Musing Moments

Thank you to #NetGalley for the opportunity to read and review this book! This story is about Yakira Mitchell, a young woman devoted to creating a home for discriminated Chinese American women at a low point in their lives.   It takes place during a time when Chinese essentially had no rights; 1880’s post-Civil War. Massive numbers of white Americans hated them and were barbaric towards them.   The story is about not only the political environment and culture of the period but also the perseverance of courageous others fighting this hatred.   Yakira and her close inner circle fought to try to overcome the obstacles in society.   It also reflects the Chinese’s deep faith.   Americans brought Chinese over to this land with them leaving everything they knew and loved behind to serve the needs of this country and for opportunities. They did menial tasks at low wages no one else wanted to do.  Once some of the significant jobs were complete, e.g. railroads ...

 With it being  #AutismAwarenessMonth, it is important to reflect on so many families touched by the challenges of having a special needs child or adult family member with this diagnosis. It is used, the diagnosis of autism,  for treatment protocol and to aid understanding.  But to use a label like autism to  define any human being exclusively is wrong.  Each one is so much more.  Please discourage those that put down special needs individuals to stop, ignorance in society hurts us all, especially those most venerable.   A video I made 11 years ago on my grandson Ty Ryan.  Click below: Video

 Thank you to #NetGalley and the author Tiffany Blaine for the opportunity to read an advanced copy! #WheretheWhiteLightBends  Publication Date:  May 12, 2026 This story opens with Margaret, a wife, mother and grandmother to what appears to be the perfect nuclear family. She's married to Artie, has two daughters, Julia and Sydnie and some grandchildren.  The story unfolds prior to a dinner party for the family at Julie’s gorgeous immaculate home with everything planned to the T by Julia, like everything else she does; perfection is her goal.   Over a relatively short period of time, the reader gets an inside look at the inner thoughts and feelings of the main characters.  The grandchildren also carry secrets and are often overshadowed by the adults in the room leaving little time for them to be as open with their parents as perhaps they would like.   Thus, cracks in the family show at all levels.  Artie does not show up at the dinner par...

  Too often people forget that old adage KISS . It bears remembering and keeping it foremost in your mind! Today people have such a low attention span and get bored so easily. Sometimes the more you say, the more lost people get.   (Claim: Guilty on both counts!).   This causes most listeners to tune out and miss the point.   Think about that before you ask a loved one, “Did you hear what I said?” The same thing is true in written communication. I once had a boss that told me my emails to prospective clients needed have every other word cut, in some cases sentences.   When I did as he suggested, I quickly found the message was more precise. My previous blog had hundreds of followers from multiple countries.  My entries were longer. That was then, this is now. As years have passed, I had to change as our culture has, we live in a fast-paced society!   I’m an avid reader.   However, did you know when I see a book over 500 pages, I will not rea...

  I am reading a book called The Paper Bracelet by Rachael English. It is excellent and has stimulated quite a bit of dialogue in my home. The book delves into many unwed mothers in Ireland who were put in a home for young unwed mothers to spend their pregnancy under the tutelage of nuns. Babies were given paper bracelets for identification and then these mothers were forced to give up their babies to adoptive parents. Years later, this historical fiction story tells the tale of discovering roots between these moms and their grown children. My stepson, Dan was adopted as a newborn. I met him when he was 18, and married his divorced adoptive father.   I saw firsthand some of the concerns around adoption, feelings children sometimes experience of questioning why they were given up, how would their live have played out if they were with their original biological mother, anger for some strange reason at their adoptive parents or at their blood mothers for their feelings of havi...

  So mysterious and hard to visualize that she is not sure if she should be afraid. Like a lion in the forest, he comes out of nowhere.   He makes little noise.   She double checks the windows and the doors.   In the still of the night, everything seems amplified.   She has been somewhat expecting this to happen to her, it does to so many, she just didn’t know when.   She tip toes through the house with her flashlight and her cell phone in hand preset to dial 9-1-1. As she turns the corner into the kitchen, there stands the Easter Bunny!

Some of us are blessed to have an angel of a friend in our life. Someone who takes the good parts of our personality and the bad but maintains unconditional respect and love for you. Hang on to those kind of friends. It is truly empowering.   https://youtu.be/f0J2HmhjDKU

  Each of us deserves to be accepted regardless of how different we are. This month, Autism Awareness Month is a wonderful reminder that differences don’t necessarily define us as everyone varies, even in the spectrum of autism.     1st Video I did for my grandson, click here