Share Your Family Stories! I Share Mine In My Little Books Of Southern Poems !

November is Family Stories Month. It is a time to reflect on the silly, funny and serious stories that help define our families.

These stories help/helped make us who/what we are.

Some are small anecdotes that bring us happy memories of someone, or some moment in time. But they are all important. And they are all worth sharing.

Every family has thousands of stories. Most of us could write an epic novel based on a few family members' personal stories, alone ! 

So many of us grew up hearing stories of the things that our parents and grandparents did and how they lived when they were younger. Telling these stories will remind us of the things that have shaped our lives, and give younger listeners insight into their own family tree.  
Family History Month is a great time to explore and share our ancestry.


Collecting and sharing family stories is a wonderful activity for the whole family. It is a good time to encourage the kids to write down the many stories that you and other people in the family have to tell. They can collect pictures, interview family member, write stories, and even create a book compiled from the collected stories.

It is a great time to take the opportunity to sit down with older family members of the family and ask them about their stories. You will undoubtedly learn something about them that you didn’t know before.  When loved ones pass on, their stories will help to keep their memory alive. Sharing family stories is a great way to stay connected to your relatives, and creates a tradition of sharing and storytelling that can last for generations. 


I am so blessed that my family has always been a family of "storytellers" From the time that I was very young, I can remember that at every family gathering, after the traditional family meal, the storytelling would begin. It remains the same to this day. I have made many of my family stories and my own personal stories into poems, contained in my books Reflections of a Mississippi Magnolia and My Magnolia Memories. 


I was recently up early, talking with my mother about something in the news...which led to something else ...which led to something else ( as it ALWAYS does) Then, she started telling me the story about when she and Daddy worked in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania during the summers of their college years..

Before she went fully into the story that we started with, she asked ...Have I told you about this yet?  My parents have been telling me family stories since I can remember ...So, Of course she had told this one many times ..... but every time I hear a story, there are always new details.  I cannot believe that after almost 50 years, every time they tell me a familiar story, there is more and more and more to it !  Anyway, this time, she was telling me the details about her working at a Girl's Home and Daddy working at an ice cream Company (Sealtest ) , She even remembered the name of one of the girls, Esther, and was telling me about how she was the only one who could really talk to her and get her to not act out. Of course, as I usually do I asked a million questions... what street did you live on ..what was the name of the ice cream company ect....She didn't remember some of those details so, as usual she said : ..."Ask your Daddy he remembers all those things."And he always does !!! He remembers everything!

They are very good a "tag-team " storytelling

I jumped up to ask him a few things ...wrote it down...then got back to my Mama's story . When we were on a whole new set of stories ...which stemmed from the first one, I kept hearing a lot of noise in the other room. After I finished my session with my mother, I went back to see Daddy again. He had pulled out a big briefcase with lots of old papers , including the check stubs and W2 forms ...in their original envelopes from their jobs in Philadelphia (1958)..which led to me going through all of the other papers.. which led to more stories...

Explore Your Family Stories ! 
          Cherish Your Family Stories ! 
                     Share Your Family Stories ! 

I AM SO THANKFUL FOR MY SOUTHERN LIFE!

November has been designated as I Am So Thankful Month.


It is dedicated to giving thanks and counting your blessings daily. 

It is a time that many people share with others the things they are thankful for in "30 Days of Thankfulness"

I am SO thankful for SO many things in my life ...Past and Present.

I share many of those things in my poetry and in my books, Reflections of a Mississippi Magnolia and My Magnolia Memories and Musings.

One of the major things that I am so very thankful for is the beautiful southern life that I have been blessed to live. Although many people outside of the region will never understand why this life is and has been so endearing, most southerners know exactly what I am talking about and what I mean.

There is something very special about growing up southern.

Mississippi, especially is and always has been a very magical place to me. I cannot imagine that it could be possible for me to have been as happy, growing up anywhere else or any way else.
The south is so much a part of who I am.

I Am So Thankful for my southern life !

That is why I am so passionate about "Always, Always Celebrating the South and Promoting a Positive Mississippi" 

What are you thankful for?

