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|  | | Diagnosis: Lupus: The Intimate Journal of a Lupus Patient
When she was suddenly assaulted by myriad baffling symptoms of joint pain and extreme fatigue, the author embarked on an intensive search for diagnosis and treatment of what would be diagnosed as systemic lupus erythematosus, a little-known autoimmune disease that promised to destroy her body, her mind and her spirit. From the pages of her intimate daily journal, we travel with her through chronic joint pain, frustration, anger and grief for her former self to her current state of remission. Far from being a litany of complaints, the author’s pages reveal her unexpected spiritual growth and gratitude for life itself, and she hopes she can be of help to others who suffer from this disease or other chronic illness.
May 2002
“Are you sure you have lupus?” My newest doctor asked as he entered the exam room, my lab tests from the week before in his hands. “Yes. I was diagnosed in Oct. 1988,” I replied. “Why? What do the tests show?”“Well, they show no sign of lupus. No ANA, sed rate is normal, no RA factor…” “Great!” I burbled. “Suppose I’m in remission?”“Or maybe you never really had lupus,” he shrugged. For one crazy, hopeful moment, I actually thought: “Maybe he’s right. Maybe I didn’t really have lupus, after all.” Then my thoughts flooded to the three years of constant joint pain, lab tests, fi | |  | | Forces of Nature
Forces of Nature
What would happen when a bomber from the nearby Air Force base is flung by a fierce tornado into the county’s largest shopping mall? Begin the day with the mall manager, his assistant, the security officer and Howard the Weatherman, whose predictions are always uncannily accurate, and in this case, deadly.
Follow the day of the local television weatherman, the manager of a large shopping mall and his security force as they prepare for the first anniversary part of the largest shopping mall in the Metroplex. We see the day-to-day operations of the complex through the eyes of the manager and his security force, the managers of several stores, and the frequent visitors to the site, such as Sadie the Shoplifter, The Stripper, and Mr. Senior Citizen.
When the storm strikes, it throws a KC135 tanker into the middle of the crowded mall. Who lives and who dies? What are the repercussions of both h | |  | | Forces of Nature
What will happen when a fully-fueled bomber from the Air Force base ust outside a large Texas city and piloted by a woman named Rory Calhoun is flung by a fierce torando into the county's largest, busiest shopping mall? Begin the day with the mall manager, his assistant, the security officer and Howard the Weatherman -- whose predictions are always uncannily accurate, and inb this case, deadly.
FORCES OF NATURE
It was going to be a two-shoe day.
Howard the Weatherman woke with what he referred to as That Certain Dread and a bad taste in his mouth, to boot. The birthday party for his youngest granddaughter the previous evening was the cause, even though it was just ice cream and cake and no booze, befitting his solid Southern Baptist background.
The feeling lingered on the fringes of consciousness until he was fully awake.
Glancing over at his sleeping wife of forty years, he considered waking her and telling her about his dream. No, he would prepar | |  | | My Ashes of Dead Lovers Garage Sale
A selection of humor/human interest columns written over a ten year period for the weekly Suburban Newspapers in the Fort Worth TX area.
How this book came to be:
My single blonde friend and I combined our households for a garage sale. While sorting through items, she would hold something up and ask something like: "Where did you get this?" Fortunately, she didn't add the word "monstrosity." And my reply was usually something like: "Oh, you remember old what's his name. He gave it to me when he got a guilty conscience for taking somebody else to ski in Aspen. Let's put a $.25 cent tag on it." And then, another object, with a similar answer.
In sum, I had about six or seven unwanted gifts in the pile, all m | |  | | Once A Brat., Always a Brat..
As one of the first dependents to be sent overseas at the end of WWII, eight-year old Marilyn Celeste Morris received her very own orders from The War Department.
From Seoul, Korea to Linz, Austria, she traversed the globe from 1938 to 1958 with her Army Officer father, mother and younger brothers. Between assignments in the primitive world of the Far East, to the sublime luxury of exploring castles in Bavaria, the family shuttled between the various Stateside Forts: Bragg, Bliss, Hood and Sill.
Sometimes hilarious, sometimes gut-wrenchingly sad, her narrative is part travelogue, part therapy session. She still cries at “Taps” and stands tall when the colors pass; yet she realizes she carries an odd mixture of pride and resentment over her nomadic way of life.
