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honesty between friends

Channeling Mr. Rogers …

June 12, 2012 by Patricia Sands Leave a Comment

Photo credit – Wikipedia

It’s a beautiful day in the neighbourhood, a beautiful day for a neighbour, would you be mine, could you be mine … *channeling Mr. Rogers* … and there’s a lot of blog-hopping going on today, which always guarantees a great time!

For some reason, I’ve been humming the theme song from  the Mr. Rogers show all day. But … hey … his show was all about friendship and that’s what I’m talking about with my friend Jess today.  I must be having some sort of psychic connection with Fred … goodness knows I watched at least a zillion of his shows when our children were small!

I’m hanging out at the Happiness Project with the fabulous Jess Witkins, a young woman with the most brilliant smile and a sunny attitude to match. How could you not want to rush over to a blog with that handle?

As well as spreading happiness, Jess is working on her first novel and we are all following her progress with great anticipation. Write on, Jess!

She’s been telling me recently about her fabulous book club and we got talking about friendship and  … well … click right here and hop on over to join our chat. You know I’m all about friendship! We would love to hear from you AND THERE’S A GIVEAWAY INVOLVED. See you there!

To make the day even better, best-selling author and dear friend, Steena Holmes … (um, she’s a bit on the shy side … could her photo be any smaller? Steena, we have to talk!)

Anyway, the awesome and talented Steena is here to share her exciting news! Her latest novel, “Finding Emma” has just won the 2012 Indie Excellence Award in the Fiction category. It’s a gripping, emotional story which I was privileged to read and review just as it was published and it is most worthy of all the kudos being received.

Along with that, Steena is contributing a portion of the proceeds from sales to the Missing Children Society of Canada.

If you haven’t read it yet, here’s the Amazon link. BUT WE ARE ALSO GIVING AWAY AN E-COPY HERE! Woohoo!

Steena has an amazing blog tour in progress, hosted by Women On Writing, and you can find a list of all of her stops on her website as well as details about a Scavenger Hunt … seriously!  Honestly, this woman is creative!  She has written some terrific posts that truly hit home about parenting … and the subject of chocolate does come up from time to time as well!

Just leave a comment below this post and then click here to go to Steena’s blog to leave a comment after you read her excellent post about her thoughts on winning an award. We will employ our highly scientific method of putting all the names in a hat and having my DH pick out the winner!

Ahem, pardon me for nudging Steena just a little to the side of the spotlight for a second to share the news that The Bridge Club was a Finalist in the Women’s Issues category for the 2012 Indie Excellence Awards. It was fun to find both of us there when they sent out the list of Winners and Finalists. Yay, us!

I know you are going to enjoy getting to know these two fine friends of mine. In the author/blogger community we often pop around to each other’s sites. It’s the cyber equivalent of meeting up at the local coffee emporium, martini bar, or chocolateria. Where do you like to hang out with your friends? 

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Filed Under: Author Promotion, Blog Tagged With: 2011 Next Generation Indie Book Awards Finalist, 2012 Indie Excellence Book Awards, Finding Emma, ForeWord 2010 Book Of The Year Finalist, Fred Rogers, friendship, Happiness Project, honesty between friends, Jess Witkins, lifelong friendship, Missing Children Society of Canada, Mr. Rogers, Patricia Sands, scavenger hunt, Steena Holmes, The Bridge Club, the power of friendship, the value of laughter, Toronto, Women, Women On Writing, writing

The party’s at Bridgette’s …

March 22, 2012 by Patricia Sands 12 Comments

Okay, a few weeks ago I promised I was only going to post on my blog twice a week and since then I’ve broken that promise several times. I’m sorry … I’m a big believer in promises so this does not make me feel good. With your permission I’ll retract that promise and simply say I’ll TRY not to blog more than twice a week. I know how busy y’all are and you don’t need me popping up in your mailbox every day.

It’s just that there’s SO much great stuff to talk about!

Like this, for example – Today I’m hanging out over at Bridgette Booth’s blog again and we would love it if you would pop in and see what’s going on. We’re still recovering from the brunch she slaved over  threw together for us yesterday. That lady knows how to deliver a party – sharpies, paper plates and jalapeno kolaches – all served up with that special brand of Texan hospitality! We did have more than a few laughs!

Bridgette is one of my fabulous WANA sisters from Kristen Lamb’s Blogging For Your Author Brand course last summer. On the surface she seems kind of shy but underneath that quiet exterior is a real firecracker and a fine human being whose writing simply breathes energy.