BLOG HOP....About This Mississippi Author...Me !

I have been asked by children's book author Pat Brannon to participate in a blog hop to introduce readers to new audiences.
Below are my answers to the Blog Hop questions. Enjoy ! 


BLOG HOP- What's going on with me.

1.)  What are you working on right now?

Much of my time is spent working on promoting both of my books, Reflections of a Mississippi Magnolia-A Life In Poems and My Magnolia Memories and Musings-In Poems with the overall message behind them, of "Celebrating the South and Promoting a Positive Mississippi ."  I do many speaking engagements all around the state, using my books as a platform to further that message.  It is something that I am very passionate about.   Also, I have been continuously compiling and writing poems for my third book, Mississippi In Me-Poems and More, which I hope to have published possibly by early 2015. It will be the final book in a trilogy, of sorts. 

2.)  How does your writing process work?

I don't really have any formal process for my writing/poems.  I usually am inspired by something happening around me or a memory of something from the past that is triggered ...and the muse hits!
There are very few poems, in either one of my books, that were written because I sat down with the intention to write them.  My very first poem was written in 2007 when I was awakened out of my sleep with a poem swirling around in my head. I got up and quickly scribbled it down.  From then on, most of my poems have come to me in a very spontaneous manner.

3.)  Who are authors that you most admire?

There are so many authors that I admire and am inspired by.
One of my very favorites is Maya Angelou ! I absolutely love her knowledge, her wisdom and her style.

4.)  Where do you turn for instruction and inspiration? 

Most of what I write is simply inspired by this beautiful state and region that I am blessed to call home.  Most of my inspiration naturally springs from the great love that I have for this place and the people.
The bible says "out of the overflow of the heart the mouth speaks" ... 
With me, it just also happens to "speak" through the pen.

  

    Please do visit Pat's blog to check out her answers, too ! 

 

WHO IS YOUR FAVORITE SOUTHERN AUTHOR?

There are so many wonderful southern authors! The South is known for great writers. Eudora Welty, a renowned Mississippi writer, once said that there are so many great writers in the south because they never have to make anything up ! I agree ! (smile) One of Mississippi's own, William Faulkner, received the Noble Prize for Literature. One of the all time favorite, classic southern reads is To Kill A Mockingbird, by Harper Lee.   And, who doesn't love John Grisham novels?
People come from all over the world to visit Faulkner's home, outside of Oxford, Mississippi and Lee's hometown of Monroeville, Alabama.

DID YOU KNOW... November 1st has been designated as National Author's Day.?

The idea of setting aside a day to celebrate American authors came from Nellie Verne Burt McPherson, president of the Bement (Illinois) Women's Club in 1928. McPherson was a teacher and an avid reader throughout her life. During World War I, when she was recuperating in a hospital, she wrote a fan letter to fiction writer Irving Bacheller, telling him how much she had enjoyed his story, "Eben Holden's Last Day A'Fishin." Bacheller sent her an autographed copy of another story, and McPherson realized that she could never adequately thank him for his gift.  Instead, she showed her appreciation by submitting an idea for a National Author's Day to the General Federation of Women's Clubs, which passed a resolution setting aside November 1 as a day to honor American writers.  In 1949 the day was recognized by the U.S. Department of Commerce.  Sue Cole, McPherson's granddaughter, was largely responsible for promoting the observation of National Author's Day after her grandmother's death in 1968.  She has urged people to write a note to their favorite author on this day to "brighten up the sometimes lonely business of being a writer." 



Some other ideas of ways to celebrate National Author's Day might include:

Supporting a favorite author by purchasing his /her book(s)
Sharing a favorite book with a friend
Advertising/Introducing a favorite author 's books to friends and family
Giving a copy of a favorite author's book as a gift to a friend
It does not matter if your favorite author is famous or not .
It is simply a time set aside to appreciate their works and contributions...and his/her effect on your life.

 

So...Who are some of your favorite authors?
Although, it is hard to pick just one out of so many great authors, most of us can easily come up with at least two or three authors that we really love.
I hope that I make the list for at least a few of you ! (smile) Share the love ! 

