Please Come and Join Me at my New Blog Location!

Dear Faithful Readers,

I've moved my blog to Wordpress. Please follow me! Just click on http://katherinesartori.com/blog
Then, once you're there,
click where it says "sign me up." It's easy. I hope I see you all again.

My newest post is:
"Switching Paths - Have you ever wanted to throw away your To Do List?"

I hope you'll enjoy my future posts and stories about how to:

*reinvent yourself,
*make your life an adventure, 
*create wise decisions amidst myriad choices,
*become a dream traveler and enjoy visiting other worlds.

 ~KAS ( my pen name is Katherine Sartori)

Savor Decadent Chocolates with Delectable Books!

(Photo by Dan Rizolli & freedigitalphotos.com)

Mmm, creamy chocolate. . .

We savor the sweet aroma as our mouths begin to water.

Then we indulge in the fun of selecting each savory chocolate to sample.  

 Now, why not combine our decadent treats with some delectable books?

 
Welcome to my blog post where we link chocolates to favorite books.Thanks Michelle Knowlden, for tagging me on your chocolate blog hop in mid-May! 

 White creamy chocolate filled with pecans links best with Michelle Knowlden's new mystery, Riddle In Bones. Despite past traumas, the sweltering desert, and a hot French housekeeper, Leslie Green must solve a bone riddle before the killer shoots again. Michelle has published 14 stories in Hitchcock's Mystery Magazine plus two earlier mysteries, so this book should be a page-turner!

 Choose a key-lime chocolate truffle while enjoying Freeways to Flip-Flops, a multi award-winning memoir by Sonia Marsh who says, “After uprooting my three teens from affluent Orange County, California to a hut in Belize, chocolate was the last thing on my mind. Although it gave me comfort during the dark winters in Denmark, where I was born, I never craved blød nougat, my favorite hazelnut chocolate, during our hot Caribbean island adventure.”

A cup of hot chocolate with a crunchy almond roca packs the necessary punch when reading Running and Dancing, Newberry winner Carol Fenner’s and Claudia Alexander's book about two African-American girls maturing in the WWI-era, a time of Model-T's and the lure of faraway places. Her story contrasts the comforts of home against an adrenaline rush from the hard bite of these lighthearted youngsters’ first experiences with bullying and discrimination.

Exotic dark chocolate encasing an apricot almond center is perfect while reading Mary Terzian’s award-winning memoir, The Immigrant’s Daughter. Her story is “laced with a perfect mix of drama and humor.” Her tale of an Armenian girl growing up in Cairo tells of a “triumph over destiny, a leap from passive acceptance into a fierce battle for self-determination,” in a time and place where the inferior position of women was, sadly, the status quo.

 

 I now pass the baton to two other author friends who will share

their own chocolate delights with us next week!

They are Greta Boris and Susan Weidener.

Read Susan Weidener’s book, Again in a Heartbeat, a memoir of love, loss and dating again with a rich dark chocolate in hand. Dramatic life events are the substance of this powerful memoir. A reader shares how romantic this story truly is: “Love is a long close scrutiny...the book's scenes will stay with readers for years…touching hearts and lives with an honest portrayal of how cancer affects a marriage."

A chewy caramel covered in lustrous chocolate is my choice for Morning at Wellington Square, Susan Weidener’s sequel. With refreshing and courageous honesty, Weidener reveals her circuitous path as a single woman, parent, daughter and writer. Readers learn that no matter how many heartaches we have, each of us has a "morning" in our future. Weidener found hers and we can too!

Choose a decadent cherry nougat covered in Bordeaux chocolate when reading Greta Boris’ book, The Wine and Chocolate Workout: Eat, Drink and Lose Weight. A reader shares, “I HAD to know how these two indulgences could help me get and STAY fit! With her extensive experience in the health and fitness industry, Ms. Boris…leads people by the hand on their journey towards better health."

I'm excited about the chocolates & books they'll share soon,

promising us more indulgent treats.

Yum!

