The Bedroom #Poetry #Tuesday Tidbit

At three in the morning,

I’m mildly aroused

by the gentle touch of his hand.

He only has one good arm and leg,

still knows how to please me.

As he strokes me,

and I breathe the scent of his sweat,

I purr with anticipation.

But the mood is shattered when he whispers, “I need to pee.”

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The above poem appears in the current issue of Magnets and Ladders, an online magazine featuring work by disabled authors. This poem is also in my collection, How to Build a Better Mousetrap: Recollections and Reflections of a Family Caregiver. Click here to listen to me read it.

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By the way, for those of you who use the National Library Services for the Blind and Print Disabled, The Red Dress is available for download from their site here. No matter how you read it, please be sure to review it wherever you can. That goes for all my books. Thank you for stopping by. Stay safe, happy, and healthy, and may you always have positive experiences.

New! The Red Dress

Copyright July 2019 by DLD Books

When Eve went to her high school senior prom, she wore a red dress that her mother had made for her. That night, after dancing with the boy of her dreams, she caught him in the act with her best friend. Months later, Eve, a freshman in college, is bullied into giving the dress to her roommate. After her mother finds out, their relationship is never the same again.

Twenty-five years later, Eve, a bestselling author, is happily married with three children. Although her mother suffers from dementia, she still remembers, and Eve still harbors the guilt for giving the dress away. When she receives a Facebook friend request from her old college roommate and an invitation to her twenty-five-year high school class reunion, then meets her former best friend by chance, she must confront the past in order to face the future.

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Service and Devotion #It’s Six-Sentence Story Thursday Link-up

For six years, I was compelled to serve my late husband Bill, not because we were living in the Dark Ages, where that was all women did, but because Bill was partially paralyzed by two strokes and could do little for himself. I brought him food and drink, situated him at his computer so he could check email and download books onto his portable reader, transferred him from wheelchair to recliner where he enjoyed those books or a ball game, took him outside in favorable weather, lifted him onto the toilet when he needed to go, and tucked him into bed each night. I also gave him plenty of love, and he served it to me in return. I don’t regret those six years of service and devotion as a caregiver. Despite the unpleasant tasks I had to perform, those were happy years for me. I think Bill was also content. 

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You can read more of our story in My Ideal Partner: How I Met, Married, and Cared for the Man I Loved Despite Debilitating Odds. Thanks to Girlie on the Edge for inspiring the above with her six-sentence story prompt for this week. If you’d like to participate in her blog hop, click here.

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By the way, for those of you who use the National Library Service for the Blind and Print Disabled, The Red Dress is available for download from their site here. No matter how you read it, please be sure to review it wherever you can. That goes for all my books. Thank you for stopping by. Stay safe, happy, and healthy.

New! The Red Dress

Copyright July 2019 by DLD Books

When Eve went to her high school senior prom, she wore a red dress that her mother had made for her. That night, after dancing with the boy of her dreams, she caught him in the act with her best friend. Months later, Eve, a freshman in college, is bullied into giving the dress to her roommate. After her mother finds out, their relationship is never the same again.

Twenty-five years later, Eve, a bestselling author, is happily married with three children. Although her mother suffers from dementia, she still remembers, and Eve still harbors the guilt for giving the dress away. When she receives a Facebook friend request from her old college roommate and an invitation to her twenty-five-year high school class reunion, then meets her former best friend by chance, she must confront the past in order to face the future.

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My Caregiving Journey #It’s Six-Sentence Story Thursday Link-Up

In January of 2006, three months after we were married, my late husband Bill suffered the first of two strokes that paralyzed his left side. After several months in a nursing home, therapists determined that he’d reached a plateau and there was nothing more they could do for him. I found a house that could be modified for a wheelchair, and, after the necessary renovations were completed, I brought Bill home in September of 2006. He started outpatient therapy at another facility, and we hoped he would eventually get back on his feet, but in January of 2007, he suffered a second stroke, not as severe. After a couple more months of inpatient rehabilitation, he came home and returned to the outpatient facility. One day in August, when he said the therapists had given up on him and he would never walk again, I resolved to take care of him for the rest of our lives, and what a journey that was!

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Thanks to Girlie on the Edge’s six-sentence story prompt for this week, which inspired the above. To learn how you can participate, click here. You can read more about my caregiving journey in My Ideal Partner, which, along with The Red Dress, is available for free this week from Smashwords. See below for details.

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I’m pleased to announce that from now until March 13^th, The Red Dress and My Ideal Partner are available from Smashwords for free as part of Read an eBook Month. You can click here to download these books.

