Letting Go (Reflections by Morrie Schwartz)

If you are a lover of books, you have probably encountered an inspirational one entitled Tuesdays With Morrie written by Mitch Albom.  It’s a moving account of courage and wisdom shared by a mentor to one of his students. A simple but profound book about an old man, a young man and life’s greatest lesson.  Morrie Schwartz is the old man here diagnosed with ALS (Amytrophic Lateral Sclerosis) commonly known as motor neurone disease.  Mitch Albom was his student.  Morrie wrote his own book Letting Go, a book which offers his own philosophy in life, inspiring lessons and practical advice to help those who have terminal or chronic illness and anyone close to them.  My daughter and I were able  to buy a copy of Morris’ book four years ago.  And I am quoting some of his remarkable reflections on living while dying.

– Don’t stay preoccupied with your body or your illness.  Recognize that your body is not your total self, only part of it.

– Watch for emotional, spiritual, or behavioral regressions when you are most vulnerable.  Try to avoid, minimize or stop your regression.

– When you are utterly frustrated or angry, express your feelings.  You don’t have to be nice all the time – just most of the time.

– Try to develop an inner emotional or spiritual peace to balance the distresses of your body.  You might begin by learning to accept “what is” for you at any particular time.

-If you find yourself fantasizing that you are no longer sick and have been restored to your previous level of functioning, stay with the fantasy as long as it gives you pleasure.  But return to reality when the fantasy becomes painful or when it is otherwise necessary for you to do so.

– Learn to forgive yourself and to forgive others. Forgiveness can soften the heart, drain the bitterness and dissolve your guilt.

– Learn how to live and you’ll know how to die, learn how to die and you’ll know how to live.

Reading his book is also a learning experience.

(So lazy to write a new blog post so I am sharing one of those I wrote when I was starting at WordPress back in 2009.)

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The Carousel

In between my slow reading and blogging, I managed to read some fiction books. I just finished The Carousel by Rosamunde Pilcher. I have about fifteen of her earlier books plus one trilogy which I patiently collected over the years. My favourite of course is The Shell Seekers which I have already read twice. I have always been fascinated by books about Cornwall, Scotland and Ireland. I love those open spaces, beaches, the weather and castles.

Of course Pilcher is my favourite too. The Carousel is a delightful read, nothing fancy there but several comforting lessons on loving, friendship and family ties. And of course beautiful scenery too of Cornwall. One of these days, I’ll reread her other books.

The sun hasn’t shown its face for two days now and it rains at night. I was planning to trim those birds of paradise I planted outside but they are so wet, so inconvenient to remove the dried leaves and flowers.

Tomorrow is Ash Wednesday, the beginning of Lent for the year which culminates on Easter Sunday. Here’s the lovely prayer for the day on sacredspace.ie.

Dear Lord, help me to be open to you

for this time as I put aside the cares of this world.

Fill my mind with your peace, Your love.

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Another Five Stars

WordPress says it is time to blog again. Yes, I set up a schedule twice a week though sometimes I don’t even follow.

I found this lovely site on Play Store where you can download books, put up an online library and choose what to read. Although I’ve already read most of them, there are still lovely ones out there. Authors are alphabetically arranged so you can find your favorites among them.

I recently discovered Jo Thomas. I love her writing style – talk about reindeer, lovable dogs, rainforests, silence, the Northern lights, meals cooked in woodfire, reinder hides as seat warmer and of course Denmark and into Jo’s snow-filled world. A Winter Beneath The Stars is a heartwarming hug of a story. Beautiful setting.

I am giving another ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ to this one.

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Relaxing Wednesday

Finally, I could relax. We were done trimming the carabao grass yesterday afternoon. Gardening is hard of course but it is a fulfilling job. So lovely to see a clean garden from weeds and unwanted growth of grass. Now I can concentrate on replanting and sowing some seeds I bought earlier.

It seems I’ll be able to finish my Goodreads’ reading challenge for this year afterall. I was not able to read when we had Covid last May. It was almost two months before I started again. I’ve said before that I committed myself to read a hundred books this year. I am on my 86th book now. I found this lovely book online entitled No Promises In The Wind by Irene Hunt.