 

 

Sometimes Life Recreates Us

 

Reflection on the past can energize our future. Stop and think about the past twelve months. What unexpected events propelled you into situations you hadn’t planned? Did you complete some personal goals as well? On both counts, I bet you’ve changed. I hope you have, because that’s what makes us grow, extending and deepening our lives. 

A friend of mine often reminds me that difficult people and situations offer us opportunities to learn, improve and even appreciate this crazy mystery we call life.

In the past year, unforeseen obstacles forced me to accept a challenge I didn’t expect or want. EMTs rushed my husband Joe to the ER a year ago because of a brain hemorrhage and congestive heart failure. He went into a coma and didn’t readily wake up, puzzling the doctors and nurses and sending me into a worried frenzy. As wonderful as the hospital staff was, none of them could promise me he would wake up--or wake up healthy.

After five long days, he finally opened his eyes and began talking, and to the doctors’ amazement, he said hello in Arabic to Dr. Kadifa, the phenomenal physician who was caring for him. My mouth gaped open with shock; so did the doctor’s!  Although Joe has spoken Italian from birth, English since age six, and studied Spanish, German and Portugese over the years, I had no idea he could speak a middle eastern language. What was happening here? I held my breath and did the only thing I could do--I prayed.

In a few days, Joe began telling jokes (in English this time) with his own unique brand of Brooklyn humor. Slowly, he began to remember too. After two weeks in ICU, with the encouragement of a fantastic physical therapist we’ll never forget, Joe got out of bed, took hold of the walker, and paced around the entire ICU unit once.  On the next day, he did it three times! Tears welled up in the nurses’ eyes as they watched him, saying, “We don’t see this very often. Your husband is one of the lucky ones!” At that moment I knew how very blessed we were.

For some inexplicable reason, God chose to save my husband from what the nurses later admitted they’d expected:  that he’d wake up vastly changed, both physically and mentally, or he would pass on. . .   Thank God for the family members and friends who called or stayed with me during those three solid weeks while I stayed at Joe’s side at the hospital and later, the brain rehab unit. Thank God, too, for friends online (like you) who sent me encouragement and prayers.

Once I brought Joe home, the doctors kept reminding us that his recovery would take time—lots of it (more than a year). It did, changing me forever. For the first time in my life, I became a 24-hour, 7-days-a-week caregiver. On many days, I could not think, sleep, eat or cry.  Though I tried to write, I couldn’t. During the following twelve months, I learned not only how to take charge of my husband’s health, but how to detect signs of my own emotional/physical exhaustion--enough to nourish myself a bit, so that like thousands of other caregivers, I didn’t end up with serious health problems.

Now, a year later, after vigilant treatment, ever-changing dosages of meds and wonderful doctors, my husband’s overall health is at about 98%!

We couldn’t be more grateful. More than ever now, we enjoy simple moments together. We hold hands while watching Netflix movies; we talk over coffee every morning like we used to, and enjoy family & friends too; plus, we’re taking classes together again at the local college. Last week Joe even started perusing travel brochures again!

Why did God give us this amazing blessing? I don’t know. . .  When I think of the tragedies and ongoing heartaches of others, I wonder more. All I can do is show my appreciation by living my life to the fullest, using my God-given talents to the max.

I hope your journey in the past year has been as equally blessed as mine. What challenges, milestones have reconfigured your life path? I bet you’ve grown and learned from them as well. I hope you’ll share your experiences here (below).  

What I know for sure is that now when I see a person hobbling along with a cane or a child in a wheelchair, I give them a gentle smile or word. When I read a tragic story, I always breathe a silent prayer. And when someone I know is going through sadness, I try to text them or call more, and send them cards of comfort. I also have a new appreciation for those caregivers whose path is fraught with the gloom and worry that filled my heart in the past year. I’m aware that thousands of others spend their days caring for helpless loved ones year after year. . .   My heart goes out to all of them with deepened empathy.

P. S. A few months ago, I asked Joe if he knew any Arabic and he smiled. “Not much--but enough to say hello and give a blessing.”