 

MY LOVE AFFAIR WITH THE SOUTH - It's Real Love !

Everyone knows that my mantra is .....

 "Always, Always Celebrating the South and 
Promoting a Positive Mississippi".  

I use my books and poems as a platform to emphasize and highlight the positive things about Mississippi and the south, rather than all of the negatives usually portrayed.  In one of the earliest reviews of my first book Reflections of a Mississippi Magnolia (2008), the reviewer dubbed it, "a love letter to the South" I totally agreed with that analysis.

It really took me by surprise, recently, when a friend told me that she had been asked by someone if I was really REAL about what I was saying.  The friend immediately told her that I was as real as real can get and as real as they come!  I thank her for saying that, because that is the way I try to be about everything I say and do, not just regarding my love of Mississippi and the South.

I think that it surprised me most, because it sort of implied that I was making up the things that I was saying just to help promote or sell books.  That could not be further from the truth.

First of all, it is not a very popular stance among a lot of people. Most people outside of the South seem to feel that there are no redeeming qualities at all, for the region below the Mason Dixon Line.  There are even many who live in the South who have gotten caught up in the trend of accenting all of the negatives without any regard for the rest.   Some ridiculous survey done earlier this year asking which states would people most like to kick out of the union (The U.S.), Mississippi and Alabama were the top two on the list.   And most of the others states on the list were southern.  Southern-bashing had almost become an Olympic sport!   It has been practiced and perfected into an art !  Almost all of the movies, films, books, and documentaries about the South,  overwhelmingly portray a negative image or have a decidedly negative slant to them.  Most people accept, maintain and even relish a negative view of the South.

Secondly, this passionate "love affair" with the South and things southern is nothing new to me.  It is something that has been going on since I was in my late teens.  I have certainly had this love inside of me all of my life.  But, I must admit, I really didn't know how MUCH I loved or appreciated the South until I was away from her for an extended period of time.   When I went away to school at Boston University, I gained a whole new perspective and appreciation of my homeland.  It became my soap box topic to "preach" about.  Whenever my friends saw me coming, they knew exactly what we were going to talk about. They knew that they were going to be "schooled" on some of the finer points of the South and set straight on some of the many misconceptions that they had.  It was not uncommon to hear someone yelling my nickname, "Mississippi", across campus.  I totally and proudly " repped " (represented) for her !

Some people cannot even imagine how and why I feel the way I do about my home state and region.  I totally understand their views, considering all of the negatives that they have been bombarded with.

Hopefully,  I can change a few hearts and minds along the way to just even give our region a fighting chance, before totally disregarding, dismissing and disregarding her beauty.   More than anything I want to introduce the fact that there are so many things to love about the South, that there are many people who love her and that the love that they have is really REAL! . 

 

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BOOKS AVAILABLE ON AMAZON:

 http://tinyurl.com/reflections-pnd 

http://tinyurl.com/magnolia-mem-pnd 

My "Little Books of Southern Poems" Have Benefited Greatly From The Kindness of Strangers

Sweetest Day, observed on the 3rd Saturday in the month of October (this year October 19th), was originally begun to honor sweethearts, close friends, relatives or employees with special gift of sweets or chocolate. Sweetest Day was first organized by candy manufacturers to promote the health benefits of eating candy and chocolate everyday. 

Sweetest Day has become a time to honor/recognize/remember friends, relatives and associates whose helpfulness and kindness we have enjoyed. 


I am sure that we have heard the saying: "I have always depended on the kindness of strangers"
The statement uttered and made famous by character Blanche DuBois in Tennessee Williams' play, "A Street Car Named Desire", rings very true for me in my literary journey of publishing and promoting my "two little books of southern poems"...or more affectionately known as my "my book babies". 

Strangers have played a tremendous part in helping me to further my message of "Celebrating the South and Promoting a Positive Mississippi ". The contributions of these "strangers" (and now considered friends) have been invaluable.
I would venture to say that up to 90% of my book signings /speaking engagements have come from Facebook friends or referrals from Facebook friends, whom I had never met before the event. 

