Category Archives: Humor and health

Dear Baltimore …

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“It’s your reaction to your adversity, not the adversity itself, that will determine how your life’s story develops.” ~ Dieter F Uchtdorf

Dear Baltimore ~ You provided me with many fulfilling memories of my years of growing up in your suburbs. If  I had to sum it up, I couldn’t have said it any better … Raised in Maryland precious No matter where you spent your childhood and adult years, each region of the country has their own interpretation of how they portray people who are native to the area. These two images struck me as stereotypical of people who come from my native soil – Baltimore!

And as Fanny, the stellar character in my memoir would have said,”If you ain’t precious, don’t worry! We all be dear, hon!” For today, that’s all I’m sayin’…..

This blog brought to you by Sue Batton Leonard, author of Gift of a Lifetime: Finding Fulfilling Things in the Unexpected.Click here for info & ordering in paperback, e-book or audio Now available in audio book, for your listening pleasure. The voice holds the treasure!

Blooming with Life

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“There will be eternal summer in a grateful heart.”  ~ Celia Thaxter

drinking out of hose

 

Is there is not a person alive who doesn’t look back over a long life and think “I can’t believe I survived that?”

When I think of the attention that is paid to infectious disease in this day and age with all of the antibacterial products in the marketplace, and how relatively little attention was paid to germs when I was growing up it kind of makes me chuckle. Yes, I know, different strains of viruses and flu  have been introduced to our world, and we must be more careful.

I can think of many people who have survived and thrived despite unbelievable set backs. When I hear cases of  trauma, illness, strife and struggle, it makes  me stop and consider just how strong the human spirit is. Carolyn Myss, PhD has done a lot of research and work on the power of the human psyche and healing. If you are interested in those topics, click on this link. Books By Caroline Myss, PhD

I’m thankful for each and every day that comes my way. What is it, anyway, about summer that makes  us more feel more alive than ever?

This blog brought to you by Sue Batton Leonard, author of Gift of a Lifetime:Finding Fulfilling Things in the Unexpected. NOW AVAILABLE IN AUDIO BOOK ALSO! For more information, click on the underlined title of the book.

Chiggers at Vespers

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“Oh, no!” I said out loud to myself, as I finally read my mothers e-mail correspondence from last weekend. My sister has the chiggers.

“Wow, does that ever bring back memories,” I thought. The first time I ever  heard of the chiggers was when my parents sent us twins off to overnight church camp in Virginia. Camp Glenkirk holds many fond memories for me. I recall my mother’s anxiety as she and my dad drove off leaving us girls in someone else’s hands for a week. It was the first time I was away overnight from my parents since my “pioneering” heart surgery.

Although I didn’t completely understand the magnitude of that turning point in my life, I know it was a step toward independence from the watchful eye of my parents. I don’t recall my uneasiness, only that of my mother’s. My anchor, my rock, my twin sister was by my side. And when there were certain strenuous camp activities that I was unable to participate in, my sister sat on the sidelines with me. She never left me behind. What a loyal sister! quotesonprayer

What I  also remember is when we went to evening vespers (evening group prayer), I prayed saying, “Lord a Mercy,” (mimicking Fanny, the stellar character in my memoir), “please don’t let me get the chiggers!” I’d heard from other campers that they itch something awful.God knows, there were plenty of them in the backwoods of  Virginia but, I managed to stay free – I guess someone greater than myself was watching out for me.

Jan – I hope you get rid of those chiggers real quick! Find something to sooth the itch! Be still and know that it is just the chiggers driving you crazy!

Today’s blog is brought to you by author Sue Batton Leonard and that was just another childhood memory  not included in my publication Gift of a Lifetime: Finding Fulfilling Things in the Unexpected.

e-Commerce! Fulfilling Dreams!

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Audio Book is Here!

 

“You’ll fall even deeper in love with Fanny when you hear her voice,”  narrated by the author Sue Batton Leonard

Gift of a Lifetime:Finding Fulfilling Things in the Unexpected is now available in Audio Book format.

Brought to you through Audible.com – Amazon’s audio book division!

“Sue’s ability, through dialogue, to share Fanny’s voice and powerful role in Sue’s developing years is a gift to readers.“

~ Mary Kurtz, author

Click here for easy ordering

Cd Cover Gift of a Lifetime from postnet

Listen to this memoir on your Kindle Fire, through the free audible app. on Apple, Android and Windows devices.

“Audible ~ Fulfilling Dreams through e-Commerce” ~  Sue Batton Leonard

Click here for easy ordering

 

Tomorrow I will have a photo for you of my sister and me as young children. You may not believe we are twins when you see it!

