Category: women’s stories

Ireland, European travel, Australia, Cairns horse racing,, living with ghosts, Memoir, paranormal, psychic phenomena, women's stories

More Backstory

Arlene

ireland-graveyard
JANUARY 6, 2017 · 7:52 PM | EDIT ↓ Jump to Comments
More Backstory
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The photo is of the graveyard near the Hill of Tara, County Meath, Ireland. Newgrange is approximately a half hour away. A Nosegay of Violets. Probably the first time I heard of Tara (in this lifetime) was in reading Gone with the Wind by Margaret Mitchell when I was in my early 20s. The Hill of Tara came to me many years later when I read Scarlett by Alexandra Ripley in 1991. I loved both books, feeling Ripley continued Scarlett’s fiery personality in her novel.

Angelo came home one day and said, “Let’s go to Ireland next month.” He always chose our vacation spot, but left the planning up to me. I had no clue (and the Internet was in its infancy) about where to go, no time to write for tourist information, and never went to tourist destinations anyway.

Ahhh! I had recently finished Scarlett. I took the book off the shelf, copied all the places she mentioned and marked them on the map. It gave me a starting point. Angelo was not a reader. He had no idea where my plan came from, just went along wherever I drove the car. I was determined to see where the High Kings of Ireland sat; where Scarlett was taking a handful of her Tara’s earth to mix with the earth in the Hill of Tara, Ireland.

As I stood there, I saw the tombstone’s off near a small church. I expected to find some really, really old markers. Genealogy was playing a big role in my life at the time, so gravestones were important to me. They hold a wealth of historical information. I found a few from the 1800s which isn’t considered old to me. Disappointed, maybe, but not in Tara.

Newgrange had deeply unsettled me. I was wary of walking into that narrow tunnel to get to the interior. I did it, not happily. I had to force myself. Something was going on there and I did not know what, only how it affected me. The Hill of Tara was just what I needed to restore my energy and self-assurance as a visitor in Ireland.

Memoir, paranormal, psychic phenomena, women's stories

Early Backstory

Arlene

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When I was a teen I planned to be a reporter/journalist for a daily newspaper. As soon as I graduated from high school, I would face the world, have my own apartment and report, write, and look for situations people wanted to read about.

Excitement built in me when I was accepted to work on the Hamilton High school newspaper. It was probably named The Hornet or something similar that escapes my memory because I never made it to my senior year. A year that I so looked forward to. A year that would be my early training for the career I craved.

My mother did some finagling that summer between my junior and senior years. She was grossly unhappy with my having a steady boyfriend, who took me to proms, football games, swimming, parties, and all the dreamy places a teenage girl could want. He even got me a part-time job waiting the counter in a luncheonette.  She decided he was not to be in my life any longer.

Then she met Ken at our neighbor Claire and Bill’s house. He was a friend of Bill’s.  Mom determined that we should meet and become a couple. That’s how it happened. It was all arranged. A backyard cookout was planned where he would not bring his present girlfriend. I was so naïve! I knew nothing of all this going on. Just pushed into attending.

Ken also took me swimming, dancing, to impressive restaurants, and cozy jazz clubs where the smoke hung low and chanteuse voices even lower. He was 6’ 2” wide in the shoulders, narrow in the hips, wore custom-made suits, sported anErrol Flynn mustache, and drove a fine-looking Cadillac. Two tone gray.  Very classy.

Mom coached me to order V. O. & water so I wouldn’t be carded. I was 16. The legal drinking age at the time was 21. Ken was 26, a handsome man with exquisite manners, consideration, and attendance.

At the end of the whirlwind summer, when it was time for me to return to school, Ken asked me to marry him. My stepfather Joe wisely suggested we wait until I finish high school. I think he knew this would blow over in time. I was just too young for a lifetime commitment. I was happy waiting although I considered that Ken would not be taking me to high school balls or football games. Besides being on the school paper, I was vice-president of the class. I was involved. It was expected of me to support my school events. I couldn’t see Ken’s going along with this.

It took me years to figure out that Mom was terrified I would become pregnant and bring shame to the family. She wisely knew, at Ken’s age, he would probably not wait for conjugal rights. He certainly was not gentleman enough to wait for me.  She didn’t know I had the determination and intelligence to not let that happen to me. She just didn’t know me at all.

So, I said ‘yes.’ My words, not quite my dream.  Surely this was only a detour. I didn’t know that then, but I knew, walking down the aisle in a white velvet gown in November, with all eyes on me, tears slowly overflowing my eyes under my tulle veil, that this was not the right place for me to be. But it was too late to turn back.

books, family, genealogy, general, Memoir, New book release, paranormal, psychic phenomena, women, women's stories, writing

PSYCHIC DEVELOPMENT IN THE LINEAGE

Arlene

violets-3grandma-daniels   The photo shows Grandmother Elizabeth Urbanski Daniels (my mother’s mother) holding me approximately one year before she passed away. No stories have come to me about anyone before her in her birth line being psychically developed. She certainly was. My mother didn’t tell me about this until I was nearly 30 years old. I’d had some out of body experiences of my own, but Mom didn’t know that. She never knew it because I never told her. Mom had a habit of belittling me, so I wasn’t about to confide anything at all to her.

