"Nothing like family drama over a wedding." True Jodi, but I’ll go one further and say that there’s nothing like family drama, period… 

I love books. I love everything about them.  I carry one with me everywhere I go.  We have thousands in our home and I have several in every room of our home.  I love the feel of book in my hand, I love to open a book and see the written word on the page.  Books have been my best friends since childhood and I couldn’t imagine replacing them.

That said, I understand why others like the Kindle and ebook options - they just aren’t for me.  I have a German friend who gets English book recommendations when she comes to the US, then she gets the books on Kindle.  It helps her practice her English and it’s far easier than carrying or shipping actual books back to Germany. 

I don’t even like reading a computer screen - if I have to read anything very long onscreen, I have a tendency to print it out, so again, the Kindle, etc. are just not for me so if books are on the way out then just feel free to pass them my way!

This is a topic I know a little something about, and at the same time, I know very little.  In other words, I watched my mother go through it, but I understand that truly knowing takes being there yourself. 

When my father died he left my mother pregnant with two small children.  It was obviously not easy, but with the help of family, she managed. 

About two years later, she met a man and they occasionally talked.  One day this man told her that they would marry.  My mother told him he was insane.  He told her, "I’ll wait".  And he did.  That man became my dad and he was all of those things that you mentioned in the article and more. 

He understood that my father’s family was still important to us (and vice-versa) and as we spent time with them, he became a member of their family as well. 

He opened his heart and we reciprocated.  He was patient, strong, loving, and understanding. He understood that there was enough love in our hearts for him as well.  Congratulations to you Michele, it sounds like you’ve found a man with a good heart as well.

You asked whether you can afford to love and fear loss again. This is something we all risk.  I loved only to have my husband leave me for another woman.  I swore I’d never trust or love again.  Believe me, it is better to live life with love. 

After my divorce, my mother once told me that she thought that divorce was worse than being a widow (her own opinion).  The loss of her husband was great, but at least she knew that he loved her - leaving was not his choice.  She still had his love and to have lost him and his love would have been devasatating to her.  She has been loved by two wonderful men in her life, but has never known the true loss of love.   She still feels my father’s love, just as she still feels the love of my Dad who is still beside her, because he still allows her to think of my father fondly if she chooses to.   

One last thing, slightly different tack - I have remarried and my wonderful husband and I have spoken on occasion about what we would do if we ever lost the other.  We have no problem with the other remarrying, we wish happiness for the other, but he has made me promise something - something that I had never considered before, but in today’s society, it is something I suppose we must consider.  If I ever fall in love again, I am sworn to keep my money completely separate.  He wants to know that I am taken care of throughout my life via life insurance, etc., but the thought that some charlatan might come along and bilk me out of my savings,  leaving me destitute into my old age truly scares him.  He knows that I am fairly smart with money, but he also knows that I am empathetic and sensitive - he is afraid that someone will take advantage of me while I am in mourning.  I made the promise…

Thank you Amy - This is EXACTLY the point that I was getting ready to make.  It always comes down to dollars and cents.  I’m 46, I’ve got a feeling that for the next few years, I may be paying for my mammograms out of my own pocket. 

Mammograms are no fun, but they’re a few minutes out of one day - big deal…

By the way, Amy - glad to hear you’re doing well.

My mother has wonderful style.  Both her home and her clothing reflect a simple elegance - a term that probably describes her personally as well. 

As her children, we took from her style in different ways.  My brother and his wife tend toward the elegance and frankly, I tend toward the simplicity.  We’re happy to share her.

Belinda, oh ye of little faith.  Faith in atheists that is.  If I could, I would.

My husband and I are atheists and yet we would love to visit Radio City Music Hall for the Holidays (alas, we live thousands of miles away).  I was raised in a Christian home and the nativity story was taught to me from an early age.  Though I look at the story quite differently now, I still see it as a lovely story that warms the hearts of many. 

Though the Christmas season is principally a Christian holiday, we embrace the season for our own reasons.  We "borrow" the season and celebrate it as a time of peace, hope and of generosity and as a time of beauty, love and kindness. 

I was that child that always had a book in my hand.  When it was bedtime, I still had a book in my hand, but it was under the covers with a flashlight. 

My love of books began early with Dr. Seuss, the Bobbsey Twins, and Nancy Drew.  I read these books over and over, but I really read everything I could get my hands on. I could even be known for sitting for hours with a volume of the Americana Encyclopedia and reading away - I loved learning. The annual year-end editions were fun to read as well, but I often just picked a letter and had a go at it!

