heavy noise calling her name. The tall golem was made of clay with some resemblance to man. He offers Katie a wish, adding that he’d granted her grandfather one years back. But only one wish. Katie feels as though she’s in between two worlds when the golem asks her to take a piece of his clay and mold it to her wish and witnesses her grandfather as a younger man molding a piece of clay into a baby, signaling he got his daughter, who was Katie’s mom. Katie begins trying to mold a mouth to resemble her grandfather’s so that he may speak again, but her compassion gets the better of her as she felt for the poor golem trapped in this rock wall for decades, so instead, wishes she could free the golem. The next thing she knew, she woke up back in her bed, and that is where I will leave it to learn what happens next.
I hope you enjoyed my Sunday book reviews throughout the year. I managed to exceed my Goodreads Reading Challenge by 22 books this year. Stay tuned for next year’s mixed bag of genre reviews.
My heartfelt thank you again to Sally Cronin for featuring my new release – Fifteen First Times, as a New Book on the Shelf at Sally’s Smorgasbord Bookshelves.
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Delighted to share the news of the latest release by D.G. Kaye…. Debby Gies. A memoir – Fifteen First Times: Beginnings: A Collection of Indelible Firsts
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About the memoir
This book is a collection of stories about some of Kaye’s first-time experiences with life’s most natural events. Told through the intimate conversational writing we’ve come to know from this author, poignant personal steppingstones to learning moments are revealed. She encompasses the heart of each matter with sincerity and sprinkled inflections of humor.
From first kiss to first car to walking in the desert with four-inch heels, Kaye’s short coming-of-age stories take us through her awakenings and important moments of growth, often without warning. Some good and some not, life lessons are learned through trial and error, winging it and navigating by the seat of her pants.
Editorial Review:
D.G. Kaye writes with heartfelt regard and unabashed honesty. The life experiences she shares in Fifteen First Times evoke tears as well as laughter. Kaye’s candor and compassion will no doubt appeal to and help many seeking to grow and come into their own. I highly recommend this book and all others by this forthright author. The reader will be left with an ardent desire for more. ~ Author, Tina Frisco
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Thoughts by D.G. Kaye
Do you ever think back on past events which have left an indelible impression on you or your life, or find that the incidents you’ve endured through life have helped shape the person you’ve become? Are your formed perceptions and values developed from experience, and have they consequently become incorporated into your daily life? Our experiences are steppingstones for much of what feeds our character. We live, we experience, we learn, we become, and we overcome.
Nobody sent me the memo on life, and most of the time, I had zero confidence to broach the subject of my conflictions and situations with anyone. All these events I experienced and share in my stories happened with little to no guidance or knowledge, making much of my young life experiences processes of trial and error. I was like the proverbial child who grew up in the wild, except I had parents and a comfortable home.
In these fifteen short stories, I’m fessing up to some firsts in my life, some of which turned out to serve as monumental lessons. These weren’t life-altering moments, but rather, moments of teaching to move my life forward, leaving me with scars and awakening moments, confirming my curiosities, and leading me in new directions of growth.
“Fifteen First Times” is a group of personal stories told in a humorous yet perceptive manner. It felt like I was sitting with Ms. Kaye having a cup of tea while she shared some of her life stories. I found it easy to relate to a first kiss, first heartbreak, or first-time driving. It got me reflecting on many of my firsts and how I navigated life after. The author’s strength, fashion sense, and humor shined through the words, painting a picture of her moments. This is a book of youthful reflections and what we can learn from all our firsts. There was also a loving dedication to her departed husband that touched my soul. This is a beautiful collection of coming-of-age stories I can easily recommend.
In my holiday podcast at Grief the Real Talk, episode 5, I talk about some of things we can do to help us who have lost a loved one, honor our loved one in remembrance, and to make us feel a little closer to them and their spirit on those more difficult dates and anniversaries.
Last week I was over at Sally Cronin’s Smorgasbord Blog Magazine with my last post for 2022 in my Spiritual Awareness series. I’ll be back in January with more, then taking a winter break, and the series will continue in April. In this issue, I’m talking Old Souls. Are you one?
Explore the spiritual side of our natures as D.G. Kaye shares her experiences and research into this element of our lives.
Welcome back to my Spiritual Awareness series at Sally’s Smorgasbord. Today I’m going to talk about ‘Old Souls’. We hear that term from time to time, usually referred to people who hold the depths of ‘all knowing’ and wisdom at a young age – appearing older and wiser beyond their actual years. This isn’t to be misconstrued with ‘chronological age’ as old soul refers more to, the experience we’ve gathered through our accrued years of knowledge through all our past lives.
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Those with a higher level of soul are those who have reached the level of many journeys throughout their lifetimes. It is said that memories don’t come with us in each new life, but the knowledge of life experiences grow with us through each journey. It is also said that just by looking in someone’s eyes you can see their wisdom. This doesn’t mean that person is necessarily highly intelligent, but rather has a high level of ‘spiritual’ intelligence from experiences.
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So how do you know if you or someone you know is an old soul?