Grandmother Elizabeth (as she was referred to, never Grandma) read tarot cards. She was good at it. My mother was developed as far as my two brothers and I was concerned. She always knew before I did, when I was pregnant. I’m talking about within days. With my brother Bob, it was instant. In her later years, she lived in Ft. Lauderdale, Florida but knew instantly when Bob’s car was in an accident in New Jersey. She called on the phone within minutes after it happened. The car was empty. Bob was in the house with me at the time.

booksigning, hauntings, living with ghosts, Memoir, paranormal, psychic phenomena, Warren Artists' Market, women's stories

The Launching of A Nosegay of Violets, a writer’s memoir of psychic awakening

Arlene

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From left: Thomas Park, Arlene Bice, Sterling Cheston, Anita Merriweather Williams

WAM photo by C. Myrick Hendricks

It’s done. It’s over. The Warren Artists’Market team, shown here, helped me to create a great evening to enjoy the delicious baked goodies, lattes, and pots of tea of Susan Long at Lloyd’s Bakery last night. We socialized to Sterling’s musical selections in the background, Thomas performed his always interesting literary references while introducing me to a great group of people, and Anita showed her support. I let whatever words about writing the book flow, incidences in the book, and a few strange synchronicities about the book.

My emotions ran high when I answered some questions. Talking about what I wrote means that I relive the moment again. Since I had written these emotions, when I spoke them this time, I was able to get through the drama with only a few glitches in my voice. That’s a big difference from being unable to speak of some tragedies and near tragedies, that I’ve lived through, over many years.

I am extremely grateful for the audience of last night. They were kind, gentle, and engrossed when I spoke. Love. It’s all around in so many different forms that it fits all of us.

 

books, hauntings, Memoir, paranormal, poetic narrative, psychic phenomena, women's stories, wormen writing

A Nosegay of Violets, a writers memoir of psychic awakening

Arlene

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Well, it’s finally here and it is a great relief! Writing this book, A Nosegay of Violets,  has been therapeutic, sending all those hidden secrets out into the Universe with a refusal of thinking “what if someone laughs at me?” or “what if no one believes me?” or “what will they think of me, knowing of the marriage I was in? “

Those questions no longer hold fear for me. I have survived the marriage and became stronger because of it. I have forgiven myself for decisions I made, (the hardest thing to do) believing they were the right ones to make at the time. And I have forgiven others who did me harm. They were just being who they were. And I had help along the way, from people-sometimes strangers-from friends, from family, and an Angel here and there when no one else was around to show up.  WOW!

You’d think those would be easy moments to talk about, but they were not. Fear of rejection held me back. When I overcame that fear last year, I pulled all the scraps of paper with notes jotted on them and poured over my journals to be sure I would get everything right. It meant re-living the entire experience over again and again and again as I wrote and re-wrote and re-wrote. Excuse me, while I allow myself to have this feeling of being wonderful!

books, Memoir, New book release, women's stories

THE BIRD AND THE FISH, MEMOIR OF A TEMPORARY MARRIAGE by Miriam Valmont- Book Review

Arlene

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There are so many married partners out there that suddenly wake up one morning, without warning, to find they are widows or widowers. It’s shocking to become numb for a year, or two, or three. Your head is in the clouds and your heart is just hanging out of your chest, for everyone to see. It’s painful.
Yet Miriam Valmont agreed, signed up, to do just that. She would marry a man that she grew to deeply love, knowing against all hope, that the marriage would be dead in six months.
Bravely, and with avid interest, she learned another culture, alien to her own. This all-American woman loved an Iranian student 25 years her junior. Her story takes you on an adventure, sparing no details of the emotional roller coaster ride, even learning his language.
They created a bridge between East and West. She immersed herself to see life and Iranian customs through his eyes, willing herself to understand, hoping to influence him with American ways. Reading her story you will witness an extraordinary marriage and wonder if you could ever possibly do the same.
This is an exceptional book, full of honesty and the longing for love that we all desire. It’s a story that will linger in your heart for a long, long, time.

book review, cookbooks, dreams, Memoir, New book release, paranormal, reflection, women, women's stories

SNAPSHOTS: Memories and Recipes by Sandra Martin -book review

Arlene

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These SNAPSHOTS are indeed as varied as the photos that lay in your own drawer at home. Martin’s snaps are words from the life she lived growing up on a Bracey, Virginia farm to Virginia Beach to Manhattan, New York to time spent across country, around the world, and back to holding events in the Dairy Barn on the farm. Her adventures in the big cities as a literary agent and executive producer for television are balanced between recipes from her passion of cooking for friends.
As her spirituality grows, so does her intensity of life. Dreams play a major role as she executive produces the series of The Power of Dreams for the Discovery Channel, interviewing names that every household recognizes.
Martin is a woman who has lived a fascinating life by making things happen, by following her intuition, listening to her dreams, and doesn’t mind talking about it. This is a fabulous read that will inspire others to go ahead, step out, and take a chance on life. I LOVE THIS BOOK!

book review, living with ghosts, paranormal, Uncategorized, women's stories

PROMISED BY HEAVEN A doctor’s return from the afterlife to a destiny of love and healing by Dr. Mary Helen Hensley

Arlene

promised heaven      This book begins with a punch and ends with a punch, and in between is a story that is nearly impossible to put down. Be prepared to sit up all night reading.

The story opens with Mary Helen Hensley in a hospital coming back to life after a fatal car accident. She was nearing her 22 birthday. I began marking the paragraphs and underlining sentences on page 5 and continued until the end.

Hensley holds nothing back. She doesn’t make herself out to be a hero, just a woman trying her best to do good and to get through life, being loved and loving. She tells us how difficult that can be. Her pain when life hits low points, are not hidden, but laid out there for you to understand. Her metaphysical experiences are clearly explained, so you can understand those, too.

Her writing about her life and metaphysical experiences has led me to understand many of my own. This is a book to keep and read again and again, learning more from it each time. Thank you, Mary Helen Hensley for writing this book.