My Sweet Rose
This is the rose I planted to honor my paternal grandmother who passed away two years ago. I spent a lot of time with my grandparents in my youth. I miss my grandmother dearly as we were very close, and she is whom I wrote Glimpses of an El Dorado Rose for.
During my writing course, one particular assignment was published in Grand Magazine's online edition in 2013. She was in a retirement home at the time and was not computer literate at all, so I printed out a copy and sent it to her. She had it read to her as she was going blind, many times, and she told me every time I called her, how proud she was of me.
Gramma, as I called her, was a fascinating woman who was a great inspiration to me. She was my best friend whom I could go to with anything on my mind; I had called her often. I wrote her a poem after she passed titled, I Wish Heaven had a Phone, and I truly do wish Heaven had a phone. I can only imagine what she might say to me with the questions I have swimming in my head. She always gave sound advice and never judged me when I would make a big mistake in life. She was always there for me, always. Today, if I get real quiet, I can still hear her voice and her laughter. I can see her smiling face, and I can smell her lotion and her lipstick; they are ingrained in my mind forever.
My first published story, was about a day I spent with her as she was moving out of her long-time home into a retirement center. That story sparked my idea about the book I ended up writing. I won't give any more away here... you can read a sample chapter on the website, or order a copy of the book either here on the website, or from Amazon. I do have a limited supply however. :)
It grieved me greatly that she did not get to read the book before she passed, and even more so when the publisher I signed a contract with, did not honor that contract and market my book. (They are currently in the middle of a federal lawsuit and there are over 1,600 complaints against them). So now, I am in the middle of re-writing the book, making it bigger and better with the possibility of turning it into a series as there are so many stories to tell! Time for a cup of tea...
