| Author |
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Uncle_ricky
Member
07-02-2007
| Tuesday, April 19, 2016 - 1:08 pm 
I'm a wreck with those reuniting shows, too.
You'll love this story (I think). Back in '83, ABC aired one of its Movies of the Week, "Who Will Love My Children?" starring Ann Margret as the true life mother who, after learning she had terminal cancer, decided to find homes for each of her ten children, rather than leave them in the care of her alcoholic husband, played by Frederic Forrest.
All I have to do is THINK of that movie and I get instantly lachrymose.
Anyway, a couple of years ago, I accompanied my husband Seth to his 35-year high school reunion. At that reunion, he introduced me to one of his classmates, Hallie Todd. He said, "Remember I told you about Hallie being in that movie with Ann Margret you liked so much? She played the eldest of the ten children in the movie."
I couldn't believe it. I said, "Really? You played the daughter? I have never cried as violently as I did over that movie. In fact, I'm about to cry right just meeting you." And, I did! I had to apologize for embarrassing her (and Seth). Fortunately, she just laughed and said she understood. Miraculously, she also said she's NEVER seen the movie even though she was in it. Amazing!
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Mameblanche
Member
08-24-2002
| Tuesday, April 19, 2016 - 2:20 pm
That IS amazing, in all its aspects. How serendipitous too! 
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Seamonkey
Moderator
09-07-2000
| Tuesday, April 19, 2016 - 3:42 pm
I loved that story and the movie!
I'm kind of opposite.. while the reunion shows can be so touching, often there is one party who didn't search and may really not want to be found for some reason and I feel for the pressure on them.. when both parties are searching that is really cool.
But the two boys.. it was so great for them to meet each other.
The second episode featured two women, one from NY, one in Florida, who have an extremely rare condition where the torso or spine is messes up but limbs are more normal.. so they are definitely attention getting and of course have pain and pressure on their normal sized organs.
One of them had a career (she is a dancer, ballet, but wished she could have a child but thought it would kill her.. had been told that. The other was married and did have a lovely child but was very shy and longed to have a career working with children.
Well they sent the NY woman to Florida and when they met it was WOW.. so much alike. By the end the husband and son were also hating to see the NY woman leave, she had visited a doctor who was an expert and given the facts and the hope that she could have a child if she decided to, she encouraged the Florida woman and they went to volunteer with special needs children at school or after school program. Being a mom she jumped right in and the kids loved her and she was offered a volunteer gig at that school on the spot!
The NY woman had wanted to check out Florida weather also because the cold weather is very hard on her.. so she was thinking of maybe moving there. They visited a place where they could do exercise in warm water and loved that..
They went to the beach and the NY woman was amazed that the other woman just went in the water and said if people want to stare, oh well.. though she understood the NY woman's anger at being photographed and then displayed on social media... she says she has grabbed and broken more than one cell phone!
They were every bit as thrilled to know each other as the boys were. The NY woman was very interested that the Florida woman had a lowered sink in her kitchen and some other accommodations.. and of course they just understood what the other goes through instantly.
I think crying is healthy for us.. physically AND mentally, cleans out the toxinx.
And shows like this certainly bring home to me time and again just how lucky I have been, even despite things that would make others cry,
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Mamie316
Member
07-08-2003
| Tuesday, April 19, 2016 - 5:05 pm
Oh, I cry at commercials! I cry at every Disney movie, every Hallmark movie, every Hallmark commercial, every movie period. Even if it's a comedy, I find something touching in it to cry over. I would be crying like you Ricky! My husband always says if we are watching something and he feels teary, he knows I am sobbing over in the corner. I watched the show with the two women and was just so happy for them to feel like they weren't alone. I think that what I felt was happiness for the boys meeting and for the parents having someone else just understand. It was always a gift when I was taking care of mom to talk to someone who was in the same place or had been. You know they just get it. Can you imagine how I am going to be when I watch my grandson Luke being born? Maybe you all should buy stock in Kleenex now.
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Rieann
Member
08-26-2006
| Wednesday, April 20, 2016 - 3:10 pm
I'm reading Jane Steele by Lyndsay Faye. It is a re-imagining of Jane Eyre (somewhat). Jane Steele becomes a killer ala Dexter Morgan. I'm three kills in and she's about to go become governess for "Mr. Thornfield". Yeah, I'm twisted. Haha!