We all know that when it’s time to leave this earth, we take nothing physical with us. But what about knowledge and lessons learned? We are all spiritual beings, and through our soul’s repeated lifetime experiences, we accrue knowledge and experience that we do take with us into our next lives. Our soul’s experience and development across lifetimes and what we’ve learned from them is what determines our soul age. So, I would suspect that depending on how many other lives we’ve lived, determines how old our souls are, but there are exceptions, depending on the levels we’ve accomplished in each life.
Old souls have certainly garnered lots of life experience and lessons, which adds to the soul age. They have a deep understanding of the world both human and spiritual. But being an old soul is not solely determined by how many lifetimes we’ve lived, but, through those lifetimes, how much our souls have progressed through those life experiences.
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Determining a Soul’s Age
It is said there are five earthly soul ages – baby, child, young, mature, and old soul. Each of these five stages have seven levels. All spirits move through these levels with each new incarnation. One can have lived in many incarnations and a person can have lived more reincarnations than levels. After a person reaches all levels as an old soul, a new cycle begins on the astral plane where the spirit continues to learn without having yet another reincarnation.
Having learned lots of life experience through a soul’s journey, old souls garner the ability to see beyond words with their inner wisdom where their values and perspectives are influenced by acquired knowledge. Old souls become the teachers who guide the younger and less experienced souls with divine love and teaching. People who have an inner sense of knowing can sense the power of an old soul. . . continue reading at Sally’s blog to discover if you are an old soul.
Welcome to my Sunday Book Review. Two seasonal reads, today I’m sharing. Two heartfelt short story reads by Robbie Cheadle – The Christmas Bird, and D. L. Finn’s – A Long Walk Home. These are two short reads that are sure to touch our hearts and remind us about the spirit of Christmas.
The Deanne family is having a difficult time financially. Mr. Deanne’s business has failed and there is no money for Christmas presents and other luxuries. The family’s undernourished dogs discover a bird’s nest on Christmas Day and attack and kill the chicks. All except one tiny ball of fluff with luminous bright eyes like drops of oil. The baby bird is in shock, but the four Deanne girls try to save it. Will the Christmas Bird survive?
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My 5 Star Review:
My 5 Star Review:
Hard times in the Deanne family. Mr. Deanne scrounges up what he can, enough to buy two chickens and cherries for Christmas. This would be a great treat for the family with four daughters who haven’t had the luxury of a savory meal in awhile. Even their pet dogs were emaciated looking from a non substancial diet. So no doubts they found the nest up on a tree tempting and killed the brand new baby chicks – except one.
When the girls hear all the commotion out front with the dogs barking, the one tiny Hoopoe bird is still alive. The girls take care of him and nurse him back to health and name him Hoopie.
A few months later, Mr. Deanne picks up a new job, and the eldest daughter, Stella also gets a part-time job. When Easter rolls around, the mother announces they are all going on a beach holiday for school break. By then, Hoopie is home- trained, and they of course take him with them on vacation. Hoopie enjoyed flying around there freely. The girls worried he may fly away now that he learned to forage for his own food and they hadn’t seen him now for a few days. Hoopie does return and he goes back home with the family. Later Hoopie meets a mate. The girls are sad for Hoopie’s new independence, but realize he is a creature of the skies who must make a family of his own, so they build a nest in preparation for the one day Hoopie will come back to nest with family. Will he?
This is a lovely story about a loving family with kindness and nurturing for each other and their feathered friends.
All alone on Christmas Eve, Kenzie was feeling the betrayal of her recent break-up. While the sky was heavy with the dark clouds of an impending storm, she walked home from work to clear her head. Lost in her memories, Kenzie was completely unaware she was being followed by a man with green-eyes. Was this not-so-human being the good or evil that lurked around her? On the most magical night of the year, will Kenzie be able to save herself from that evil or will she need some divine inspiration? The outcome will depend on whether she can find the strength to forgive as the storm not only rages outside, but deep within her soul.
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My 5 Star Review:
This is a short heartfelt Christmas story with all the elements of the season – a blustery cold almost Christmas day, friendship, angels, furry friends, and one evil man to disrupt hearts, but is eventually rewarded with his due karma.
Kenzie is not having a good Christmas. Her fiance has dumped her, her parents are dead, and her best friend has betrayed her, leaving Kenzie feeling there isn’t much left for her to live for, when her guardian angel gives her a new reason to want to continue on.
Kenzie was ‘left at the altar’ so to speak, when her awful fiance Heath stiffs her days before her Christmas wedding day. If that wasn’t bad enough, she discovers her best friend is now the one to marry Heath. That’s a hard pill to swallow. But just as a furry litter of kittens has given Kenzie a new reason to soldier on, she discovers her now ex-bestie was dumped just as she was – a suspicious pattern of women being used. We discover more dirt on the dastardly Heath as the two girlfriends meet up serendipituously on a blustery Christmas Eve and discover Heath’s evil pattern. Will the spirit of Christmas bring these two friends back together? You will have to read on to find out.
Welcome to my December curated Writer’s Tips. In this edition, once again blogger Hugh Roberts has another in-depth post on tips for bloggers – Seven things that scare bloggers. Author Ruth Harris writes about The importance of writing first lines for our books. A.C. Flory has some Amazon news for authors. Promoting your book later, after a launch, by Book Buzz, and Printing Scams on Amazon – authors beware by The Kindlepreneur, Anne R. Allen on Critiquing 101 – Ten Best Tips.
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