Being the "baby of the family", all of the books listed above were already on the bookshelf or hand-me-downs, but one day my parents brought Marguerite Henry’s "King of the Wind" home to me from a PTA book sale and I remember reading that book so many times I could have recited it by heart.   My mother also brought me books about Helen Keller, Madame Curie, and other brilliant women - obviously, my mother is a brilliant woman as well.

By far though, my favorite book was a book that I still have and read to this day. It is titled A Children’s Treasury of Folk and Fairy Tales, Edited adapted by Eric Protter.  Full of wonderful old European folk tales, this book widened my eyes and my horizons.  It was through this book I met the witch Baba-Jaga with the bony legs, the Carrot-Counter, the Czar’s Frog Daughter, Kristina and the Devil, Max and Moritz, The Clever Thief, The Truthful Peasant… The illustrations were unlike anything I’d ever seen, the places were like no place I’d ever been, and what wonderful tales these were… and are. 

Agreed, George isn’t a Stanley.  I’m not sure I believe Brad Pitt is a Stanley either, but he’s certainly closer.  Maybe it’s just my own bias-Streetcar is the first movie I ever bought on DVD. 

I don’t really believe in remaking classics, but if we’re playing make believe here, how about George in The Treasure of Sierra Madre, The Maltese Falcon or even Casablanca?  (Yeah, I gotta thing for Bogey too.)  I could also see him in The Bridge on the River Kwai or maybe Lawrence of Arabia?  How about To Kill a Mockingbird?  What about Henry Fonda’s part in Once Upon a Time in the West?  Do you think he’s got the chops to play evil? 

I live in the sticks and I’m a bit of a hermit.  As a result, I only see about a half-dozen movies on a big screen and wait for most movies to hit DVD before seeing them.  That said - George Clooney AND the Dude deluxe - on acid?  Hmmm, could be a trip into the big city might be in my future…

By the way, I was in Liechtenstein last spring with my husband (see, I do get out once in awhile).  It was around 5pm and most of the shops were closed or closing so we’d stopped in one of the few that was still open - trinkets, stamps, knick-knacks, every tourist trapping one would ever want. Thousands of items, bright colors everywhere - almost too much for the eye to take in.  I scanned the room and finally, my eyes rested on the cash register - I smiled and started laughing.  My husband couldn’t figure out what I was laughing at.  He looked over, but there was so much stuff, it was like the page of a "Find Waldo" book.  He kept asking, "what do you see?" I finally narrowed his focus and he saw it.  Instead of a laugh, he only smiled and rolled his eyes.  "I can’t get away from the guy anywhere, can I?"  Taped on the side of the cash register was an 8x10 glossy photo of lovely George Clooney.

Love your answer, Linda.  Pure and simple, life really is too short.

I’m a reformed pack-rat.  I used to be quite bad, but over the years I start to let things pile up now and again.  Lately, I’ve been going through my house - it is time once again to simplify.  So many of these items do not give me joy, they hinder my enjoyment.  I’m tired of stuff - cleaning it, moving it, storing it, and stepping over it so I’ve decided if I don’t need it or love it, it goes.  If it is something that isn’t necessary in some way or if it isn’t something that brings a smile to my face, then a local charity will be happier to have it then me.  It’s so much nicer to walk into a room and see only the things I want and love. 

I’m trying hard to push past things I do out of habit and the things I have out of habit and aiming for that joy. 

By the way, thanks for your work with hospice patients.  My father-in-law just spent 6-weeks under hospice care - hospice professionals and volunteers were quite helpful and compassionate.

You think french-fried potatoes are bad, I’ll go you one worse -I adore fried chicken gizzards!  Yes, I know that most people will cringe when reading those words, but no matter where I roam, a part of me will always be just a simple Kentucky girl and when I walk by a deli that has fried chicken gizzards, it takes all that I have in me to pass them by.  

I don’t get them often and I only get a few.  I know they’re terrible for me and I feel terrible after I eat them, but WHILE I’m eating them?  Yum…

George Clooney has it all and he is the one and only name on my "laminated card." ;-) And Mr. WoW, the way you handled your encounter with Mr. Clooney was absolutely perfect.

As for Jeff Bridges, I love him, but he’ll forever be The Dude to me…

As a matter of fact, I’m sitting here revamping my resume (again) and trying something new with my cover letter and getting ready to send it off once again. One foot after the other…Thanks for the good vibes, Chrome T. I needed that. :)