“Young Jane Steele’s favorite book, Charlotte Bronte’s Jane Eyre, mirrors her life both too little and too much…In an arresting tale of dark humor and sometimes gory imagination, Faye has produced a heroine worthy of the gothic literature canon but reminiscent of detective fiction.”
—Library Journal (starred review)
Jane Eyre gets a dose of Dexter. In a story that's equal parts romance, thriller, and satire, the Bronte heroine is made over into a fighter with a shadowy past."
—Cosmopolitan
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Scout
Member
01-19-2005
| Thursday, April 21, 2016 - 10:04 am
Congratulations, Mamie! How exciting you are going to have a grandson!!! I'm betting he will get lots and lots of books from Grandma.
Recently, I was reminded of that children's story, "Love You Forever" that I read to my son every day when he was little. I had even made up a song for the verse I would sing him. I sent him a link to the story and asked him if he remembered it and he said he definitely did and the song, too.
What's weird is how the story deals with the passage of time and how it has now passed for us. It's now twenty-six or more years since I read it to him. And we are up to the middle of the story.
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Mamie316
Member
07-08-2003
| Thursday, April 21, 2016 - 10:39 am
Thanks Scout. I am beyond excited and can't wait to meet my little Luke. And I have bought some books already.
I can never get through that book without crying. Never. I am sure I will cry when I read it to Luke. It struck a chord with me when I was taking care of my mom. Made me cry even more.
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Reenie
Member
06-24-2006
| Friday, April 22, 2016 - 9:11 am
Congrats Mamie!!!
I am reading a newly released book by Helen Simonson titled "The Summer Before The War. She is also the author of "Major Pettigrew's Last Stand" which I enjoyed very much.
I am enjoying her latest effort too!
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Seamonkey
Moderator
09-07-2000
| Friday, April 22, 2016 - 10:17 am
That is wonderful, Mamie! Luke will have a really good mom and a really good grandmom!!! Tears of joy.
I am still reading the same book, not because it lacks anything, but since Amazon devices can once again play yahtzee, um, that is cutting into my reading time, I have to admit.
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Scout
Member
01-19-2005
| Friday, April 22, 2016 - 1:02 pm
I love the name, Luke. One of my very favorites!
Mamie - I can see how that book would have really affected you in regards to taking care of your mom.
Reenie - that book sounds really good! I'm going to look for it at the bookstore. I looked up the author and the other book you mentioned and I think I would really like her books. I always love to find a new author!
I'm getting ready to read "On Fire - the seven choices to ignite a radically inspired life". I had seen this at the bookstore and thought he was just a motivational writer, but someone told me the author based it on his own story of how he overcame being severely burned over most of his body when he was a child, and the lessons he learned about living your life with hope and possibilities.
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Mamie316
Member
07-08-2003
| Friday, April 22, 2016 - 3:35 pm
I am reading Where the Light Gets In: Losing My Mother Only to Find Her Again by Kimberly Williams-Paisley. Oh boy. It's about her mother's dementia. She has a different one than my mom had but a lot of the story has really struck a chord with me.
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Rieann
Member
08-26-2006
| Saturday, April 23, 2016 - 4:24 pm
Reading the memoir Brain on Fire: My Month of Madness by Susannah Cahalan. Author descends into madness at the age of 24 and is eventually found to have an auto-immune disorder (NMDA receptor antibody encephalitis). I'm just at the beginning and it is quite frightening as you know it going to take time to find out what is going on.
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Mamie316
Member
07-08-2003
| Sunday, April 24, 2016 - 11:20 am
Kimberly Williams-Paisley's book was very good. If you are someone who has a loved one with dementia, it's definitely something you can relate too.
I have been reading Most Wanted by Lisa Scottoline for a while now and it's just not pulling me in. It's about a couple who use a sperm donor and find out he's probably a serial killer. I might have to set it down for something else.
I also just started The Nest by Cynthia D'Aprix Sweeney. It's the big book with all the buzz right now. Hope it lives up to it.
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Reenie
Member
06-24-2006
| Sunday, April 24, 2016 - 6:11 pm
Mamie...I have heard the buzz about The Nest. Please let us know how you like it!
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Rieann
Member
08-26-2006
| Sunday, April 24, 2016 - 6:53 pm
The Nest is on my list. Anxious to hear what you think too, Mamie.
