Ash Rothlein, World War II Veteran, awarded French Legion of Honor Medal

Today I received an email from a former student and now a wonderful friend, Ash Rothlein, Veteran of WW II. Ash has just received the French Legion of Honor Medal at a ceremony at the Miami Biltmore Hotel. 

Ash was in my class in 2008 having come to learn to write about his life. He had never written anything other than technical reports and such for his work. He is retired from owning and managing his own successful business. His friends said he wrote good letters, he told the class with a smile. I suggested he write about his life just as if he were writing letters to his friends. And he did.

His vivid images of  events and his experiences while serving in the military during World War II, and the emotions he provoked in his class mates will always stay with me. He is in his late 80s now, but he has plenty of life to live yet. He plans to go to France, to Normandy, for his 90th birthday, and he is in training every day for the walk up that beach where so many of his comrades lost their lives. He wants to do this in memory of those who died there. Ash doesn't think of this medal as his. He intends this medal to be given and placed on a statue recognizing those heroes.

Ash's dear wife, Liz, has been diagnosed with Parkinson's Disease, but she is his biggest supporter. Liz said the writing class changed Ash's life forever. When he realized that others were interested in his stories, his past, his life became more meaningful to him, and he has a mission that keeps him going every day. His story has been published in numerous newspapers with photos of him as a young soldier and him as he is today. 

Ash has been invited to speak at colleges where the students find his talks riveting and he has received mail from many of them. The following is an email telling about the ceremony where he was awarded the French Legion of Honor Award.

French Legion of Honor Award

Honorees - Ash Rothlein seated second from left front row.

WWII Veteran Ash Rothlein wears his medal proudly with wife Liz

"I just want to report that this past Monday the French Legion of Honor Medal ceremony was held in the Miami Biltmore Hotel at noon. It was a gracious affair sponsored by the French Consulate with the General Consul as the Master of Ceremonies and Major General Disalvo of the Southern Command. 

Ten of us were honored reverently and the crowd of friends family and invitees along with major press coverage made for a stimulating and inspirational affair. I attached a sample of photos taken and more will come as I receive them.

The best part was that I was able to bring Liz and she enjoyed it thoroughly.  We hope your winter is not too severe and that you are all keeping warm in your cuddle wraps by a roaring fireplace when it is cold. With this event behind me I am now working on stage two which I will bring you up to date on when we return in early March."

"Ash"

We look forward to stage two of your plans, Ash, and thanks for keeping us up to date. I love the photos and am sending hugs to you both. Glenda

Where have our bookstores gone? Will we save those that are left?

Yesterday I visited two bookstores in our area. The one closest to home, Phillips and Lloyd books on the square in Hayesville, NC is closing its doors at the end of this month. I am personally saddened by this because Elizabeth and her husband, Joe, have been, not only good people to have in our community, but good for our town. They   organized and formed a merchants association and made Hayesville a better place to visit any time of the year. 

They say they are ready to retire. I think they have struggled like all  independent book stores with the rise of Amazon and the difficulty for small stores to compete. We the buyers are the losers when we buy from Amazon and ignore our own local bookstores. 

Later in the afternoon, I dropped in to see Linda Ray, owner of Curiosity Shop Bookstore in Murphy, located at 46 Valley River Ave. where you will find the Shoppes of Murphy. Linda says her shelves hold half the books she had last year. She can order books she doesn't have in stock. Her distributors don't handle as many books as they once did.

Linda, like Elizabeth at Phillips and Lloyd, has been supportive of our local writers. She stocks well-written books by people who write about western North Carolina. Tourists come in and want books with local color. She is not too fond of run of the mill memoirs. They must have something special about them to grace the shelves of Curiosity Shop Books. 

What many people don't know is that they can order books online from Linda and she can get them quickly. Visit her website and see what she has to offer. I was pleased to see that she has Anne Lamott's new book, Help, Thanks, Wow at a discounted price. I am reading one of Lamott's books I received for Chrismas.

I hope readers in our area will do all they can to support Linda's bookstore. She has gift items available. She carries the NCWN West anthology, Echoes Across the Blue Ridge, and has recently come upon a few copies of the first Netwest anthology, Lights in the Mountains. This is a rare opportunity to buy this book which is out of print. 

My book signing at Phillips and Lloyd

Both Phillips and Lloyd and Curiosity Shop Books are precious to us who live here and love to browse a good bookstore. Phillips and Lloyd hosted our first Coffee with the Poets events in the warm dessertery where we feasted upon delectable pastries and tasty teas and coffee. They sold many poetry books by local poets. 

Poets gather at Phillips and Lloyd with Elizabeth on far right.

