Category Archives: Learning

Pillow Dreams

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Every man’s life is a fairy tale written by God’s fingers. ~Hans Christian Andersen

The infamous Dr. Phil says that children should not have to bear adult problems. I admire my parents for they had plenty of adult stresses as a  couple who married quite young and  lived on pins and needles for many years due to “twin issues.” I feel throughout my life, my mom and dad did a fabulous job of letting us kids be kids, unburdened with adult problems. http://bit.ly/P3bMbE.  I am grateful for that.

The other day I was going through my baby book and came upon a letter that I had written to the tooth fairy when I was in elementary school. Here it is verbatim:

untitled (2)“Dear Fairy,

Will you Please keep the tooth under my pillow and give me monney. Wedesday I will put my tooth under my pillow and then you can take it.

From, Sue”

I wonder what my big dreams were for the money that I was expecting? After all it was probably a whole dime the tooth fairy was willing to give me- realize it was  the 1950s! It seems to me from the note, I needed to put my big fortune into spelling lessons rather than something sweet like candy to give me cavities.

In yesterday’s blog, I mentioned the medical bills my parents incurred as a result of giving birth to twins and my medical circumstances. Now that you have seen this letter, do you think I had an inkling that my parents needed some assistance, and I was going to try to help with my big windfall from the tooth fairy? Or do you think I was just being a kid knowing that the tooth fairy doled out money? I wonder. You never know about kids way of thinking.

This blog is brought to you by http://www.AllThingsFulfilling.com. See you back here tomorrow!

 

Originations in Baltimore

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“A kind gesture can reach a wound that only compassion can heal.” ~ Steve Maraboli – Life, Truth and Being Free.

dialing for dollarsWas Dialing for Dollars broadcast in your home town when you were growing up? This show originated as a radio show in Baltimore, Maryland and then became a syndicated TV show in cities around the country. The show had a run of 38 years and gave away $800,000 to suburban housewives who sat by the telephone waiting for the host of the show to call their number.  It finally terminated when more sophisticated game shows began to be aired and fewer households had stay-at-home moms who were in residence to answer the telephone. Here is how it worked, if you don’t remember it. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dialing_for_Dollars.

I know my mother wished upon a star many times that Dialing for Dollars would call 4-6750. It was our home number and those were the only digits you needed to reach our family back in the 1950s. Then as the population grew,  dialing VA4-6750 (Valley4- 6750) became mandatory. She and my father had medical bills they needed to pay from having given birth to twins – a not so common occurrence in the 1950s and they could have used the money.

The other day I was going through my baby book, and I found the obstetricians bill from when my twin sister and I were born.  There was a personal note on it from the doctor that said “I realize you have incurred very large medical bills with these births, I have tried to keep my charges as low as possible. Please know you can pay whenever or however it is convenient.” The bill was for $140. Seven years later when the doctors figured out how to give me a long and fulfilling life, much greater medical bills were added.  The bills became very staggering for a young couple who by then had three young children and were going through a very difficult time in life.  However, unexpected and more difficult circumstances occurred but that finally allowed them to financially rebuild their life a little bit.

Compared to medical bills in today’s world, my parent’s medical bills were a pittance. But with the wages of that era, everything is relative. Medical bills are a strain on all people who live within very tight budgets. The very technology that helps people to live long lives today is expensive to develop, maintain and use. I do get it, but our medical insurance system does need overhauling and I don’t think we are even close with a viable solution.

Come on back tomorrow to All Things Fulfilling. I will share with you a letter I found in my baby book that I had written to the tooth fairy. It made me chuckle when I read it.

 

Save the Stories

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I’ve got an industrious week ahead! Here’s what it looks like:

Monday, March 31, 2014   Get my audio book posted on the audio book site, so it is ready for selling. Details of how to order the audio book will be forthcoming soon right here on All Things Fulfilling.

Wednesday, April 2, 2014   “Sue Leonard will be speaking with the Young Professionals Network of Steamboat Springs, Colorado about the independent publishing industry, her group We Write Steamboat and the upcoming World Book Night (4/23/14).”