This blog brought to you by http://www.AllThingsFulfilling.com and author, Sue Batton Leonard

Twistin’ Twiggy

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“What will they think of me must be put aside for bliss.” ~ Joseph Campbell

Twiggy-4When British supermodel Twiggy burst onto the international  fashion and style scene in the 1970s, it made me feel much better as a teenager. http://www.twiggylawson.co.uk/. After all, I reasoned, Twiggy had skinny, skinny legs like me, and she had a short pixie hair cut, like mine, too. It may have been my own twisted way of rationalizing that not having long flowing locks and shapely legs like all the others girls in school was ok. The only time I did have long tresses was in my senior high school picture. I caved into peer pressure and let my hair grow out.

It can be hard when you are a child and you feel different than the others, and even worse when you become a teenager. Wanting to “fit in” is important. I feel as if I was fortunate compared to kids today, I think the times were gentler and although there was peer pressure, it wasn’t quite as intense as it is in today’s world.

One of the reasons that I published my memoir is to help children who are struggling with childhood illness. Gift of a Lifetime: Finding Fulfilling Things in the Unexpected is a story of hope for kids and their parents. Click here for information on Sue’s memoir. The message I wish to share with sick children is that no matter what they are going through it does not have to be their entire life story. With faith, positive attitudes and medical experts, things can take unexpected turns resulting in great health, happiness and fulfillment.

Tomorrow is the 4th of July. I am going to celebrate my many years of good health by posting a blog of iconic American images that make me smile!  The pictures hearten the spirit for all Americans who love and believe in our country. Enjoy a  patriotic visual experience from All Things Fulfilling.

 This blog brought to you by Sue Batton Leonard, the author of Gift of a Lifetime:Finding Fulfilling Things in the Unexpected.

 

 

Tugs of Heart Strings

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tugof war Do you remember playing tug-of- war on the play ground?

The physical education teacher marked the the pavement with chalk, threw down a hefty rope and teams were chosen at the discretion of the teacher or the team captains. Then began the battle to see which team had the greatest strength and persistence and could pull the other team over the line.

A few weeks ago when I talked with Kiwanis, I read aloud a chapter from my memoir called Having Faith in Oneself. Essentially it is about Fanny’s advice to me about the feelings I had when I was left out of the crowd on the playground due to my childhood illness. Fanny is the stellar character in my memoir who was a very sage woman.

Now that I am an adult, I understand what she was hinting at in one of our heart-to- heart conversations. One day she said “Sue, there ain’t no one who don’t play tug of war in life. Sometimes we is among the lighthearted and sometimes we are wid da heavy hitters. Dem knots in da rope is what helps us to learn to hang on and to roll wid da punches.” There is a lot of truth in that! But it is more fun to play nice. Tug of War Shel Silverstein This blog brought to you by author Sue Batton Leonard. Click here for information about Sue’s memoir, Gift of a Lifetime: Finding Fulfilling Things in the Unexpected.  

Retrospectively Speaking

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Getting over a painful experience is much like crossing monkey bars.You have to let go at some point in order to move forward ~ Unknown

monkey barsThe over the past few weeks in my blogging I have been remembering some of  my younger days. I’ve often stated on All Things Fulfilling the importance of living life forward and not looking back. Yet, I have mixed opinions on that.

For some people, like myself, looking back gives me a sense of my origins, roots and stability. That is a fulfilling feeling. I feel great security in my family and knowing that my parents were always there for me, no matter what. I recognize how fortunate I am. Not every person has that.

Secondly, the retrospective perspective, when written in memoirs can be a powerful tool if it is used to help us review and understand what has or has not worked in the past.There is value in that. The drawbacks come when we get stuck in hindsight because that  does not allow for forward movement. And I get that.

The other day I came across an article that I thought might be of interest to people who like myself enjoy writing about memories. Scientists have discovered that there are, indeed,  some very good reasons to look back. http://nyti.ms/1l30IYZ.
This blog brought to you by author Sue Batton Leonard. Click here for information on Sue’s memoir, Gift of a Lifetime: Finding Fulfilling Things in the Unexpected.

 

 

 

 

 

Hand-Me-Down Memories

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Just living is not enough… one must have sunshine, freedom, and a little flower. ~Hans Christian Andersen

I don’t think there is a person alive who doesn’t attach memories to the cars they’ve owned. The car my twin sister and I had in college was a hand-me-down from our parents. They thought the Plymouth wagon had seen it’s better days, but we proved them wrong, big time.

Our college friends nicknamed the vehicle the “The Batmobile.” My maiden name is Batton, hence, the moniker made sense! It was one of the most recognizable cars on campus because it was as long and wide as a barge, and our friends could see us coming down the pike from far distances. For me, just seeing over the steering wheel was a challenge.