 

By the way, for those of you who use the National Library Service for the Blind and Print Disabled, The Red Dress is available for download from their site here. No matter how you read it, please be sure to review it wherever you can. That goes for all my books. Thank you for stopping by. Stay safe, happy, and healthy.

New! The Red Dress

Copyright July 2019 by DLD Books

When Eve went to her high school senior prom, she wore a red dress that her mother had made for her. That night, after dancing with the boy of her dreams, she caught him in the act with her best friend. Months later, Eve, a freshman in college, is bullied into giving the dress to her roommate. After her mother finds out, their relationship is never the same again.

Twenty-five years later, Eve, a bestselling author, is happily married with three children. Although her mother suffers from dementia, she still remembers, and Eve still harbors the guilt for giving the dress away. When she receives a Facebook friend request from her old college roommate and an invitation to her twenty-five-year high school class reunion, then meets her former best friend by chance, she must confront the past in order to face the future.

***

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Hemorrhage #Poetry #Tuesday Tidbit

Barely coherent, drenched in sweat, he lay on the floor. “What happened?” I asked. His response was unintelligible.

“I don’t need to go to the hospital,” he told the paramedics. “but if my wife wants me to go, I guess I will.”

“The stroke was caused by bleeding on the right side of his brain,” said the doctor. “He may need surgery.”

“In this case, surgery won’t help,” another doctor told us. “We’ll just have to wait and see.”

“He’s not strong enough to participate in our rehabilitation program,” said the social worker. “He’ll have to go to a nursing home.”

“I don’t know how much you’ll recover or how long it will take,” a third doctor said. “Continue the therapy, and watch your blood pressure.”

“We’ll work on strengthening your legs and try to get you up and moving,” the therapist promised him.

“They’ve given up on me. I don’t think I’ll ever walk again.”

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The above was recently published in The Writer’s Grapevine, a publication produced by TELL-IT-TO-THE-WORLD Marketing, containing prose, poetry, and advertisements. To subscribe, send a blank email to:  writersgv+subscribe@groups.io  This poem also appears in my collection, How to Build a Better Mousetrap: Recollections and Reflections of a Family Caregiver. You can click the Play button below to hear me read it.

By the way, for those of you who use the National Library Service for the Blind and Print Disabled, The Red Dress is available for download from their site here. No matter how you read it, please be sure to review it wherever you can. That goes for all my books. Thank you for stopping by. Stay safe, happy, and healthy.

New! The Red Dress

Copyright July 2019 by DLD Books

When Eve went to her high school senior prom, she wore a red dress that her mother had made for her. That night, after dancing with the boy of her dreams, she caught him in the act with her best friend. Months later, Eve, a freshman in college, is bullied into giving the dress to her roommate. After her mother finds out, their relationship is never the same again.

Twenty-five years later, Eve, a bestselling author, is happily married with three children. Although her mother suffers from dementia, she still remembers, and Eve still harbors the guilt for giving the dress away. When she receives a Facebook friend request from her old college roommate and an invitation to her twenty-five-year high school class reunion, then meets her former best friend by chance, she must confront the past in order to face the future.

***

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My Amazon Author Page

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The Red Stuff #Essay #Reblog

For six years, despite my limited vision, I cared for my late husband, who was totally blind and suffered two strokes that paralyzed his left side soon after we were married. Bill was so finicky that mealtime was often a nightmare because he didn’t always want to eat what I wanted to fix. So, I had to scramble to find a substitute for him while still enjoying what I wanted to eat.

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Read the rest on Recovering the Self.

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By the way, for those of you who use the National Library Service for the Blind and Print Disabled, The Red Dress is available for download from their site here. No matter how you read it, please be sure to review it wherever you can. That goes for all my books. Thank you for stopping by. Stay safe, happy, and healthy.

New! The Red Dress

Copyright July 2019 by DLD Books

When Eve went to her high school senior prom, she wore a red dress that her mother had made for her. That night, after dancing with the boy of her dreams, she caught him in the act with her best friend. Months later, Eve, a freshman in college, is bullied into giving the dress to her roommate. After her mother finds out, their relationship is never the same again.

Twenty-five years later, Eve, a bestselling author, is happily married with three children. Although her mother suffers from dementia, she still remembers, and Eve still harbors the guilt for giving the dress away. When she receives a Facebook friend request from her old college roommate and an invitation to her twenty-five-year high school class reunion, then meets her former best friend by chance, she must confront the past in order to face the future.

***

My Books

My Amazon Author Page

Facebook

Website