Friday, April 4, 2014 – Yampa Valley University Women, 11:30 am – 1 pm. Selbe Apts, Rollingstone Road, Steamboat Springs. Colorado. Open to the public. Soup, salad and bread luncheon is available for $3. “Sue Leonard will be presenting her book Gift of a Lifetime:Finding Fulfilling Things in the Unexpected.”

Your never too youngIt will be interesting to speak to these two groups of people this week because the age demographics are very different. The young professionals are just beginning to embark on careers and trying to figure out what they want to do in life. I want to encourage them to save stories from their life journeys because at some point they may be interested in inspiring, entertaining, informing or educating others through independent publishing.  This group of young people, who spend a lot of time volunteering out in our community, will be part of World Book Night on April 23rd, which I will also be discussing.

The Yampa Valley University Women , a group that I am a member of, has been following my endeavors in the publishing industry and the progress of the memoir. I look forward to finally bringing a perfect bound book to show them and having the opportunity to relate my experiences with with them. This event will be open to the public. The women who belong to the group are well-educated, well-traveled and most are retired. They have a wealth of life experiences, and I wish to convey to them the value of writing to preserve history and culture. Many of them have interesting stories to tell and with the ability to independently publish e-books and print-on-demand, many people are investing their time in writing in their retirement.

Have a great week ahead, everyone.  See you tomorrow on All Things Fulfilling. We will be talking about the origination of a game show that had many women waiting by the telephone, in hopes of having their dreams fulfilled, in the 1940s- 1970s.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Connecting to the Great Outdoors

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“Teaching children about the natural world should be seen as one of the most important events in their lives.”  ~Thomas Berry, The Dream of the Earth

If you are a baby boomer, no doubt you learned to read from the Dick and Jane series. For forty years (1930s – 1970s) these books were used by elementary school teachers around the world to teach children the art of reading.

dick and jane jumping ropeDid you ever notice how the Dick and Jane series had so many pictures of children engaged in outdoors activities? The books typically featured images of kids walking the dog, playing hopscotch on the sidewalk, planting flowers, pulling wagons, playing ball, lying in a hammock under the shade tree day-dreaming, and flying kites outdoors.

Miss Zerna Sharp, known as the “Mother of Dick and Jane” http://bit.ly/1pwGk0u had great insight in the creation of the series because she felt that students would enjoy learning to read and find it much easier if they identified with the children shown in the illustrations. If she were alive today to redo the series to make the stories more relatable for this generation of children, she’d probably be horrified to realize what would the illustrations would look like. Rather than publishing pictures of fit children playing outdoors, I suppose we’d see images of  children engaged in all things digital and figure drawings of children with physiques that look very different than those of the children from the 1930s – 1970s. dick and jane use the force

We are living in a very visual age. With the power of digital marketing perhaps we need to stir children’s interests and entice them into wanting to experience the great adventure of life called the “great outdoors.” Personally, I think our whole society would benefit by becoming more aware of our connection to mother nature and all that she has to offer.  And it may even save us some trips to the doctor!

Those are my independent thoughts, words and views for today. See you tomorrow on http://www.AllThingsFulfilling.com. Have a great day, and remember to get outdoors for some fresh air! It’s good for fulfilling the mind, body and spirit.

Nature’s Healing Qualities

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“Reading about nature is fine, but if a person walks in the woods and listens carefully, he can learn more than what is in books, for they speak with the voice of God.” ~George Washington Carver

The image below looks like me as a little girl. Even as a little child who lived life on the edge with some serious health issues, I was not pampered and made to feel any different than my twin sister and brothers. Our home was surrounded by the forest with a leafy canopy of tall straight tulip poplar trees. A beautiful natural environment where fresh air and sunshine was plentiful. I played outdoors constantly digging for worms, making mud pies and throwing rocks in the streams that bordered both sides of our property. My parents insisted that I spend the days outdoors playing in the muck so I had little time to think about my miseries. For that, I am grateful to my parents.

It concerns me that too many children today are nature deprived and become ill as a result of it. It’s important for children to get outdoors and explore the natural world. Here is an article from the New York Times that every parent should be aware of. http://nyti.ms/Nx7lVj.