In spite of the fact she is busy working on her own manuscript and homeschooling her children, Bridgette – avid reader that she is – pulled The Bridge Club off her TBR pile and decided we needed to chat. She always finds time for her friends and we’re glad she does. Come on over … click right here … there may even be a few of those delicious kolaches left!

 

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Filed Under: Blog, News Tagged With: 2011 Next Generation Indie Book Awards Finalist, Bridgette Booth, follow your dreams, ForeWord 2010 Book Of The Year Finalist, friendship, Girlfriendology, honesty between friends, Kristen Lamb, Patricia Sands, The Bridge Club, the power of friendship, the value of laughter, Women, writing

You’re beautiful, just the way you are …

February 9, 2012 by Patricia Sands Leave a Comment

Beauty of a Woman Blogfest

Posted on February 9, 2012

Today’s post is a contribution to August McLaughlin’s Beauty of a Woman Blogfest. Be sure to visit her always powerful blog on Friday, February 10th to read posts from all over the blogosphere.

About the only thing that comes to us without effort is old age.
— Gloria Pitzer

There is no denying that growing old is a mandatory process. More than anything we need to appreciate how fortunate we are to have the opportunity to achieve old age. Too many are robbed of this.

Recognizing that every day is a gift is an important part of keeping your beauty vibrant. Approaching life with a positive attitude and a desire to pay that forward is the best tonic.

Many of us resist aging as we attempt to soften wrinkles and hang on to traces of our physical beauty through the magic of make-up … and, let’s be honest, Spanx!  Truly, I don’t have a problem with this  as long as we realize our face or our body is not where our true beauty lies.

As a woman in her mid-sixties, I’m still dying my hair and *full disclosure here* I never go anywhere without mascara. Yup … it’s a fact. I do it for me and for no one else. I do it not because I think it makes me beautiful but because it makes me feel good. And that’s okay.

Realizing where our true beauty lies is a completely different process than applying cosmetics and it rests deep within our psyches. It is something to be encouraged from the day we are born. As mothers we need to help our children understand something of their inner beauty before they are exposed to the physical side. Words, deeds, demonstrations of loving guidance begin the process from infancy on. As a grandmother now, I feel the same desire to instill this sense of beauty in my grandchildren and the good news is it’s even easier to do at this stage of my life.

As I observe myself and my wonderful friends continuing on our journeys, welcoming new opportunities, nurturing our friendships and families, and giving of ourselves whenever we can , I am convinced that beauty simply grows and flourishes with every passing year.

The beauty of a woman
Is not determined by a man
Her beauty can be found in her grace
Not just the beauty of her face
It can be found in her style
It can also be found in her smile
Her beauty is in her thoughts
Not just what she has been taught
It can also be found in her soul
It cannot go untold
Her beauty is within her
She does not need to lure
Anyone, because her presence
It is her whole essence
A woman’s beauty is in her heart
Her beauty is her art                      Ms. JStar
To help celebrate August’s beautiful Blogfest, I’ve offered e-book copies of my novel, The Bridge Club, to two lucky winners. There are lots of other great prizes including a Kindle Touch and a body image coaching session! Wow!  Leave a comment here and then another on August’s blog for your name to be put in a cyberhat and randomly drawn! Check out all of the other fabulous messages posted on blogs from all over the map. Above and beyond everything else, believe in yourself and the beauty you possess and help the people you love, at every age, to do the same for themselves.
Beautiful!

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Filed Under: Blog, Social issues Tagged With: 2011 Next Generation Indie Book Awards Finalist, August McLaughlin, Beauty of a Woman Blogfest, ForeWord 2010 Book Of The Year Finalist, friendship, honesty between friends, Patricia Sands, The Bridge Club, the power of friendship, the value of laughter

A love letter to my Bridge Club

January 25, 2012 by Patricia Sands 14 Comments

As we roll into another year, I feel like sending a bit of cyberlove to the amazing friends who are my real life Bridge Club by retelling this story. This is old news for some of you who read my blog but many of you won’t know the story.

Along with some fine, steadfast BFF’s in my life, I have this special group that has shared friendship for over 45 years. There are ten of us in what we laughingly call the Bridge Club. We chuckle about it because, to be honest, cards have not played the most important role in our lives although we do enjoy the game.

We’re all the same age give or take a year and that is the most obvious thing we have in common. We have very diverse personalities, sizes, shapes, hairstyles, careers, bank accounts, and families. Yet, at the same time, we are one. The values we share are undeniable.

