Hello, readers!
My apologies to my faithful readers–I haven’t posted anything in more than a month! But, please know, I HAVE been working. I’ve just published my teen self-help book, YOU 101: AN ABC GUIDE TO BEING YOUR BEST TEEN SELF NOW (Moon Howler Press). I also just re-published AMAZING TEXAS: FASCINATING FACTS, ENTERTAINING TALES, BIZARRE HAPPENINGS AND HISTORICAL ODDITIES ABOUT THE LONE STAR STATE. Both are available on Amazon.
For you struggling writers out there, keep trying! You only fail when you quit, my dad always said. So, dear struggling writers, when you feel yourself doubting your abilities, do this: sit down and write. Or, use a micro-cassette recorder and record your thoughts, to write down later. Or, for you whose cell phone is permanently attached to your body, use your phone to record your thoughts. Read about writing. Read other writers. Offer to edit someone else’s work. All these are stepping-stones to the land we call Perfection.
Today’s a special day for those who are mothers. Mother’s Day was officially recognized 102 years ago, but it has been celebrated by ancient Greeks and Romans. One thing I didn’t know before doing research on this topic is this: In the 1850s in West Virginia a woman named Ann Reeves Jarvis held Mother’s Day work clubs to improve health conditions for women and children in order to lower the infant mortality rate. Babies and toddlers were dying of milk contamination and living in unsanitary conditions. During the American Civil War, this same group tended wounded soldiers (on both sides). Afterward, they began celebrating this day with picnics and actions to promote peace, and it was then called Mother’s Friendship Day.
Tomorrow, don’t just celebrate your mother: there are so many women who’ve influenced the lives of perhaps thousands of people. One person, a coworker at my school, is an assistant principal (we’ll just call her Janie). She has no children of her own, but every day, she oversees the actions and lives of approximately 1,500 young people. She disciplines them when they need it, comforts them when they are hurting, mentors them in working toward their life goals, and helps them out in a myriad of ways. She is a hero and a mother in every sense of the word.
So, tomorrow, celebrate someone who’s had a positive impact in your life and helped you in some way. Surprise them! See what happens. And Happy Mother’s Day. ALL you women.