One social networking friend, who did one of the first articles/reviews of Reflections in her newsletter in late 2008 or early 2009, called it "a celebration of the south". That phrase stuck with me and I use it to this day to describe both of my books. 

I have shared many times how grateful I am to a dear Facebook friend, Debra Estep from Ohio who makes beautiful graphics for my poems.  Her artistic talents have helped to make my poems much more easily shared over social media sites. 
                      
Also, I have many Facebook and social media friends who have been extremely supportive of my work over many years and share, share, share my poems consistently to everyone that they know.  Many are often giving me tips and leads on how I can further the reach of my poems and my message.  I can hardly begin to express how greatly these people have been and are appreciated ! 

Beautiful Watercolor magnolias by Debra Estep that are on many of my poem graphics

BOOKS AVAILABLE ON AMAZON:
http://tinyurl.com/reflections-pnd  
http://tinyurl.com/magnolia-mem-pnd


NOTE: Did You Know ...

Tennessee Williams was born in Columbus, MISSISSIPPI.
Williams described his childhood in Mississippi as pleasant and happy.  But life changed for him when his family moved to St. Louis, Missouri. The carefree nature of his boyhood was stripped in his new urban home, and as a result Williams turned inward and started to write.
When he was 28, Williams moved to New Orleans, where he changed his name (he landed on Tennessee because his father hailed from there) and revamped his lifestyle, soaking up the city life that would inspire his work, most notably the later play,  A Streetcar Named Desire.
Williams adapted much of his best work for the cinema, and also wrote short stories, poetry, essays and a volume of memoirs. On March 31, 1945, his play, The Glass Menagerie, opened on Broadway and two years later A Streetcar Named Desire earned Williams his first Pulitzer Prize.
His work reached world-wide audiences in the early 1950s when The Glass Menagerie and A Streetcar Named Desire were made into motion pictures. Later plays also adapted for the screen included Cat on a Hot Tin Roof, The Rose Tattoo, Orpheus Descending, The Night of the Iguana, Sweet Bird of Youth, and Summer and Smoke.




In honor of my "SWEET" Ohio friend Debra  .........

Sweetest Day - National Holiday Founded in Cleveland Ohio

Sweetest Day, observed on the third Saturday of October, was started in Cleveland in 1922 by candy employee and philanthropist, Herbert Birch Kingston as a way to give something or do something nice to those less fortunate than ourselves. Originally called "The Sweetest Day of the Year," Sweetest Day has evolved into a romantic holiday, similar to Valentine's Day.

History:

The first Sweetest Day came out of one man's desire to do something "sweet" for Cleveland's orphans and unfortunate residents. With the help of movie stars, Theda Bara and Ann Pennington, Herbert Birch Kingston, delivered thousands of boxes of candy throughout the city. Begun in 1922, the holiday, observed on the third Saturday of each month, became popular during the bleak economic times of the Great Depression.

Sweetest Day Today:

Although it started as a regional holiday, Clevelanders have taken the custom with them as they moved around the country. Today, Ohio still tops the list in sales of Sweetest Day cards, but other states on the top ten list include California, Texas, and Florida. Over the years, the holiday has evolved into a day to celebrate romantic love, similar to Valentine's Day.

 

October is National Family History Month ....Tell Those Family Stories

Utah Senator Orrin Hatch introduced a resolution on September 12, 2001 to designate October as Family History Month. 

The words of the resolution read: 

"We look to the family as an unwavering symbol of constancy that will help us discover a future of prosperity, promise, and potential".  The resolution went on to say: "Interest in our personal family history transcends all cultural and religious affiliations.
It passed by unanimous consent.


Family History Month is a great opportunity to learn about your heritage while making new memories with your family.  It is a time to consider how you might become more engaged in learning about and preserving your family history and heritage. 
It is a perfect time to compile your own memories and begin gathering other family stories.  Every family has its own history - the events, personalities, and traditions that make the family unique - and collecting these singular stories and memories is one of the most meaningful ways you and your family can honor your older relatives and preserve family traditions.
Recording family stories on audiotape, videotape, or in legacy journals, brings family members closer together, bridges generation gaps, and ensures that your family stories will be preserved for future generations.  Whenever I speaker to audiences, 
I stress the importance of "Telling Your Story" to pass on to future generations. Through telling specifically your family's stories, you also give a greater insight into the general times, and circumstances in which you and they lived. 