Here’s a brief summary of the book culled from Goodreads:

It’s a tale of a brave young man’s struggle to find his own strength during the Clutch Plague. In 1932, American’s dreams were simple: a job, food to eat, a place to sleep, and shoes without holes. But for millions of people these simple needs were nothing more than dreams. When he was just fifteen years old, Josh had to make his own way through a country of angry and frightened people. This is the story of his struggle to find a life for himself during those turbulent times.

It is actually a short novel which you could probably finish in one day. I slept late last night just to finish half of it. I am beginning to discover some unknown authors whose works are equally absorbing.

Today is the Feast Day of St. John Mary Vianney, the patron saint of Catholic priests. St. John Mary Vianney, pray for us as we continue to beg God for more priests who shine with holy and human virtues. HAPPY FEAST DAY👏🙏⛪

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Thursday, Is it?

Gosh, this rain never stops. That kind where you could not even go out and garden. Frustration, big time.

I recently found a copy of MARGOT by Jillian Cantor, an e-book. Reading it now. Margot is the older sister of Anne Frank if you are familiar with the latter’s diary. They both died during the holocaust.

MARGOT is the “what if” story though of this older sister, an engaging and interesting read. What if she was alive? She changed her name to Margie Franklin and worked as a secretary in a law firm in Philadelphia. Anne and Margot both kept diaries when they were hiding during the second world war. You’ll find how they lived during those times. I am still in the middle of reading it.

When I find a book that deals with history, fiction or not, I just can’t put it down.

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I Will Always Write Back

Intriguing title, right?

But I just borrowed from a book I am reading at the moment that I simply could not put down. It is actually a memoir  but it is a contemporary YA book.

Zimbabwe.

It’s the first time I read something about this country, formerly called Rhodesia, a land-locked country located in Southern Africa.

How one letter changed two lives is the main theme of this book. Two teens exchanging letters from two continents.  They are pen pals. A Zimbabwean boy and an American girl. The former is dirt-poor, on a hand to mouth existence  while the girl came from a well-off family. I cried so many times reading this book and I have only finished two-thirds of it but I can’t ignore writing about it. Besides, if I could, I promised myself to write every day until the end of September. Another challenge, I guess.

Caitlin and Martin –  and the lovely narrative simply written. I almost forgot that this is a memoir.

Back in college, I had an opportunity to meet two Japanese girls and an Australian  via pen pal writing. It came about when a fellow student librarian gave my name to them and they started writing to me. I could still remember their names until now – Junko Yao, Satomi Hasegawa and Suzanne Gilding. Wouldn’t it be nice if I could find them now? Junko was the more diligent writer and she sent me some packages before – Japanese green tea, chopsticks, Japanese candies, a hair accessory ( a lovely Japanese comb)  and stationeries. I am just sorry I stopped  corresponding with them when I started work at the bank.

I  Will Always Write Back is just an awesome read.

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A Sister’s Promise

The bond between two sisters broken by circumstances beyond their control.

Beautiful.

The sounds, the smells and all textures come into play.

And I wonder why I shelved this for a while in favor of another book which I read in one day.

Renita D’ Silva is quite new in the league of  new authors that I follow. I don’t normally summarize the story when I review a book. Suffice to say, it was told in a perspective of both sisters when they were growing up. They had alternating narratives.  I had another glimpse of India, how the poor struggle to make both ends meet, how arranged marriages are made and such.  D’Silva tells the story in such a way that the words are pure bliss, how poetic. I am posting some excerpts here close to the end of the beautiful book.

“And seeing her son encircled in her sister’s arms, Puja, for the first time in twenty years, gets a glimpse into a future that is unburdened by the follies of the past, but lifted up on the tentative wings of optimism, bright as light percolating into an overcast day and feeding it the promise of the brilliance to come. She breathes in deeply and tastes buoyancy, the soft pink of a tender bloom unfurling cautiously in the caress of spring.”

“We are only human in the end.”

“We waste the little time we are given in this world on immaterial things, not the things that really matter. And then, when it is far too late, we long for one more moment together, a moment which, if bestowed, we will draw out and treasure, a moment in which we will say all those things left unsaid, a moment into which we will cram a lifetime’s worth of good times.” 

I seldom give 5 stars to a book but this is one of them. Wow, 27 books ahead of schedule.

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Coming Home

Four days of not even visiting WordPress. What is happening to me. I am really getting so lazy to blog.

I just finished rereading Rosamunde Pilcher’s Coming Home. Yeah, you read it right,  I read it back in 2012. I have most of her books in my shelf since I discovered her upon the recommendation of a friend.

