Category Archives: vitality

My Overhauls: Then and Now

Vitality Stories

My Overhauls: Then and Now

My Overhauls: Then

Author Cathey Graham Nickell and I recently shared the ways our mothers extended the life of our clothes when we were little. Cathey’s mom would add different colored strips of cloth to the bottom of her favorite jeans to lengthen them–Cathey liked them because she felt very “hippie.”

With my eight brothers and sisters, my mom repurposed our clothes both as hand-me-downs and hand-me-ups. My mom and I had many arguments about fashion once I started kindergarten. The first would be when she tried to get me to wear some used black overalls that were given to us for my younger brother. They were too big for him so my mom said I’d have to wear them until my brother grew into them. “Besides,” she had said, “you need clothes to start school.” But I was having none of her idea. I loved bright colors, skirts, and dresses already. I cried. My mom got creative. She cut out the inseams and sewed bright green polyester triangles to the front and back and voila–the overalls became an overalls dress and I loved my “overhauls”–as I liked to call ’em. I wore the dress all the time until I outgrew it, and my mom turned the dress back into overalls for my little brother. Continue reading →

Mom’s Jailbreak

Vitality Stories

Mom’s Jailbreak

No one puts Bonnie in the corner

Recently, my eighty-two-year-old mom had pneumonia which caused her to lose strength in her legs. She could no longer stand long enough for the staff to transfer her from the bed to her wheelchair, from her wheelchair to a recliner, etc. Ultimately, her pneumonia worsened, and she had to be checked into the hospital. She gets pneumonia quite often, but because she had lost so much strength and mobility, the hospital recommended she be transferred to a local rehabilitation nursing center (non-hospital affiliated) to rebuild her strength rather than discharge her to return to her assisted living center–her home.

What we didn’t appreciate at the time, but do now, is how poorly the rehabilitation nursing home was staffed and managed. My mom was grossly ignored for several days and was not receiving any physical therapy to rebuild her strength. Instead they were performing mental tests and assessments all in an effort to make a case that she stay at their facility for the rest of her life. She was starting to decline under the care of the rehab facility. There was no rehabbing a-happenin’. She’d try to talk to the nurses, but they just spoke over her. She tried asking for her doctor, nothing would happen. Continue reading →

Crazy Happenings at the Library

Vitality Stories

Crazy Happenings at the Library

My exam and other bizarre results

So today was the day: the day of my proctored New York Real Estate Exam. I’ve studied for the past several days (months if you count the required 75 hours of an online course that all but made me bonkers with cartoon lessons). This test has kept me from writing, from reading a good book, from doing nothing. I’m so happy to remove the idea of taking a test–something I haven’t done now for decades–from my energy field. Anyway, the exam required a proctor, and my proctor was the wonderful Mr. Tom at the Tompkins County Library in Ithaca, New York, and…I PASSED! Yahoo!

And then the most bizarre thing that has ever happened to me at a library happened, and it involves a novel I previously read and loved by Scott Wilbanks: The Lemoncholy Life of Annie Aster. Continue reading →

Dear Me by Mary Jo Hazard

Vitality Stories

Dear Me by Mary Jo Hazard Vitality Stories

Dear Me,

If I could have whispered in your ear way back when you were around twelve years old, I’d tell you that you’re perfect just the way you are.

Oh sure, you’re going to learn many things over your lifetime — you’re a work in progress, but you don’t need to be perfect. You don’t have to have the perfect report card, the perfect hairstyle, the perfect figure, or the perfect answer for everyone in every situation. It’s okay to mess up; it’s okay to say “I don’t know.” It’s even okay to say “I made a mistake.” Continue reading →

I’m Opening A Gate

Vitality Stories

I’m Opening A Gate

A journey awaits

Dan Blank’s Be the Gateway: A Practical Guide to Sharing Your Creative Work and Engaging an Audience was released on Tuesday. I’ve had the honor of being a part of Dan’s launch team and have read a few drafts of this book. My one-word review: Amazing.

Book Description:
Many people feel the drive to do creative work, but get overwhelmed by the process of connecting with an audience. They follow “best practices” in marketing that never seem to pan out, don’t produce results, and make them feel lost and oftentimes, frustrated. Be the Gateway offers a powerful way to have an impact.

If you want to share your voice and inspire people with your writing, art, craft, or creative idea, you have to be the gateway for them. Instead of throwing “products” out into the marketplace, you open them up to a new way of looking at the world, of knowing themselves, and connecting with others. You unlock new experiences for them — not just through what you create, but through the unique way in which you share it with the world.

Too often we think about the creative process as being separate from the marketing process. Instead, view them as the same. Replace the inclination to “promote” with the desire to share and engage. How and why you create is a story — and is the best asset you can use to truly engage people. Be the Gateway shows you how to use that gift with joy and confidence.

I’m a Dan Fan. I met Dan in his online course, “Get Read,” in October 2014 and it’s entirely his fault, I mean his credit, that I started a website. I was so hesitant to start a website. What would I write about? Who cares what I have to say? I would feel so exposed. Dan gave me this advice, Continue reading →

It helps to have a sense of humor

Vitality Stories

Teri Case Vitality Stories

It Helps To Have A Sense Of Humor

Laughter is the best policy

I’ve learned a few things about moving over the past four years. I know that anything can get lost during a move, even a four-piece gigantic sectional sofa, and I can tell you the worst part of moving isn’t packing and unpacking, it’s going to the DMV and getting a new driver’s license and vehicle registration. Continue reading →

What Makes You Laugh?

Vitality Stories

What Makes You Laugh?

When a writer goes to the pharmacy

Dear Friend,

This actually happened to me last week so I thought I’d share the experience with you.

If you have a funny story to share, let me know. I love to hear from you.

Happy laughing and as always, thanks for being you.

Teri

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The Power of Community

Vitality Stories

Stephen Thompson, photo by Sarah Morey

The Power of Community

A vital network

Stephen Jon Thompson and I have been friends for over thirty years. I met him at a church function in seventh grade when I still lived on Tiger Drive. Below is a picture of us getting ready for a night of Christmas caroling. Nothing screams early 1980s better than Steve’s layered, turned up collars, or my bi-level haircut: Continue reading →

What makes you laugh?

Vitality Stories

What Makes You Laugh?

Look with your hands

Inspired by author and illustrator Lisa Sinicki’s latest project, I recently signed up for an online comic strip drawing course with Paris Christou at ToonBoxStudio*. Early on, Paris points out it helps to choose a comic concept by considering our own stories or experiences in ‘little strips of gags,’ or punchlines. This makes sense, right? It’s why Garfield, Dilbert, Calvin and Hobbes, and The Family Circus are popular; they are true to life, and therefore, relatable and funny.
So I started writing down all of the silly, short conversations in my own life that have stuck with me and make me giggle. Below is one of my favorites, and perhaps one day, I’ll adapt it as a comic: Continue reading →