Spring has sprung, and the warm-up has begun. Parents get your children outdoors as much as possible in the coming months. Take them to parks, gardens, nearby woods and forests. If that’s not possible, be one another’s walking partners. Hold each other accountable and trade off TV and video time for outdoors time. Enjoy the natural world that was given to us for a reason. Its good for the mind, body and spirit.

childs immune system

This blog brought to you by www.CornerstoneFulfillmentService.com. See you tomorrow on All Things Fulfilling.

Sharing Sisters

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There is no greater agony than bearing an untold story inside you.”  ~ Maya Angelou

“Set still, chile,” said the stellar character that you will learn a lot about in my upcoming book as she fed our little brother his lunch. Our mother had run to the store to get a gallon of milk and the woman, the star of my story, had been given the task of watching over us kids as we ate our lunch.

“What did yo’ sisters give ya?” she asked my brother, “a bunch of dem squiggly wigglies in your pants? Dem girlies is always carryin’ around dem squiggly wigglies deh dig up out da Earf. Must be God give us dem creatures for a reason, but I ain’t knowd what it is. My preacher man ain’t read me dat part yet from da Greatest Story Ever Tole.”

What a character! She was talking about the worms my sister and I always dug up out of the garden and shared with each other.

When my twin sister and I were little we always thought everything should come in pairs like we did and like the animals in the story of Noah in the Bible. When we only had one of something, my sister and I always shared it. We’d pull a worm apart until we had two equal pieces. Yes, I know – how cruel! But give me a break – we were only two little children. All we could think was that it wasn’t fair if one of us had something and not the other.

My twin and I shared everything and had utmost trust in each other until we became teenagers and when it came to clothes. We never trusted that we’d get things back from each other in the same condition as when they were lent out. But, have there ever been teenage sisters who have been good at sharing clothes?

Trust, attachment and caring are all inside the pages of Gift of a Lifetime: Finding Fulfilling Things in the Unexpected. But, the real treasure in the story will come from the enlightenment you will find through the unique perspectives and colorful dialogue of the stellar character.

lifes a garden dig it

Don’t miss out on the MP-3 audio book version of “Gift of a Lifetime: Finding Fulfilling Things in the Unexpected” when it comes out! This blog brought to you by www.CornerstoneFulfillmentService.com.

Roads toward Building Community

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Tomorrow it’s time to head to Denver for Saturday’s monthly CIPA meeting (aka Colorado Independent Publishers Association). This month’s educational focus will be on social media marketing – attendance should be high. There are so many authors and publishers who want to know more about selling and marketing books effectively over the internet. I will be heading up a roundtable discussion on Taking Facebook to the Next Level, beyond the basics of using Facebook to promote independent publications on the world-wide-web. I am looking forward to sharing my knowledge.

I’ve got my work cut out for me on the three hour drive from where I live to Denver. I will be listening to my own audio book recording of “Gift of a Lifetime: Finding Fulfilling Things in the Unexpected.” The recording has been edited but I’ve not had the chance to listen from beginning to end for any glitches.

helping othersThis is a good time to give a shout out to ColoradoMountainCollege student, Bryan Dow,  who was so helpful to me throughout the recording process. He edited my audio recording quicker than I could have ever expected. It was his first job at editing an audio book, but he has a wealth of experience with the program. Among his already deep curriculum vitae “c.v.” is the title” musician” so uses the software frequently. I enjoyed getting to know this college student a little bit. Someday I hope he tells his own story through an independently published book, film or music or perhaps a multi-media publication. He is working on a fascinating project, while trying to balance a busy schedule of work, study and building a future for himself.

It’s a wonderful thing to have people in this world who are whizzes with technology and can do great things with their hands, creativity and intellectual talents. Thanks again, Bryan, for lending me a hand, and helping me with the production of my audio book (in MP-3 format) “Gift of a Lifetime: Finding Fulfilling Things in the Unexpected.” You are a person who can help build community in many different ways with your diverse talents. I am glad our paths crossed.

See you back here on All Things Fulfilling on Monday! This blog brought to you by www.CornerstoneFulfillmentService.com.

Songs Stir the Memory Bank

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songs and memoriesYesterday’s blog about my experience of working in a factory in Baltimore City when I was in high school, stirred up all kinds of fulfilling memories – particularly of the music of the 1960s.