Like everyone on the planet, we each have our own story. Part of forging a strong friendship is accepting and understanding each other’s story, even if we’re not in accord with every aspect. Agreeing to disagree can be an important step in accepting differences and working through issues.

Becoming a valued part of each other’s story is a true sign of the quality of a friendship.

Our Bridge Club shares a history filled with memories that range from deliriously happy to devastatingly sad and encompass everything in between. It’s been quite a ride made all the more meaningful by knowing each one of us was “there” for whatever we needed. It hasn’t always been everyone responding at the same time but rather whoever had the best to offer the situation. No matter what, we are all in the loop and ready to bring what we could.

Some of the women in our group have known each other since kindergarten. Others came into the circle in our late teens and early twenties through school and university. From our days in the Psychedelic Sixties as hip, liberated “twenty-somethings”, or so we thought, to our present day status as “zoomers’”, our connection has been a constant.

Even though some of us are separated geographically now, we keep in touch. Six of us still get together frequently and we plan reunions with the others when we can. For the past twenty years, we have gathered for a major birthday celebration every five years and, trust me, we can still party!

September, 2010, we had an awesome week together on Vancouver Island. All ten of us laughed way too much, were organized into an impressive range of activities by the “planner” in the group, and, oh yes, played bridge. Did I mention we laughed way too much?

We piled into our vehicles one perfect morning – Bo driving 6 in the van, Barb with 4 in her car – to make the two-hour or so drive to Campbell River for lunch at Dick’s Fish and Chips. Nothing else would do!

The first scenic stop was at Qualicum Beach for a group photo. If you have visited Vancouver Island, I’m sure you will agree about the absolute unspoiled beauty of that part of the world particularly when the sun is shining and the temperature is just right.

Before I knew it, an unsuspecting guy relaxing on a nearby bench had been recruited. He continued to smile as he was handed several cameras and patiently completed the task.

Wondering who we were, some of us chatted for a few minutes. Barb took a photo of the rest of us with him and someone handed him a postcard about my novel, The Bridge Club. I should mention here that this was just a month after publication and the bridge club ladies were being the best promoters a writer could hope for!

But then again, as they constantly reminded me with grins, the novel is their story … with the lines blurred here and there to make it fiction. And that’s the truth, I could never have written the book without the history we have shared nor without their permission and whole-hearted approval.

Two days after I returned home to Toronto, a polite e-mail (address from my website on the postcard) arrived from the Qualicum Beach ‘photographer’ asking if it was ok to contact me. I was impressed by his thoughtful courtesy, agreed, and thanked him again for taking the great photo. Two days passed and this arrived to my inbox.

Inspired by sun, sand and blue mountains    Laughter and joy, the bridge club’s gift.

    An aging gypsy, a beach-side moment,

    lovely women, fellow travelers.

    A snap shot in time, joined for an instant.

 

   Each alone yet connected,

   through joys, sorrows and inner callings,

   visions from the “psychedelic sixties”.

   Honesty and truth, service to a common good

   forged in the fires of friendship.

   

    For me, silence and solitude,

   meditation halls and prayer.

   Birthed in the sixties

   nurtured for decades

   blossoming in the moment.

 Brother and sisters… same goal , different pathways.

 All the best 

He had obviously read the blurb about The Bridge Club history on the postcard and on my website and penned this just for us. This unknown Qualicum Beach ‘photographer’ made our brief stop that morning a very special memory forever.

It’s memories that weave the threads of our story together – the good and the bad, the “stuff” of life. We have choices to make every day and the more we are able to ensure they are affirmative and beneficial, the better our story becomes. When our story is authentic, value-based, and strong everyone connected to us benefits as well. It’s our own personal way of paying it forward.

Having true friendship in your life can only add positives to your journey in every way. The giving is equally as satisfying as the receiving.

The most important lesson we’ve learned from each other? To have a good friend, you must be a good friend.

I wish the same for you.

Take a minute today to let your friends know how much they mean to you. To all of you who take the time to drop by my blog, I’d like to think we are developing a friendship of sorts as well. I want to tell you how much I appreciate your visits. You have no idea how motivating and inspiring it is to know you’ve stopped in. Thanks!

 

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Filed Under: Blog, Photo blogs Tagged With: 2011 Next Generation Indie Book Awards Finalist, follow your dreams, ForeWord 2010 Book Of The Year Finalist, honesty between friends, lifelong friendship, Patricia Sands, The Bridge Club, the power of friendship

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