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Dear Reader,
Please say hello and welcome today's guest author Carolanne Miljavac. You'll learn more about Carolanne at the end of her guest column, but for right now, let's get right to it...
Hope & Laughter
A family of four sat in the floor tears running down their cheeks. The light of the flickering candles bounced off the water falling from their face to their feet. I know what you must think. But this isn't a picture painted of a family without peace. No. This is a family capable of laughter regardless of all their grief.
My mom may have worked two or three jobs at a time, but it didn't keep us out of poverty. We spent many nights making the most of our life without lights. We lit candles, we played games, and we laughed ourselves to tears. When the water was cut off and we had to bathe, brush, and flush using gallon jugs of water from granny's house...we laughed in the car there and back. Behind the trailer walls you could find us sitting around a tiny pop up table in the kitchen struggling to eat our Ramen noodles without choking. Almost every meal entailed my mama laughing so hard she couldn't breathe or eat. She'd yell at my brother and I to go to our room until we could stop being so funny. Times were a never ending highway of hard, but we could always giggle over a game of cards.
I believe with all my heart that laughter is a gift. It's a sliver of distraction from whatever struggle you're facing. It's a reminder that you are ok. Laughter provides momentary relief from your disaster. I've been asked many times what gives me hope.
My answer is laughter. As long as I'm capable of laughter, there's hope for joy in my future. It carries me through hard times, and it will carry you too. Keep smiling no matter what you're going through.
--Carolanne Miljavac
Email camiljavac@gmail.com There are six copies of Odd(ly) Enough for six lucky readers at the book club.
About the author, Carolanne writes...
Carolanne Miljavac is a southern-raised, Jesus-saved, barely sane author of a new release Odd(ly) Enough, a speaker, and social media goofball. She is married to such a lucky man, and mother to three sweet, loving, kind little girls who only whine EVERY now and then. Poverty and abuse were tough to overcome, Carolanne now has over 100 million video views and nearly half a million social media followers. A true reflection of "beauty for ashes," Carolanne has become the go-to girl for a good laugh, motivation, loving truths, and vulnerability. She pulls heartstrings while tapping funny bones with a message of freedom and revelation. Her purpose in life is to spread love and joy without sacrificing honesty.
Thanks for reading with me. It's so good to read with friends.
Suzanne Beecher
Suzanne@DearReader.com
* This month's Penguin Classics book is THE BOOK OF EMMA REYES: A MEMOIR, by Emma Reyes. I have a copy of the book to share with a lucky reader, so start reading and enter for your chance to win.
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