November | 2020 | The Eclectic World of Christina

My mom, my siblings, and I have been sorting through boxes of old pictures. We haven’t made any progress because we’re too busy mocking each other. I love this one taken in 1978. That’s me on the left in the back row.

So much weird in one picture!

My youngest brother looks like he has his shirt on backward. He said it was the style of shirts back then, but I have my doubts. My other brother has his eyes crossed. What a goof! He’s still a goof. My sister is hiding her face. “Yeah, sis, I should have, too.”

My dad’s whole ensemble is quite the fashion statement from his red socks to his crazy shorts. He always had his pack of cigarettes in his shirt pocket or rolled up in his sleeve. He gave up smoking cold turkey in the late 80s. We were banned from giving encouragement or talking about his decision to quit. (I guess we all grieve in our own way.)

My mom has on her iconic 50s cat eye glasses. She didn’t change that look until the 90s when she went with the round owl style…similar to mine in this pic. Apparently, I was a trendsetter. (Correction: I wasn’t a trendsetter. My siblings laughed too hard at that comment.) Standing in front of our beast of a car, we had the makings of a 70s sitcom or as my brother put it, “A 70s horror story.”

We’re a family of nerds, and I wouldn’t want it any other way. Is it any wonder I grew up to be a writer? Embrace your Weird!

Happy Thanksgiving!

“It all happened within minutes. For some, it would last a lifetime.”

As many of you know from previous posts, my dad was a Navy Corpsman with the Marines during the Korean War. He never shared his experiences. After he died, I read the letters he wrote to his parents during the war and finally understood (reading between the lines) why he was hard and emotionally absent. I think the war had affected him more than he had let on.

Although Dearest Mother and Dad is historical fiction, I believe my dad was beside me as I wrote it. You may love the story. You may hate it. This healing process dissolved my anger and pain. Only love remains.

I’ve shared some of my dad’s pictures from Korea in my book trailer photo album. I used them to visualize and create the story. Take a look.

To all our Veterans, thank you for your service and sacrifice.