On my website I write : Storytelling is a special folk art.  To me, folk art is simply art made/performed by ordinary "folk" for ordinary "folk".  Folk artists attempt to freeze their memories into their art and help to preserve the culture and customs of everyday life.  With Reflections and Magnolia Memories, I hope to offer a time capsule, of sorts, for future generations, giving a glimpse into the everyday lives of everyday people in our region. 
I place my books in the category of creative memoir writing . I use my poems to "Tell My Story".
 


Some ideas to get started telling your family's story might include :

Writing a biographical sketch. 
Sharing someone's life story. 
Sharing a story from your youth.  Telling stories about life when you were a child. 
 Recording the history of your family heirlooms. 
Recording the origin of things and stories about how you came to have them.  Compiling a cookbook of favorite family recipes and any stories that go with them.  Making copies of family photos. 
Scrap-booking Your Family Heritage.

 

You can read more of my stories and stories of the south in my books:

 

BOOKS AVAILABLE ON AMAZON:

 http://tinyurl.com/reflections-pnd 

 http://tinyurl.com/magnolia-mem-pnd

OCTOBER is National Book Month...Try Some Southern Poems

  OCTOBER is National Book Month! 


Started by the National Book Foundation as a way to get Americans reading, National Book Month is a great reason to explore new books. Libraries, newspapers, and other organizations gear up to promote reading during October. 

Why read? 

Books can transport the reader to different places and times, introduce one to new people, and teach while entertaining.
During National Book Month, there are countless ways for schools and families across the country to use the month-long celebration to nurture reading through projects, challenges and promotions all centered on books. Some suggested activities for families or schools might include a book swap – a social time for students and their families to bring in books to exchange with other families. 

Teachers can also have students vote on a class favorite book, and then decorate the classroom door to represent the winning book. Another way to inspire reading and writing might be to invite a local author to speak to the class. In addition, students could send letters or emails to their favorite author, asking questions about their books. Also, another great idea might be for teachers to assign family reading as a homework assignment. Students could write reports on how a book affected each member of his or her family. 


   Other ideas for students: 

Put together a newsletter as an English class project to circulate through the school school.  Articles can discuss students' favorite books and authors, information on the local library, or how to celebrate National Book Month. 
Art projects:  Each classroom can decorate a door based on a book, which every student has read. Classroom with the best decorations wins a pizza party. 
Book Trivia:   Instead of a spelling bee, students answer questions about books and authors previously assigned as homework.

National Reading Group Month is also celebrated in October. 

The celebration salutes reading groups and seeks to foster their growth along with, promoting the love of literature.  National Reading Group Month is an initiative of the Women's National Book Association.   Founded in 1917, WNBA promotes literacy, a love of reading, and women's roles in the community of the book.   National Reading Group Month augments the WNBA’s mission to promote the value of books and reading. 
Through this initiative the organization aims to foster the values reading groups encourage: camaraderie, enjoyment of shared reading, and appreciation of literature and reading as conduits for transmitting culture and advancing civic engagement.

 

BOOKS AVAILABLE ON AMAZON:

 http://tinyurl.com/reflections-pnd 

http://tinyurl.com/magnolia-mem-pnd

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M is for MISSISSIPPI and the MUPPETS

DID YOU KNOW...

Jim Henson, creator of the Muppets, was born in Greenville, Mississippi ....September 24, 1936.
 