Curiosity Shop Books hosted our writers on many occasions and has held numerous book signings for local writers and those not so local. I hope that my readers will stop in and thank Linda Ray for supporting all of us these many years. And stop in to Phillips and Lloyd on the square in Hayesville, for a good buy right now. Everything in the store is on sale. Thank Elizabeth for all she has done for writers in western North Carolina. We will miss that bookstore more than we can ever imagine.

Write these dates on your calendar

It is not too soon. Write these dates on your calendar - March 5 - April 9.

Glenda Beall teaches at Tri-County Community College between Hayesville and  Murphy, NC. Call and register now.

Call Lisa at (828) 835-4313

http://www.tricountycc.edu/uploads/Schedule/Spring%202013%20Schedule.pd

Write Your Life Stories for Your Children and 

Grandchildren: 

Maybe your grandchildren live miles
away and you see them once or twice a year. Maybe
your children or grandchildren are just too busy to
listen to stories about your childhood, growing up
in the last half of the twentieth century. Have you
always planned to write about your life for your
children and grandchildren? In this class you will learn
how to write your stories so they will be interesting,
enlightening and entertaining. That will be the most
valuable and long-lasting possession you can give to
them.
Instructor: Glenda Beall                    Minimum students: 6
Tuesday afternoons - March 5 - April 9       for 6 wks
3:00 p.m. - 5:00 p.m.

Healing Through Writing

Meet Louise Seely, 102: Learn From Your Challenges 

Louise says she doesn’t have regrets. “Some challenges I had were difficult, but they were character-building. I may not choose to go through them again, but I learned something. One always has challenges. Learn from your challenges; it builds character."

The above come from Caring.com. I like what Louise says about learning from our challenges. I never gave much thought to that subject until my oldest brother, Ray, died from cancer.

 At the time I wrote a poem in which I said I had learned nothing at all from that awful experience. But I have begun to learn - to think about what I've learned from the challenges I've faced in recent years. 

I have learned that I am stronger than I ever thought I was. I also learned that I have much to learn about death and dying - and about living my life to the fullest - finding ways that I can help others through what I have experienced. I think we are not truly happy unless we can help others. 

In 2013, I plan to teach a class at Writers Circle on Healing through Writing. I know this type of class is taught throughout the country. Sheila Bender is one who lost a child and she teaches about healing through writing. 

Through my blogs I have met many people who have endured the death of a child, a spouse or a parent, have lived through painful divorces and other losses. I learned after my husband died that writing about the experience helped me consolidate the churning thoughts that kept me awake at night. Writing helped me focus on what my next step would be. Writing is helping me now through the loss of my sister who meant so much to me. 

I know of women who never speak of their late husbands. They say no one wants to hear their story, their sadness, or have to face that death is coming to us all whether we talk about it or not. If we don't talk about him/her we must write about the person or the loss of the person we love. No matter their age, their manner of dying, the loss of our loved one is the worst loss of all for us. We can't compare our losses with others and find that our loss of an 89 year old father is less painful and sorrowful than our neighbor's loss of a child. Our loss is our loss and it is the one we feel the most. It is the one we have to deal with and how we do that can make a difference in the rest of our lives. 

A mother who cared for a disabled child until that girl died at the age of 32, was devastated beyond what her family felt she should be. But that mother's feelings should not be judged by her mother- in-law or even her husband who was not the daily caregiver of his child. That grief is so private and deep that no one can understand why the mother is having difficulty moving on. She needs help, not criticism, and she needs understanding. 

Often caregivers suffer more deeply the loss of the family member. There are reasons for that. I have been there and I know how I handled it and what I learned from it.

So I hope my class on Healing Through Writing will be accepted and will help anyone who has lost a loved one and finds they need help moving on. 

I will announce the dates for this class in a few weeks. 

MERRY CHRISTMAS TO ONE AND ALL

Resident Cat at Writers Circle Studio, Tiger wishes everyone a Merry Christmas
and a Happy New Year of writing and reading and sharing your love each and every day.

May all your days be merry and bright in 2013. Best wishes for Good health and Great happiness.

Love to all,
Glenda 

A Couple of Special Poems

I am happy to claim Robert S. King, fabulous poet, as a friend.

I urge you to read these two poems by Robert. Click on the links below. 

The Dreamer Returns Home www.lascauxreview.com/2012/11/the-dreamer-returns-home.html 

The dreamer touches us all whether we were the one to leave or one to see another leave. The images are perfect and place us right there.

The Flight

www.thebookendsreview.com

Robert has watched his loved ones die as many of us of a certain age have done. When we do, we think about our own passing and how we want to do it. This poem is going into my End of Life directions.

What do you think about these poems? How do you want to make your last flight?

My Day in Paradise - ICL Winter Bulletin

Read a short article, My Day in Paradise, in the ICL  Winter Newsletter.

Click on this link and scroll down until you find the title.

http://iclyhc.org/images/2013_1121_Winter_Bulletin.pdf