In this blog: A Gentle Love
Special for The BOOB Girls XI: The Gun Found at Marks and The BOOB Girls in
The Last BOOB Girl Book! $10.00 each.
Notes from Joy
BOOB Girl Talk for your groups
The BOOB Girl Series on Sale!
They all agreed. There was no time when Meadow Lakes Retirement Community was more beautiful, more cozy, more welcoming than in a Nebraska autumn. The trees around the complex were brilliant orange, fantastic red, and gorgeous gold. The evergreen trees acted as accent points, making the colors even brighter. Even the ground was covered with color.
The four friends relaxed, as they did nearly every morning, at table 12 in the big, comfortable dining room. Every so often, each one looked up and peered through the floor-to-ceiling windows at the beauty of a sunny autumn day outside.
Handley Joy Morris-Whitfield had her Kindle open to the latest Harlen Coben, which she found not quite as interesting as her favorite of his. Marge Aaron was reading every page of the Omaha World Herald, magnifying glass in hand. Mary Rose McGill had bravely and without consultation taken up knitting and was struggling with a knit one, pearl one pattern.
It was Robinson Leary, staring at her computer as usual who finally looked away, took a sip from her coffee cup, warmed it up from the pot on the table and said, “Listen to this, girls. It’s about a boy with my name, Robbie.” Her eyes looked just a little teary.
She shook her head as if to keep the tears back and began to read from her computer screen:
Well, today didn't go as we hoped but it's in the hardest of times we learn the best lessons and feel the most gratitude.
Buffy was scheduled to have her teeth cleaned and removed today but Dr. Mac had a gut feeling she needed to look at some lab work before putting her under anesthesia. She was right; Buffy showed signs of advanced kidney failure so anesthesia was not an option and as a family we decided that the kindest and most loving thing to do would be to let her go before she lost her will to live and stopped eating and drinking.
I wouldn't have dreamed of leaving Robbie out of this decision or not allowing him to be part of the entire process so I immediately went and picked him up from school. On the way there he told me he wanted to be the one to hold her when she went to heaven. And of course, I gave him that honor. On the way home I told him how proud I was of him for understanding the importance of caring for old animals and helping to make sure they never ever suffer.
This is what he said... (And for those of you who don't know, Robbie was adopted from the foster care system after years of severe abuse and neglect.)
"I know how it feels not to be loved or cared for and I don't want any animal of mine to ever feel that way. It's only sad for us when they go to heaven. It's a happy day for them. Thank you for being proud of me. Are you ok, Mom? "
From the mouths of babes.
(As our story is being shared more and more I feel like I need to add a little more context and also give you a deeper glimpse into the heart of my son. We adopt senior dogs. Robbie LOVES adopting senior dogs. He is sadly aware the longer a child remains in foster care the less likely they are to be adopted. He told me once "if all you guys had wanted was a baby, you would have never gotten me." He relates to our "old people" (that's what we call our senior dogs) in much the same way.
He has also reminded me on several occasions that it doesn't matter how long you have something for how much you love it. I asked him what he meant. and he said, "well you've only known me for two years, but you love me like it's been forever." Yes, my son is the coolest.)
They looked at her. Mary Rose’s knitting was flat on the table, Marge’s newspaper was folded in front of her, and Hadley’s kindle had turned itself off.
No one said anything, and then, in one movement, they all reached for their napkins and wiped their eyes.
SPECIAL SALE!!
With a touching story comes a special gift.
It’s time to order BOOB Girls for Holiday giving.
Books XI and XII = $10 each
All other BOOB Girl books, $12 each.
Best offer: All twelve novels Plus a free audiobook of BOOB I - $120.
Give them to 12 different friends or family members and let them pass them around.
If your books are getting dog-eared and old and need replacing.
If you have loaned them out and experience “holy theft,” now is the time to replace.
If you want to make a special gift to a nursing home
If your library needs a BOOB Girl boost.
Or if someone is grieving and you need a “just because” gift
Here’s your best chance of the year.
The BOOB Girls XI: The Gun Found at Marks
The girl’s favorite bistro has a mystery. When Mark removed an ancient tree to expand his patio, the landscaper found a galvanized bucket filled with concrete wrapped up in the roots. He cut it out, turned it upside down and when the rim hit the ground the concrete shattered, and a gun fell out.
The gun was more than 100 years old.
Who had buried the evidence when they planted the tree?
When Marge Aaron holds the gun, says, “Feel how crusted this is,” the four girls all touch it and it turns into a time portal, just like in Harry Potter.
The girls are transported back to Omaha, 1898 and the Great Trans-Mississippi Exposition and meet famous Omaha icons of the past and……
A killer.
The Last BOOB Girl Book!
Will it be a wedding or a funeral that ends the series?
Whichever, all the characters return for the event, as well as the usual bad guys, kidnappers, killers and believe it or not, a Leprechaun.
And the girls share beliefs close to their hearts.
Don’t miss this last hurrah.
Our guarantee: if you don’t laugh out loud, you get your money back.
A note from Joy
If you are reading this, you have taken another spin around the sun. The year is ending. A few days ago I looked out our third floor windows and saw our full Gobble of Turkeys that make the Arboretum their home as well as ours.
They keep company with at least one fox, some raccoons and possums and a twice-sighted bobcat. And us.
I waved at all 13 of them and said, “You lucky birds! No one will eat you for Thanksgiving.”
Thanksgiving. This Little While.
One of my good friends, and without contest, the best speaker on the bereavement circuit was Darcie Sims. No question.
We published a book at Centering Corporation and Darcie give us the title. It was a book on infant death and the title - This Little While.
Darcie and her husband had a little girl, around 5 years old, and a baby boy called delightfully, “Big A.” Big A had a very short life. He only lived for a few months. Darcie’s story is that at Thanksgiving time, they were gathered around the table and it was the custom for the youngest family member to return grace and give thanks.
Allie, who wrote a book of her own, Am I Still A Sister? was the youngest, the giver of grace.
She refused.
Here baby brother had died.
“We don’t have anything to be thankful for,” she announced.
Her mother began an argument that all mothers know they will somehow lose, and she talked until finally Allie agreed to give thanks over dessert.
“Thant’s good, “Darcie said. “It’s pumpkin pie n it’s good, too.”
When dessert arrived they bowed their heads.
Allie spoke only six words of gratitude: Thank you for this little while.
Our lives are full of Little Whiles. This year friends and family members have died, moved away, become ill, experienced – with us – grief and tragedy.
It is as if life passed us by in just a minute and we could not catch it.
And through it all there is a thankfulness and gratitude.
Thank you for the little while.
Now that we are opening up some, I will be available for speaking. At least I HOPE we’ll be opening up some! The BOOB Girls Talk will be shorter, 30-40 minutes, and will be available only within 150 miles of Omaha.
For information, email joy.johnson@msn.com or call at 403-639-2939,
This is a laugh out loud talk that includes how older women are beautiful and BOOB Girl Books will be waiting for you.
Talks scheduled:
Bellevue NE Library Oct 11
Lakeside Red Hats, Omaha NE, Dec 14
Credit cards: website or 402-639-2939
Check to Joy Brown at
8141 farnam, #322, Omaha NE 68114