He spent his early childhood in Leland, Mississippi moving with his family to Hyattsville, Maryland, near Washington, D.C., in the late 1940s. In 1954 while attending Northwestern High School, he began working for WTOP-TV, creating puppets for a Saturday morning children's show called The Junior Morning Show. After graduating from high school, Henson enrolled at the University of Maryland, College Park, as a studio arts major, thinking he might become a commercial artist . A puppetry class offered in the applied arts department introduced him to the craft and textiles courses in the College of Home Economics, He graduated in 1960 with a B.S. in home economics. As a freshman, he had been asked to create Sam and Friends, a 5-minute puppet show for WRC-TV. The characters on Sam and Friends were forerunners of Muppets, and the show included a prototype of Henson's most famous character: Kermit the Frog Henson would remain at WRC for seven years from 1954 to 1961 In 1969, Joan Ganz Cooney and the team at the Children's Television Workshop asked Henson to work on Sesame Street, Part of the show included a series of skits with Henson's funny, colorful puppet characters. They became wildly popular.

In 1994 Kermit the Frog was donated to the Smithsonian National Museum of American History . Last week , on Jim Henson's birthday, the Henson family announced it would be donating 21 of Henson’s other cherished puppets from “The Muppet Show,” “Sesame Street” and other shows and films—a group that includes Elmo, the Swedish Chef, Fozzie Bear and, Miss Piggy. Fans of the Muppets will be able to see some of these latest additions to the collection, beginning in December, in a new exhibition on puppetry. The Count, Oscar the Grouch and others will be showcased first with other Muppets rotating in every few months. Miss Piggy will be a part of the museum’s permanent “American Stories” exhibition. There is. also, a small Jim Henson/Muppets Museum in Leland, MS located on the locally well-known Deer Creek. 

FALL, In The South , Means Fairs , Football and Beautiful Foliage

Yesterday was the first day of Fall. There is a joke that says the four seasons in Mississippi are Almost Summer, Summer, Still Summer and Christmas . Although this is very close to the truth, because of our nearly tropical climate, we do acknowledge the traditional changing of the seasons. Contrary to what many believe , we do have beautiful changing of the leaves here , displaying fully all of the beautiful colors of Fall . . New England takes pride in it's awesome display of autumn leaves, but, we too, have some extraordinarily beautiful foliage this time of the year, especially along the Natchez Trace.

Fall Foliage along the Natchez Trace 

Here, in the south, everyone knows that Fall might not necessarily mean much cooler days ...Fall does mean Football ...and lots of it. College football is King and the SEC ( Southeastern Conference ) reigns supreme in the minds of most southerners. For some it is practically a religion. Another common saying pertaining to Southerners goes: "We Love God, Sweet Tea and the SEC".

Of course, along with any major function, southerners must have FOOD... and lots of it.  Southerners have perfected football tailgating into an art form.  For those above the Mason-Dixon Line who don't know what tailgating is, the Wikipedia definition says : A tailgate party is a social event held on and around the open tailgate of a vehicle.  (In the south, that means trucks...and lots of trucks) Tailgating, often involves consuming alcoholic beverages and grilling food.  Tailgate parties usually occur in the parking lots at stadiums and arenas, before and occasionally after games and concerts.  People attending such a party are said to be tailgating.  






Other people in other regions might tailgate, but southerners take it to a whole other level.
One author friend wrote in her blog about southerners:
We are not casual... Not in clothes, manners, or entertaining. All the rest of the world may go to the grocery store in pajama pants and big t-shirts, but we dress up for nearly everything. We say ma’am and sir. We don’t think being “ladylike” is something to be mocked. Tailgate parties in the Ole Miss Grove include tents equipped with chandeliers and chafing dishes.

Fall also means Fairs...and lots of them.  Around this time, fairs pop up in almost every little town and hollow around the south. The two major fairs in our area have always been the Mississippi Alabama Fair and Dairy Show and the Mid South Fair. We always went to the Mississippi Fair and Dairy Show. It was held at the Fairgrounds off of East Main Street ...which is now Fairpark, and the location of our City Hall. The Mid South Fair was a much bigger deal and meant traveling to Memphis. When I was growing up, school began after Labor Day and Fair Day followed very soon after . On Fair Day , all of the students were let out of the school for the day .It was like another holiday . My friends and I would make extensive plans about what we would wear, where and when we would meet, and what we would ride. I always have warm, fond memories of those joyous, carefree times.