When I was a little girl I always wanted to look like my mother. I thought she was the prettiest woman ever. And I wanted to be like her too. Strong. Determined. Smart. Patient. Loving. She was ready to do whatever necessary to take care of her family. She loved us, her three daughters. Mom grew up during the Great …
Fifty years ago Beatlemania hit America. When I look back on it now, you might wonder why that song “I Want to Hold Your Hand” took the country by storm. The Beatles were already hitting the music scene in England, but here in America, the record companies were reluctant to put out their songs. Maybe because those songs were so …
February 4, 1965 Jocie Brooke here reporting from Hollyhill, Kentucky. First I have to let you know that last week was a disaster here in Hollyhill. A foot of snow and cold. Somebody told Dad that it was twenty below out on their farm. Wow! That’s too cold to do anything except sit by the fire and hope you don’t …
I usually hold off on putting the cover of my books out here on the net until closer to time for them to actually be on the shelf, but I’m giving you a sneak peek at Love Comes Home since I’ve been working on edits for it all week. The release date isn’t until summer, July 1, 2014 to be exact. …
I’ve been away from home for a few days keeping my son’s kids. Great kids, but lively. There was snow up their way and of course they wanted to go out and play in it. Trouble was the wind chill was double minus something. It wasn’t so bad the day I got there and so we rushed on our boots …
A snow day literally and figuratively falls from the sky, unbidden, and seems like a thing of wonder. ~Susan Orlean Kentucky winters are unpredictable. We might have snow. We might not. When my oldest son was six, he got a sled for Christmas. We did not have sledding snow for years. Then the year he was eleven the heavens opened …
I started writing when I was around ten years old. That means I’ve been writing a very long time. Sometimes with success. Sometimes without success – at least in publishing that writing. But the actual writing was always successful because words spilled out on paper. Perhaps not the best words. But words were written. In those childhood days, writing was …
January 20, 1965 Jocie Brooke here reporting from downtown Hollyhill, Kentucky. Exciting news today. Dad got contacted by somebody to do an interview. It’s usually Dad interviewing other folks for a piece in the Banner, but this time the tables were turned and somebody interviewed him all about what went on last fall here in Hollyhill. You remember, don’t you? …
Have you heard about Blue Monday? Up until today, I thought Blue Monday was simply one of my favorite candy bars made right here in Kentucky. And it is. But turns out a few years ago, a company decided to do a publicity campaign by naming a Monday in January as the most depressing day of the year. I read …
SOME THINGS LEARNED IN LIFE …that one of the most fun things you can do is take a walk with a grandkid and a dog. …that the best classroom in the world is at the feet of an elderly person. …that just one person saying “You’ve made my day” makes our day! …that having a child fall asleep in your arms …