I wrote this review back in 2011 when I started looking for her books. I am reposting it here. It’s part of a long, long review that I did back then. I wrote this last November 24, 2011

I first encountered Rosamunde  Pilcher upon the recommendation of a friend whom I met at a book club three years ago. I got curious because for a guy to rave about  one particular author or  book, she really must be good. So I looked for a copy of The Shell Seekers, one of her well-known and much-loved books. I was hooked and from then on, I tried to look for more of her books every time I got the chance to visit Booksale.  Last month, I found four more of her earlier works and bought them all. The funny thing is I was able to finish three in the three days that I was indisposed. Her stories are not your run of the mill love stories. They speak of family relationships, heartbreak, friendships, betrayals, forgiveness and love. Once you start reading  her books, you get to absorb the characters like they are your next-door neighbors or your favorite cousin or your beloved brother or sister.  And seeing her describe Cornwall and Scotland with such beauty and grace makes you long to go there and see the snow-capped vistas and azure skies, it makes you stay at the beach all day long and  just look  at the water and go home with the thought of a nice hot cup of tea and fish and chips prepared by a loyal housekeeper who treats you as a long-lost daughter.  It makes you even curious how a Biro pen looks like because the character you’ve read won’t have no other except a Biro. It makes you long to buy rose-scented soaps and lavender bubble baths and stay relaxed for an hour or two immersed in warm and scented water and wrap yourself with pretty thick bath towels afterward.  You think of the first chill of autumn and the countryside awashed with pretty flowers. Short of saying, I want to live in Scotland and  get to explore Porthkerris despite the rains and the cold. I want to see the  silver hues of the raindrops  on a cold and chilly morning. Such are what you can imagine, just reading her books.

Coming Home is one such book that you would want to reread again and again. It’s a wonderful journey of a teenager left behind by  her parents back in 1935 in Cornwall.  The struggles of being away from one’s immediate family although she found loyal friends who treated her as one of the members of their family. She was also taken cared of by her aunts from both sides and grew up to be a responsible adult despite all the setbacks. It’s pre-war Britain until the end of the  WWII. I just love it.

 

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Before The Rain Falls by Camille di Maio

It took me a while to finish reading this one because I was so engrossed watching I Want, a new app on my tab which features selected movies, news, sports, telenovelas, music and what have you all from the largest network in the country, ABS CBN.

The first time I encountered how gifted this writer is, was when I read her book The Memory of Us. Yes, it is one of the best read I had this year. It may not be that good to some but I love the Catholic aspect of the book. A Catholic seminarian falling in love with a girl of another religion. This is more of a love story than what happened during WWII.

The Way of Beauty  is simply beautiful. Another Di Maio book that I love. when you encounter stories like this, you are inspired to read more.

I looked for more of her books until I found Before The Rain Falls. It’s the story  of how families protect each other, how they show their love, how they encourage each other to excel. It’s the story of a life in prison.

Part of the synopsis reads: “Moving and engrossing, this dual story alternates between Della’s dark ordeals of the 1940s and Paloma and Mick’s present-day search for answers―about roots, family, love, and what is truly important in life.”

I love the characters of Mick and Paloma but Della’s stand out more. Hoping I could read more books by this author. I just love her writing style.

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Down Where My Love Lives …A Short Review

I’m humbled reading another lovely book by Charles Martin. It is actually two books in one, the first is called The Dead Don’t Dance and the second is Maggie. The two books need to be read together.

It is categorized as a love story, a contemporary one that breaks your heart, touch it and give it back again and  it uplifts your soul. The quality of writing, the depth of characters …just perfect. Maggie and Dylan have endured those family upheavals but they are blessed and lucky to have supportive friends around them. I also love Amos’ character as the best friend of Dylan and the ever elusive Bryce who is a multi-millionaire but lives a simple and quiet life and a  friend of the couple. When things look the darkest and hope seems like a far-fetched dream, that’s when the tide turns for the better.  Maggie’s character seems like so weak but Dylan’s has all that ingredients of being strong, true, faithful and hopeful.

You look at life when it is staring at you hard in the face, you look at your relationship with your family and your friends and all the people you meet in between and you wonder, will I ever have a good and meaningful life ahead?

See for yourselves how the story unfolds. You might enjoy reading it too.

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