Anthologies
My essays, “Over the River and Off the Beltway” and “Sharing Happiness” appear in Chicken Soup for the Soul: Military Families: 101 Stories about the Force behind the Forces.
This time, my stories offer heart-warming and hilarious glimpses into simple aspects of family life and how they are complicated by military service. Visits to grandmothers become more meaningful when they are rare due to military moves, and military spouses who must establish friendships in every new location can sometimes feel as if they’re in middle school again.
My essay, “Corny American Pride,” appears on page 307 of Chicken Soup for the Soul: The Spirit of America, a collection of 101 “feel good” stories about what makes America great.
I recount my family’s experiences with one special vegetable indigenous to this country: corn on the cob. “[M]y husband-to-be first laid eyes on me when I was sitting unladylike on the deck of a beach house, shucking corn. Unfortunately, I was covered in sand and my wet bangs had fallen into an unflattering middle part. Worse yet, my belly protruded between the top and bottom of my bathing suit. It took a shower, and considerable work with my curling iron, but I was able to win him over at dinner that evening, not without help from a heaping plate of delicious Silver Queen corn on the cob.”
My essay, “Secrets of My Success” appears in the new book Stories Around the Table: Laughter, Wisdom, and Strength in Military Life (Elva Resa Publishing 2014) to help military spouses not feel guilty (like I did) about managing a military family rather than pursuing a career.
“It took an argument with my fifteen-year-old son for me to realize that I was not a failure for not being able to manage my legal career while juggling the responsibilities of being a military wife and mother to three children, one of which had significant developmental delays. Military life is uniquely challenging with frequent moves, deployments, and constant change and unpredictability. Add a child with special needs to the situation, and it can seem downright impossible. Being a military spouse takes dedication, sacrifice, commitment, hard work, and a common sense of patriotism. But the rewards of being a military spouse are plentiful: honor, adventure, respect, and the knowledge that you are more resourceful, more intelligent, and stronger than you ever imagined.”
Over 40 military spouse authors are included in this book, to include Stars and Stripes’ Terri Barnes, Spousebuzz’s Jacey Eckhart, and Dinner with the Smileys author, Sarah Smiley.
My essay, “365 Days and Counting”, appears in Nancy Kennedy’s third compilation book, Miracles & Moments of Grace: Inspiring Stories from Moms, by Leafwood Publishers, 2013. Watch the trailer here, or read the Amazon summary:
“Hear touching and inspiring stories from women who have taken on the toughest, yet most rewarding, assignment of their lives–motherhood!
In Miracles & Moments of Grace: Inspiring Stories from Moms, fifty mothers–from new moms to seasoned moms–share their most memorable moments. From the hilarious to the heartbreaking, these stories reveal the depth of a mother’s love and her delight at wearing the title of ”Mom.”
One mother tells a lyrical bedtime tale of her daughter’s adoption. Another shares a stark story of taking in a runaway Amish boy. The mother of an autistic boy shares her story of three magical days with him, and yet another takes a startling phone call from her adult son, who has made a heart-stopping decision.
‘God believes in mothers,’ one woman says in relating the harrowing birth of her child. In these stories, God does indeed speak clearly to the heart of mothers. One mother awakens in the middle of the night burdened to pray for her son. Another mother hears a voice calling her to go to her pregnant daughter, no matter that they are separated by many miles. Lives are changed–and saved–by the faithful actions of loving mothers.
The mothers in these stories all have one thing in common–they adore their children, they are in awe of them at times, and they wouldn’t trade a single moment of their lives.”