Dear Reader

Dear Reader Column 01-31-11

Now on sale . . . Muffins & Mayhem: Recipes for a Happy (if Disorderly) Life by Suzanne Beecher, and when you purchase it, request a free autographed bookplate, by visiting:
http://tinyurl.com/Muffins-MayhemPO

Join my email book club. Over 350,000 people read 5-minutes a day. To see what books I'm featuring this week, go to: http://www.dearreader.com/

Dear Reader,

Looking for AUTHORBUZZ?

Our daily book club email has changed slightly and one of those changes is the placement of AuthorBuzz. You can still "meet-and-greet" four to five new authors every week and sign up for fun giveaways, but AuthorBuzz has two new locations in the daily read.

On Thursdays, AUTHORBUZZ is featured right after my DEAR READER column.

And, every day you can find AUTHORBUZZ in the HTML version of our featured book of the week. (It's at the top of the email; click on the link, it's gorgeous, take a look.)

Or, if you read the text version of our daily email, AUTHORBUZZ is right after I announce the featured book of the week.

So, have I totally confused you? Take the challenge today, go on an AUTHORBUZZ treasure hunt and have fun!

Thanks for reading with me. It's so good to read with friends.

Warmest regards,

Suzanne Beecher
[email protected]
http://www.muffinsandmayhem.com/

* Join the fun...You're Invited to the Online Pajama Party! *

If you haven't visited the PJ Party, you're missing some great stories and photos from book club readers. Goto: http://tinyurl.com/6gavvnr

* This month's Penguin Classics book is THE LEAVENWORTH CASE by Anna Katharine Green. Start reading now and enter to win a Penguin totebag. Go to: http://tinyurl.com/January11Classics

 

Dear Reader Column 01-28-11

Now on sale . . . Muffins & Mayhem: Recipes for a Happy (if Disorderly) Life by Suzanne Beecher, and when you purchase it, request a free autographed bookplate, by visiting:
http://tinyurl.com/Muffins-MayhemPO

Join my email book club. Over 350,000 people read 5-minutes a day. To see what books I'm featuring this week, go to: http://www.dearreader.com/

Dear Reader,

It's a Pajama Party at the book clubs! If you haven't joined in the fun, do it today. If you need inspiration, read the pajama remembrances that other book club readers have submitted--including some photos--and a call for pajama help from book club reader, Dennis Matejka. Dennis misses his favorite pair of pjs and is wondering if anyone knows where he can find another pair.

Here's how the Online Pajama Party works: This isn't a writing contest, it's a PJ Party. Simply email fun pajama remembrances and a photo, if you'd like. (Readers love to see photos, but a photo isn't required.)

And YES, there's a fun Pajama Party Giveaway, too! A gorgeous, leather-bound colorful set of 12 monthly journals, slippers, pajamas, books to read when you're in your pajamas (including some copies of my book, Muffins and Mayhem), sleeping masks, pillows, blankets, hot water bottles, and some lullabies on CDs to help you drift off to sleep.

It's all happening at these links:

To send your email and see the PJ Giveaways, (deadline Feb. 12th). Goto: http://tinyurl.com/6gavvnr

To read what other book club readers have emailed and to see photos. Goto: http://www.emailbookclub.com/photo/pj1.html

Here are two PJ remembrances...

"Hello Suzanne, please enter me in your PJ Memories/Giveaway promotion.

My memory to share is not from childhood. In fact, it was 'only' 25 years ago. We were on our honeymoon and stopped to shop at a Banana Republic store. They used to feature product descriptions that were great fun to read, so colorful that it almost dared you not to buy the product. I was hooked on the Artisans Nightshirt. It brought to mind long, winter evenings writing and reading in a cozy loft. The nightshirt was great, but a few rips and tears over the years finally reduced it to disposal by my wife (although she has never really confessed to it!)

Banana Republic has changed the focus of their products and marketing, so you won't find the Artisans Nightshirt there now. However, this contest might cause another reader to say, "I know about that shirt, and I know where you can get one now!" If so, please feel free to play matchmaker and help me exchange contact and or product info.