Her conclusion, however, is that she wouldn’t have had it any other way.
Once a Brat, Always a Brat.
The Story Behind Once a Brat
Not many people realize that after WWII, along with our troops who were sent overseas with the Occupation were wives and children. I was one of the first, after receiving my very own orders from The War Department.
Born a Military Brat, I attended schools overseas, in Seoul Korea, 1946-47 and Linz, Austria (1949-1952) and various schools stateside. From this background, I have crafted my autobiographical Once a Brat, relating my travels with my army officer father from my birth in 1938 to his retirement in 1958. I describe it as part travel | |  | | Sabbath's Gift
When New York writer Joanna Elliott flees her abusive husband to the Texas Hill Country, she and her six- year old son Jason unwittingly become a killer's prey.
Her first memories were of struggle. The kitten struggled to keep her mouth and nose above the acrid, cold water, where she and her littermates had been tossed earlier, when the sun was beginning to rise over Cow Path Creek. .
Although her eyes were not yet open, she was soon aware that a warmth was enveloping her, blotting out the mud on her coat; it was a life-sustaining warmth and she temporarily ceased her upward climb both to gather strength and to absorb the heat deep down in her tiny body.
Around her, she heard feeble mewling; her siblings were becoming weaker by the moment | |  | | Sabbath's House
As the movers pulled their furniture from the van, Joanna carried Sabbath in her prison inside the house, placing her out of the way in the corner of the kitchen.
“There, there, kitty. You are safe here and you won’t get trampled on in all the activity going on here. How do you like your new house?” She added.
Sabbath gazed around her new surroundings, as much as she could from the mesh opening in her prison. I can see only this place where people consume food, she thought. So how can I tell if I like it yet? She sniffed the air and found it somewhat stale, with no one having been in the house for days. She also sniffed something else in the air. A presence, unseen, as yet. Sabbath also heard the faint rustle of taffeta skirts passing by and she rumbled a low warning that was muffled by the activity of furniture being moved inside the vastness of this new place. I’m not yet sure of what this all means, but my gift of sight will soon be present. As it was in the other house. Yes, this is another house where the death smell lingers.
Lowering her head, Sabbath closed her eyes and pondered the situation until she fell asleep.
Prologue
1890 – Ames, Texas
Emily Harris smiled contentedly as she put the last stitch in her embroidered pillowcase.
Emily could hear her three children playing in their attic playroom; every once in a while a shriek pierced the silence of the house, indicating the boys were once again teasing their little sister.
She smiled, set down her needlework and moved to the kitchen where she began supervising dinner preparations. Cyrus would close his office soon and the children would no doubt be hungry within the next hour.
In the attic playroom, Ben and Le | |  | | The Women of Camp Sobingo
Four women from varying backgrounds meet aboard the USS General Mayo bound for Korea in 1946 to join their Army officer husbands. The diverse young women forge bonds that will last them throughout the journey, their lives in a military compound, with a promise to meet again in twenty-five years. Trudy Cavanaugh is a young newly-wed, married to the heir to the Cavanaugh publishing empire; Maggie Gorski is from Chicago, the comic relief of the group, who has two unmanageable boys and a heart as big as her home town, Chicago; Nell Martin, a west Texas farm girl who thought she was escaping her parents' wood-burning stove and lack of running water, only to encounter the same living conditions in Korea; and Leah Damon, born in OK as Mary Alice Thomason, is a famous model with a drinking and pill problem who ultimately commits suicide in her cold and lonely military-provided quarters; Their childhoods are explored; meeting their husbands and, although they are completely different, they form a bond that brings them together 25 years later, where long-held dark secrets and sorrows are revealed.
Excerpt from The Women – 6/1/06
Leah-Mary Alice
The Early Years
She was called The Dark Goddess. With her exotic coloring, black hair and dark eyes, Leah Damon was in demand everywhere for modeling jobs. She lunched with the best of society and was a prized decoration at parties. Her face appeared on covers of high fashion magazines and her paycheck enabled her to buy a luxurious apartment overlooking Central Park.
Leah Damon was a success.
Mary Alice Thomason, however, was a constant reminder of what she had once been.
Mary Alice was born in a small |
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Mozart
by Debra Kraft
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 (Short Story) Her first desire had been to purge the darkness from tortured human souls. Will her last desire be to purge her own? |
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