A Snowy Day

Posted on March 24, 2006 by moonbridgebooks


It snowed during this first week of spring. The yellow forsythia blooms did not look quite as cheerful wrapped in their white coats. It was my day of the week to visit my “adopted grandma” in the nursing home. I did not want to leave my warm house, but Mrs. B. depends on me to brighten her dismal days, and I had to scrape the snow off the car later anyway to take the dog for his bath appointment. Under a dreary sky, I drove through the bright landscape wondering about spring, but grudgingly recognized how beautiful the snow was clinging to branches and early flowers. In Japan, snow is thought of as winter’s flowers – a lovely metaphor from the land where nature is revered as art, but at this time of year I feel that is positive thinking.

Mrs. B., as usual, was delighted to see me; I was glad to have ventured out into the cold to be a warm spot in her life. I brought her some little snack baggies of cookies, donut holes, and homemade banana bread. Mrs. B. is not-so-patiently waiting for God to relieve her suffering by taking her to heaven, so what does a little extra cholesterol matter. She regularly asks me what God is waiting for and I tell her that He’s not ready for her yet, that he must still have a plan for her … like He must think it’s good for me to visit her. We laugh, but I know that visiting Mrs. B. is good for my soul. She doesn’t understand how she who seemingly has nothing to offer to the world can make me feel good inside, knowing that my little self can be of comfort to someone, can ease their misery for just awhile. So here we are, two little people who think we’re nobody special, yet to each other we are so important. Don’t underestimate yourself.

Linda Austin
“Cherry Blossoms in Twilight”
http://www.moonbridgebooks.com
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Sofia’s Memories – European WWII Experience

Posted on March 18, 2006 by moonbridgebooks

I met a delightful elderly woman at the last meeting of our local Publisher’s Association. She came to the meeting with a spiral-bound (comb-bound) manuscript of her memories as a young girl in Poland who was forced to move to Germany with her family during WWII and finally emigrated to the U.S. right after the war. It was so interesting to skim through her writings, see the many beautiful old photos of her family and the places she lived. Her 8 ½ x 11 inch size booklet was done in the format of page-long stand-alone short stories about memories of her individual family members, places she lived, events in her life, experiences, etc. She and several others thought her manuscript would make for interesting reading in classrooms – that uniquely personal look at what real life was like for people caught in the war and what it was like to start life over again in a strange new country. I shared my Cherry Blossoms in Twilight book with her and we talked of how important it is to preserve these old memories so that people see how so many innocents suffer in wars and to see that underneath our differences, there is no “us” and “them”, there is only “we.”

Linda Austin
“Cherry Blossoms in Twilight”
http://www.moonbridgebooks.com
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Tom Graves – Honoring War Veterans

Posted on March 10, 2006 by moonbridgebooks

Photographer Tom Graves of San Francisco has produced a collection of photos and interviews of war veterans from WWII and the Korean War. “Heroes All!” is currently being exhibited at the May Gallery at Webster University in the St. Louis suburb of Webster Groves until March 24. Mr. Graves hopes his exhibit will encourage people to talk to older folks and learn their amazing stories. He notes, “unfortunately, most of these stories, and most of this knowledge is going to disappear before it’s ever passed on to someone…”

After the wonderful learning experience I had writing and publishing my mother’s story, “Cherry Blossoms in Twilight: Memories of a Japanese Girl,” I certainly can relate to Mr. Graves’ feelings about the need to capture the histories of our elder generation. The people of that particular generation have lived through such significant events in history … the Great Depression, Pearl Harbor, WWII, the Korean War, etc. and their personal experiences are in danger of being lost as these elders are in their last years of life. Their stories are not found in school history books. Their stories are unique and tell what really happened to ordinary people. Mr. Graves says that several veterans told him, “you read about it in the history books, but I was there and what I experienced was different from that…”

I had the honor of speaking with Mr. Graves and thanked him for his wonderful project. His photos of the veterans are beautifully done in black and white. I especially enjoyed reading about Japanese-American war vets, Tuskegee Airmen, and several women in service. I join Mr. Graves in the hope that others will take the time to ask their own older relatives about their lives.

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Linda Austin
“Cherry Blossoms in Twilight”
http://www.moonbridgebooks.com
Posted in war stories | Comments Off on Tom Graves – Honoring War Veterans