Take a Bow ~by Linda Boulanger

On the heels of a recent announcement that I would be retiring from cover designing, I received notification that one of my designs has reached the Finalist round in the coveted InD'tale Magazine's RONE Awards. So, what's a RONE and why do designers want one? Well, let's look at that...

That's verbatim from the InDescribe RONE Awards site. You can see that they consider the covers to be among the best in book cover designs. A cover has to first be picked from all the covers submitted in a particular time period where it is pitted against other covers. If it makes the cut there in the monthly contest, it is then voted on by the public to decide whether it should be sent to a panel of professional judges who award the prestigious RONE award.

Whew! Just getting to that point where the cover gets sent to the judges' panel is a HUGE honor, and I'm so pleased that Grace Augustine's Secrets of Dalgaard Castle has made it to that level.

It's an awesome story by a wonderful author and the cover is one of my all-time favorite covers to have designed, so I'm super proud of it on many levels. And whether it wins or not, I'm pleased to have been given this opportunity, to be in the running with designers that I am in awe of, and to take a bow on such a positive note as the curtain falls on this particular phase of my life.

This isn't my first finalist badge, and it wouldn't be my first glass trophy from InD'tale if the judges pick my design, but there is the possibility that it could very well be my swan song. I couldn't be more pleased that this honor came at this time.

If you'd like to see the other 2019 RONE Cover Finalists, you'll find them here: https://www.indtale.com/2019-rone-cover-finalists. There are some amazing covers in there with Secrets of Dalgaard Castle tucked in among the Fantasy/Sci Fi category. 

I'd like to end by saying thank you to Grace and to the many authors who have entrusted me with their covers over the years. Giving readers their first glimpse of the story they'll find inside has been such a pleasure. And although I have found myself needing more time to focus on family matters, I also plan to work more on my own writing, so we'll see each other around.

And with that, as Tell~Tale Book Covers, I bid you Adieu.

Thanksgiving ~ by Grace Augustine

         

Photo: Wikipedia

In 1621, the Plymouth colonists and Wampanoag Indians shared an autumn harvest feast that is acknowledged today as one of the first Thanksgiving celebrations in the colonies. For more than two centuries, days of thanksgiving were celebrated by individual colonies and states.

Thanksgiving, or Thanksgiving Day, is a public holiday celebrated on the fourth Thursday of November in the United States. It has been celebrated nationally on and off since 1789, after Congress requested a proclamation by George Washington.

Photo: PinehurstResort

Long thought of as a celebration of harvest, in today's society it means different things to different people. To some, it is a four-day weekend. For others, it is the beginning of the holiday season--family gatherings, good food, football, and laughter. While others brave the crowds for the best shopping deals on Black Friday through the weekend.

Photo: WholeFoods

For me, it's all about the turkey, cranberries, and pumpkin pie! (Along with being grateful for all life blessings.)  And, what is Thanksgiving without a new recipe?  Below is one I found that seems like it could find its way to my oven this year...courtesy of Food Network. Click the underlined link and be taken to the recipe.

Photo: FoodNetwork

Four-Flavor Sheet Pan Pie

 From all of us here at Originality by Design, we wish all of you a very wonderful Thanksgiving!

I'll Meet You At The Footbridge ~ by Grace Augustine

   

photo: SunnySkyz

Caitlyn climbed upon my lap and snaked her little arms around my neck.  It made me smile to know my great-grandchildren loved spending time with us.

“Tell me again, how you and great grandpa met,” she pleaded.

I pulled her little nine-year-old body closer to me for a hug and kissed her temple.  She knew this story frontwards and backwards, but always had to have me retell it whenever she visited.

“Well, Catie, I wasn’t very good at picking out boys to date. After four years of high school and four years of college, I’d had countless boys that were just terrible.”

Catie nodded her head.

“That’s when you asked great great grandma to fix you up, right?”

I snickered silently at that sentence.  Yes, that is when I had to be fixed up with a date.

“Yes, Catie. My mom and I sat at the kitchen table discussing boys and how most of my friends were married and having children. Then there was me…”

“Yeah, but, you were beautiful, Oma Marie. You still are.”

“Oh, child, thank you. Now, do you want me to finish this story, or are you going to tell it to me?”

“I’ll shut up, Oma Marie,” the little poppet affirmed.

“My mom worked at a factory with a lot of other people. There were some young men there, one in particular, who wasn’t having any luck with dating. So, my mom asked him if he would like to come to dinner. I was mortified! But, I’m the one who told her to find me someone to marry.”

Catie laughed at that. She opened her mouth but shut it quickly.