Thanks, and sweet dreams."
Dennis A.Matejka

"Dear Suzanne, my favorite pj's are an old t-shirt and a pair of yoga pants AND a gift I just got for my 50th--a Snuggie. I thought it would be the stupidest thing anyone ever invented (and then gave me) but I LOVE that thing. And so does the cat--he appropriately 'snuggles' into it too. Have a copy of your book Suzanne. Love it!"--Suzan Herskowitz

Have fun at the Online Pajama Party--everyone's invited!

Goto: http://tinyurl.com/6gavvnr

Thanks for reading with me. It's so good to read with friends.

Suzanne Beecher
[email protected]
www.MuffinsandMayhem.com

* This month's Penguin Classics book is THE LEAVENWORTH CASE by Anna Katharine Green. Start reading now and enter to win a Penguin totebag. Go to: http://tinyurl.com/January11Classics

 

 

 

Dear Reader Column 01-27-11

Now on sale . . . Muffins & Mayhem: Recipes for a Happy (if Disorderly) Life by Suzanne Beecher, and when you purchase it, request a free autographed bookplate, by visiting:
http://tinyurl.com/Muffins-MayhemPO

Join my email book club. Over 350,000 people read 5-minutes a day. To see what books I'm featuring this week, go to: http://www.dearreader.com/

Dear Reader,

Lately my weekends have been a cooking and sewing frenzy and one of the new recipes I recently tried is a taco-like soup. I don't know what the formal name of it is--I found it written on a piece of paper. But whatever the name--it's fabulous and you can make it in a crock pot. Throw in the ingredients and walk away. I doubled the recipe and shared it with my son's family and my father-in-law, too.

The Ingredients for the YOU NAME IT SOUP

1 onion, chopped
1 (16 ounce) can chili beans, undrained
1 (15 ounce) can black beans, undrained
1 (15 ounce) can whole kernel corn, drained
1 (8 ounce) can tomato sauce
1 (12 fluid ounce) beer (if you don't drink, don't worry, the alcohol evaporates during the cooking process)
2 (10 ounce) cans diced tomatoes with green chilies, undrained
1 (1.25 ounce) package taco seasoning
3 whole skinless, boneless, chicken breasts

Place the onion, chili beans, black beans, corn, tomato sauce, beer, and diced tomatoes in a slow cooker. Stir in taco seasoning. Add chicken breasts, pressing down slightly until they're covered by the other ingredients. Set crock pot for low heat, cover, and cook for five hours. Then remove chicken breasts from the soup, shred the chicken and stir it back into the soup. Continue cooking for two hours. Enjoy!

Visit my recipe blog, which also contains recipes that book club readers have sent in. Goto: http://tinyurl.com/yuf6aq

Congratulations to January's Chocolate Chip Cookie Winners: Pat Gagliarid, Ray Arnett, Paul Scott Sr. and Sandra Lucas.

* Join in the online Pajama Party! Cozy, warm, pjs, or maybe you sleep in your favorite t-shirt, pajama memories from when you were a kid, family pj traditions--email pajama remembrances, have fun reading what other book club members have sent in, see me in my pjs, and there's a fun giveaway, too. A gorgeous, leather-bound colorful set of 12 monthly journals, slippers, pajamas, books to read when you're in your pajamas (including some copies of my book, Muffins and Mayhem), sleeping masks, pillows, blankets, hot water bottles, and some lullabies on CDs to help you drift off to sleep. Can't wait to hear from you and hopefully to see you in your pjs! You're invited to the online Pajama Party--have fun! Goto: http://tinyurl.com/6gavvnr

Thanks for reading with me. It's so good to read with friends.

Stay safe and warm,
Suzanne Beecher
[email protected]
http://www.muffinsandmayhem.com/

* This month's Penguin Classics book is THE LEAVENWORTH CASE by Anna Katharine Green. Start reading now and enter to win a Penguin totebag. Go to: http://tinyurl.com/January11Classics

 

 

Dear Reader Column 01-26-11

Now on sale . . . Muffins & Mayhem: Recipes for a Happy (if Disorderly) Life by Suzanne Beecher, and when you purchase it, request a free autographed bookplate, by visiting:
http://tinyurl.com/Muffins-MayhemPO

Join my email book club. Over 350,000 people read 5-minutes a day. To see what books I'm featuring this week, go to: http://www.dearreader.com/

Dear Reader,

Driving down the road last weekend, I passed by a boy and his dog sitting behind a card table with a sign taped to it. I couldn't read the sign, but I could see a jug of lemonade and cookies. It was a cold morning here in Sarasota, Florida, too cold for a casual glass of lemonade and I started to worry the boy wouldn't get much business. I knew I only had a couple of twenty dollar bills in my wallet, so I turned around and drove back home to retrieve some lemonade money.