We carted around as many fellow students as we possibly could, with all their gear, to Stowe http://www.stowe.com and Smugglers Notch Ski Areas http://www.smuggs.com and places way beyond. We’d pack  ’em in like sardines, because seat belts were unheard of in those days. Off we’d head for another day on the slopes. The Batmobile could slurp the gas alright, almost as quickly as it was filled up. And when the fuel gauge finally gave up the ghost we had to keep an emergency gas fund just in case. After all we were only poor college students with limited budgets.

One fall weekend, my twin and I and our girlfriends decided to go hiking on the Long Trail http://www.greenmountaintrail.org (an extension of the Appalachian Trail  www.appalachiantrail.org ). Being typical college students we…. ummmm….sometimes got hair brained ideas. We decided we’d be trail blazers and take the lazy louts approach to hiking. We drove as far as we possibly could up the Long Trail and parked it. The next day when we returned to our car after spending the night on the trail in the cabins, here is a photo of what we were faced with. One of our housemates had gotten wind of our plans, and decided to play a prank. BATMOBILE It was all in good fun, and one of my most dear memories from Johnson State College http://www.jsc.edu. This blog is brought to you by Sue Batton Leonard, author of Gift of a Lifetime:Finding Fulfilling Things in the Unexpected.Click for Info & Ordering

Southern Exposures

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“The sun illuminates only the eye of the man, but shines into the eye and heart of the child.~ Ralph Waldo Emerson

The official first day of summer has arrived. Remember when getting a tan was fun? I am a gal with southern exposure, and we lived around the swimming pool and in the sun! My favorite suntan lotion was baby oil mixed with iodine. Remember that? And we used to wrap LP albums  with aluminium foil and hold them under our chins to maximize the sun’s reflection and tanning impact. Now that doctors  know the more about the harmful effects of sun on the skin, stories like that make dermatologists cringe. http://bit.ly/1loDooC.  As I’ve aged I’ve gotten a little wiser and use sunscreen but I still love to hangout in the sun. It warms the spirit. Join me today as we take a look at some nostalgic summertime images! These images will incite memories for baby boomers. Suntan1 suntan 3 Sun In The image below really made me laugh – little did people  know about the aging effects of the sun on the skin. suntan 4   Jean Nate – It was a  favorite thing to spritz all over my body after hours of basking in the sun! Refreshing, indeed! Jean Nate   I remember one summer while cruising around on our family’s house boat, my siblings and I got so sun blistered that my mother had to cover us with wet teabags. The tannin drew out the hurt. http://lifehacker.com/5547350/apply-black-tea-to-effectively-treat-a-sunburn.   Suntan 5     Suntan 6lemon up shampoo Lemon-up. Did you know you can still purchase it at the Vermont Country Store? sending sunshine See you tomorrow on All Things Fulfilling. We will be continuing our journey down memory lane. This blog brought to you by Sue Batton Leonard,  author of Gift of a Lifetime:Finding Fulfilling Things in the Unexpected. Sue’s memoir

“Serving Children of the World”

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It is Tuesday, June 17.  Today I am scheduled to speak with the Kiwanis Club http://www.kiwanis.org/ of Steamboat Springs, Colorado about my new publication “Gift of a Lifetime:Finding Fulfilling Things in the Unexpected.”

kiwanis 2The mission of Kiwanis is “serving children of the world.” I have dreams of reaching children around the world who have health issues through my story. Sick children and their parents need to hear stories of hope. My memoir will uplift many people. And a little humor has never hurt a soul so anyone can enjoy the book. As one reader said “Gift of Lifetime is indeed that…. a story of how the simplest words can have the most impact on our lives…”

There have been many studies in the medical field, in recent years, about the connection between healing and living with a positive spirit and humor. My memoir presents an example of how one person’s outcome in life was affected by having what I consider to be all the right conditions that are necessary to live a fulfilling life despite a very difficult start.

Thanks to the independent publishing industry and the ability to sell books on the internet, my book will reach readers from all over this country and places around the world who will take away from the story the message that we can learn a lot from people of all faiths, color and creed.

My greatest wishes for the book, is that parents around the world will learn of “Gift of a Lifetime:Finding Fulfilling Things in the Unexpected” and share the upcoming audio book with their sick children to give them hope, and a little laughter to lift their spirits.

As Eleanor Roosevelt once said “The future belongs to those who believe in the beauty of their dreams.”

Thank you Kiwanis Club of Steamboat Springs, Colorado. It’s great being in your company today and I am grateful I am able to share my thoughts with you!

This blog brought to you by Sue Batton Leonard, author of Gift of a Lifetime: Finding Fulfilling Things in the Unexpected.Sue’s memoir See you tomorrow on http://www.allthingsfulfilling.com.