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Teachmichigan
Member
07-22-2001
| Sunday, April 24, 2016 - 8:31 pm
Listened to Michael Connelly's The Crossing. As usual, it was a fun book, especially as it combined Bosh and The Lincoln Lawyer in a nifty little crossover.
I'm very slowly reading Telex from Cuba in deadtree book, American Gods on Kindle, and re-listening to Dragonfly in Amber. In two more weeks, the musical will be done as will the college class I teach, so I'll have a glorious 3 weeks at the end of the year to do some reading! My Spanish classes don't take nearly as much time from my evenings in grading as English does.
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Scout
Member
01-19-2005
| Monday, April 25, 2016 - 6:09 am
"On Fire" was very good, very inspirational, but also very hard to read all that he went through. I need to find something very light or funny to read next. Anyone have any recommendations?
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Seamonkey
Moderator
09-07-2000
| Monday, April 25, 2016 - 10:05 am
Hmm well not light in terms of frothy but if you can get
Homer's Odyssey it is about a real life blind black cat who didn't let merely being blind get in his way! Very nice story of how he saved his human mom after she saved him.
She was on Jackson Galaxy's little angel cat segment when he visited a couple with several blind cats. They had been inspired to start fostering and adopting after reading Homer's Odyssey and were so excited to meet the author.
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Uncle_ricky
Member
07-02-2007
| Monday, April 25, 2016 - 11:18 am
Sometimes the rave reviews are on the ball and other times, not so much. I noticed recently how much Harlan Coben raves about his fellow thriller writer Jeff Abbott. So I checked out Abbott's reviews including his Twitter feed. At the very top of his timeline is a "Pinned" tweet written by Margaret Atwood: "Oh my God, I read Jeff Abbott's thriller "Adrenaline" and now have no fingernails left."
So I tracked down a copy of Adrenaline expecting it to be amazing. I finished it yesterday and was completely underwhelmed. At 400 pages, it's another book that is viciously long. When I got to the end, I couldn't believe it. "That's it?" I said aloud. I don't think I'll be dipping into any of Mr. Abbott's other efforts. Oh well. These things happen.
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Rupertbear2
Member
07-15-2015
| Monday, April 25, 2016 - 11:32 am
Sometimes you have to wonder if the author is giving a friend a plug because their book is going nowhere or the publishers ask if they can write a "blurb" as a favour.
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Uncle_ricky
Member
07-02-2007
| Monday, April 25, 2016 - 12:02 pm
I would not be surprised if that's it, RB2. And just a second ago, I saw this on Twitter and thought of you because you're a fan of Survivor's Rupert, right? (Forgive me if I'm off track about that!). He's going to be on the May 23rd episode of primetime "Price is Right."
http://www.cbs.com/shows/the_price_is_right/news/1005169/big-brother-the-amazing-race-and-survivor-stars-to-play-the-price-is-right/
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Rupertbear2
Member
07-15-2015
| Monday, April 25, 2016 - 12:47 pm
Hey, thanks for the heads up, Rick! 
Yes, I have a soft spot in my heart for Rupert.
I was catching a few clips on Youtube, of past Survivor episodes this weekend and I saw his big ole bearded face. His smile always made me want to smile.
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Mamie316
Member
07-08-2003
| Monday, April 25, 2016 - 1:04 pm
I have been disappointed so many times in the "big" hyped books of whatever year. I am always pleasantly surprised when they do live up to it all.
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Rupertbear2
Member
07-15-2015
| Monday, April 25, 2016 - 1:39 pm
I just read whatever catches my fancy. I never read reviews, Mamie! 
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Scout
Member
01-19-2005
| Monday, April 25, 2016 - 2:47 pm
Thanks, Seamonkey. I will look for that next time I am at the bookstore. Our library is in the process of changing up how they do e books and it's such a mess right now it's impossible to find a book. They were merging with some other libraries and said we would have a shorter wait. I just downloaded the new app and one of the books said it would be available in 365 days. That's an improvement. Someone said they weren't finished working on it yet. I hope that's the case. Even a new book only took a couple of months usually. Maybe a bit longer if it was a super popular author.
I wouldn't be surprised if that review wasn't either bought or a trade-off for a good review for their book. I feel like the whole book industry is going down such a bad path. With all the established writers now lending their name to books that are supposedly co-written, I think the quality has declined.
I'm ashamed of some of the writers who do this just for the money. It's making it harder and harder for new writers to break into the market and gives us as readers a lot of mediocre books at best.
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