“Your Opa Mark knocked on the door of our home and, of course, my mom made me answer the door. There he stood, all six-foot-six of him, dressed to the nines. No words came out of my mouth. I just stared at him. He probably thought I was the biggest loser he’d ever met.  My mom yelled at me to invite him to come in, so I did.

“The dining room table was filled with food, and my two sisters and mom and dad. After dinner, mom suggested that Mark and I go in the living room and get to know each other. We spent the next three hours talking and laughing. When it was time for him to leave, I walked with him to the door. He kissed my cheek and asked when he could see me again.”

I tear up every time I tell this story to sweet Caitlyn. I hugged her closer to me as I thought of my darling, Mark. He is the best thing that ever happened to me. I constantly thank my mother in Heaven for introducing us.

“This is where Opa Mark asks you to meet him at the bridge, right?” Caitlyn’s head bobbed, as did her curls.

“Yes, honey, this is where Opa Mark and I met at the bridge. Every time we met, we met at the bridge before we went out on our dates. Three months into our relationship, Opa Mark asked me to marry him and I said yes. Each year on our anniversary, we walk the length of that bridge and remember that special night. Tomorrow, we will be married fifty-five years.”

“Oma Marie! That’s a very long time! I wonder if my Momma will pick my husband.”

“Oh, Catie, you have years before you have to worry about that. Enjoy your time growing up. When it’s time for that special boy in your life, I’m sure you will have many knocking on your door.”

“But, I don’t want many. I just want one. I want one that is as special as Opa Mark,” Catie stated. “You love Opa Mark a whole lot, don’t you?”

“I love Opa Mark with all of who I am, honey.”

“Are you going to the bridge tomorrow? Can I come?”

I smiled down at my oldest great grandchild. She was so much like her grandmother and her mother with a bit of me mixed in there for good measure.

“Yes, Opa Mark and I will walk down that bridge tomorrow. We must do that. It’s tradition. And, Catie, no, you can’t go with us tomorrow. But, whatcha say to us doing it another day? We’ll get ice cream.”

Catie’s eyes grew large at the thought of ice cream. Again, her arms were around my neck and she kissed my cheek.

“I love you Oma Marie, and I love the bridge, too.”

Where Does Time Go? ~ by Grace Augustine

 

photo: Wikipedia

November 4th at 2 am we turn back the clocks to standard time. I've never really seen the validity in this, and I'm sure the scientific ones who read this will be more than happy to enlighten me.  And...I would welcome that, please and thank you.

I have an issue with time. There, I admitted it. The adage of time passes more quickly the older we become holds so true.

Personal photo

How on earth can this sweet little baby boy be 36 years old?  How can my other son be 32 and in a different state miles from me? A much more pressing question is...how did I get to be this old?

photo: NY Post

It seems like only yesterday that I was watching the boys playing in the park, taking them to T-ball games, basketball, baseball. Then I blinked...

photo: wixi

I blinked...no longer was I on the T-ball field, but at the high school sports complex watching baseball and football games and walking the field every Friday night doing football stats.  

I blinked again and they were moving the tassel from one side of their mortarboard to the other, shaking the hands of the Board of Education members and accepting their first diploma.  Then it was off to college and away from home...away from ME.  Sigh.

 photo: CAC

For some reading this, your kids married and now have kids of their own. Again, you are playing chauffeur to school related events, only as a grandparent this time. Then, it happens...those grandchildren grow up and go to college, live their own lives...THEN...

photo: daily express

EMPTY NEST SYNDROME!!!  This is usually the phase when couples sit across the room from each other wondering what happened. You have your interests, he has his. Every once in a while you come together and do something...or you could be that couple who does everything together and wondered when this stage of your life would happen...you're FREE! Typing that tongue in cheek.  :) 

Then, divorce happens, death of a spouse happens, physical disabilities happen and you are at a crossroads, yet again. (see a pattern here? C.H.A.N.G.E.)

Again, I'm back to my original topic--time...time passing so quickly that you wake up one morning and your hair is showing some silver (or you color it to make it go away), your "fine lines" are deeper, those pesky chin hairs (ladies' you KNOW what I'm talking about!) find a way of becoming coarse and annoying with roots to your toes when you try to tweeze them...and you wonder... where did this week go?  Where did this month go?  Where did this year go? 

Really...where DID this year go?

The only thing I can do is embrace it...embrace the change, regardless of how much I may hate my looks in the mirror, how much I hate the decreased mobility, the aches and pains, the extra pounds that seem to have miraculously turned into batwings overnight...

And, I Breathe...I breathe in life and live every moment like it was the last one. 

Be kind to those around you, because you might be the last voice or face they hear or see.

   

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