Here is an image that will bring a smile to many faces, as we look back and recall the place that Motown holds in musical history. This was my favorite album. Oh, how hard my sister and I worked helping our mother with household chores and babysitting just so we could save enough money to buy this treasured album, Love Child by Diana Ross and the Supremes.

What was your prized LP record or favorite song from the Motown era?

love child

I wonder whatever happened to all my Motown albums? They probably got discarded when I went off to college or when my parents moved to a different house.

This blog brought to you by www.CornerstoneFulfillmentService.com. See you tomorrow on All Things Fulfilling.

Oh, To Have Faith

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I have to laugh at my sister. I think she is more excited than I am about my book. Just revealing the front and back cover last week has given the entire family a thrill because I have been very secretive about what’s between the covers.

The other day my twin sent me a link to an article saying “You’ll appreciate this story.  In addition to having common roots in Baltimore along with this featured author, you two share the experience of having been  factory workers. (The link to the story Factory Worker turns Poet wins $100,000 is below.) Yes, it’s true I am now  a published author and I was a factory worker but my prize money has yet to come through!

One summer, when my sister and I were in high school in the late 1960’s we worked in a factory in the middle of BaltimoreCity. The facility handled medical records via micro-film (micro-fiche). My job was to cut and splice the film and stuff the film into plastic sleeves for historical recordkeeping. I worked all alone in a dark room, so that I could see what I was doing.

I was so envious of my sister! She worked in a big bright room next door with six or eight other women. They jived all day long to the sounds of Motown as they labored. So many times I was tempted to ask the boss if I could trade places and jobs with my sister. At the end of the day, my sister kept recounting how the women she worked with got up and danced around the room when a song from the Temptations or Supremes or Four Tops hit their fancy. The women really had heart and soul, evidently.

decision to tryI share this article about the factory worker turned poet who wins $100,000 with anyone out there who has dreams of becoming published:

http://on-msn.com/1cUH8MB.

No matter what you are doing now, it’s possible to add “writer” to your resume. Only you can make it happen! For me, it all started with writing a blog. In today’s world of independent publishing, there is nothing in this world that should stop you.  Dream, take action and find your own personal fulfillment in writing!

Oh, my sister has so much faith in my writing. She says she knows she will love my upcoming publication “Gift of a Lifetime: Finding Fulfilling Things in the Unexpected. ” Let me tell you a secret. She will! There are parts of the tale that are uniquely mine but part of the story is hers also!

Look forward to your return to All Things Fulfilling tomorrow. This blog brought to you by www.CornerstoneFulfillmentService.com.

The Lady in the Choir

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laughing sistersWhy is it that when you have a twin sister, everything is doubly  funny? I swear my sister and I can have more fun laughing at something that might not strike anyone else as being one bit funny.

A good hearty belly laugh is only annoying if it happens in inappropriate places. When we were kids, it always happened in church. My sister and I didn’t dare even glance at each other when the mezzo-soprano in the choir started singing. There was something about her voice that made us listen but we found her inflection hysterical. If we even saw one anothers faces in our peripheral vision, it was all over – we’d lose control and laugh so hard we’d have tears running down our cheeks. Then our little brothers got in on the action.

Somehow our parents always knew exactly what started it and struggled to keep their own joy of hearing us twins laughing together in check and in cheek. Someone had to be the adults and keep order in the family. Week after week we vowed to our parents that it would never happen again, but oh, how we were telling a story.

Since I have been taught that God is love, I knew I’d be forgiven and not be struck down by the devil. Our scolding often came from someone else who you’ll learn more about in my memoir. Whenever she got word of our childish antics, her words had a more powerful effect than anything our parents could have ever uttered.

“Lord a Mercy,” she’d say “What is you? A bunch a heathens, laughin’ in da Lord’s house?” Have you ever noticed how carefully one listens to someone who is speaking a different dialect?

“It was the funny lady in the choir’s fault,” my sister and I’d say, taking no responsibility for our inability to control ourselves. After all, we were just children.

That’s another family story that wasn’t included in my memoir from All Things Fulfilling. This blog is brought to you by www.CornestoneFulfillmentService.com.