When I have a book celebration giveaway the way I am now for my July release Love Comes Home (it will be sneaking in stores very soon), I sometimes ask readers and friends to share a story with me when they send in their entries. It’s not necessary to enter, but it’s fun. This time I asked for Homecoming or family stories since Love Comes Home starts with WW II ending and the boys coming home.
The story I’m sharing forward with you today is one from Brenda that points out something we all should keep in mind. We need to take time to share our stories with our families and listen to the stories our older family members have to tell. I so miss Mom being able to tell me the stories of back when she was a kid or when she first got married, but I am blessed that I did get her to tell me many of those stories before she lost those long ago memories.
The old memories were the last to go, so we had a few years where I would get her to talk about them while we were waiting at doctors’ offices or other quiet moments together. What a treasure those memories were to her and me too. Without them, I might never have written Angel Sister and the Rosey Corner stories that follow it up, Small Town Girl and now Love Comes Home.
These days, we all seem to be so busy with all the electronic gadgets that can entertain us. But sometimes those electronic gadgets lose power and we have to come up with the old ways to entertain ourselves. That’s what Brenda and her family did during one of those times. Her story below shows how sharing those family stories can make for new treasured memories. Here’s her story.
One of the great
memories I have is when a few years ago we had a huge snow storm and the
electricity was out for 6 days. There was 6 of us in the house (husband,
me, son, daughter, and three grandsons) as my daughter had MS and was
bed bound. It was so cold, and we couldn’t go anywhere to wait it out since
my daughter couldn’t be moved very easily. So we bundled up and sat around the living room and told true stories of
days from the past….when the boys were little….when their mother was
young….how my husband and I met and got married. The boys loved it, and
still talk about it. We lost my daughter 3 years ago, as she returned to
the Lord, and are still raising our grandsons who are all teenagers now. That is one snow storm we will never forget.
Thank you, Brenda, for sharing your story with us. Maybe we all need a snowstorm to make us lose that electric power now and again so that we can celebrate those special things that connect us and make us family.
Do you like hearing your family stories?
Remember, you can still enter my giveaway if you haven’t already thrown your name in the hat. Details on my
website events page. Plus, remember I have the blog only giveaway too where I’m picking five winners to get your choice of one of my books. All you have to do to enter is leave a comment on one of my blog posts here in June (with a way to contact you). Each comment on a new post here before the end of June gets your name in the hat again. That gives you more chance to win. If you’re in the USA or Canada, you can win a paper copy. If you live overseas, then you can win an e-book. Must be 18 to enter.
I’m the real winner when I get your comments. Love hearing what you have to say.