I try to stop whenever I see a kid's lemonade stand. When I was a young entrepreneur, my lemonade stand turned into a booming little business. My father worked as a mechanic at the car dealership right behind our house. In the summer, it got pretty hot in the non-air conditioned garage, so Dad and the other mechanics became regular customers. And if that memory doesn't inspire me to slow down my busy schedule and buy lemonade from a budding entrepreneur, I recall the year when Bailey, my granddaughter from Wisconsin, was visiting at Easter. Bailey decided to sell her Easter candy. After setting up a card table and covering our yard with signs, she sat anxiously waiting for her first customer. I gently tried to pave the way for possible disappointment, explaining that every kid would have Easter candy, business was all about supply-and-demand, and since the Easter Bunny had pretty much taken care of supplying every kid in town, business might be slow. We get a lot of walkers and joggers going by our house, so this grandmother filled her pocket with change, walked down the street, stopped folks who would be walking by our house, gave them some change and asked if they would stop and buy something from my granddaughter. I know, I know, that's not how business really works. But years later when I told Bailey what I'd done, I explained that a little "networking" in business never hurts.

Pockets filled with lemonade money, my husband offered to take a stroll with me, to what I thought was a lemonade stand--but it wasn't. Instead of LEMONADE 25 cents a glass, the sign read: "Free Lemonade and Cookies. Donations to the Humane Society Accepted." A serious, sincere, 12-year-old boy, along with his dog Samuel (who had been adopted from the Humane Society) were bundled up in the cold, doing a good deed--and having fun, too. Not only could folks get a free glass of lemonade and a cookie, there was a tall jar of dog biscuits on the table, "You can give Samuel a dog biscuit, too! Go ahead, it's fun!"

Fun indeed and such an inspiration--a 12-year-old boy (who decided on his own), to do what he could to help other dogs like Samuel.

Thanks for reading with me. It's so good to read with friends.

Suzanne Beecher
[email protected]
www.MuffinsandMayhem.com

* This month's Penguin Classics book is THE LEAVENWORTH CASE by Anna Katharine Green. Start reading now and enter to win a Penguin totebag. Go to: http://tinyurl.com/January11Classics

 

 

 

Dear Reader Column 01-25-11

Now on sale . . . Muffins & Mayhem: Recipes for a Happy (if Disorderly) Life by Suzanne Beecher, and when you purchase it, request a free autographed bookplate, by visiting:
http://tinyurl.com/Muffins-MayhemPO

Join my email book club. Over 350,000 people read 5-minutes a day. To see what books I'm featuring this week, go to: http://www.dearreader.com/

Dear Reader,

I'm having an online Pajama Party--and You're Invited!

This past holiday season I ran a column and photo about the red and white pjs that Grandma Hale gave me for Christmas when I was a kid, and book club readers pleasantly flooded my inbox with pajama memories of their own. Reading those delightful pajama emails, along with a dare from book club reader Martha Huntley have inspired me to have an online Pajama Party and you're all invited: "Loved the picture of you in your red and white jammies. Now I want to see a picture of you in this year's pjs! Dare ya!"

Here's how it works. This isn't a writing contest, it's a PJ Party. Simply email pajama remembrances; nothing fancy. For example: a few lines about today's favorite pjs or ones you wore as a kid, pajama traditions in your family; are you a nightgown, button-up, or fancy pj person? Or maybe, the heck with pajamas, you wear an old t-shirt to bed! Email your thoughts about pjs, and if you can (but it's not necessary), please email a photo of you in your favorite pjs (now or when you were young), or even a photo of your pet in their pjs. Readers love to see photos and so do I. If you were one of the readers who sent an email about pajama traditions in your family after you read my original pj column, resend your note and you'll be entered in the Pajama Party Giveaway.

Yes--there's a fun giveaway, too! A gorgeous, leather-bound colorful set of 12 monthly journals, slippers, pajamas, books to read when you're in your pajamas (including some copies of my book, Muffins and Mayhem), sleeping masks, pillows, blankets, hot water bottles, and some lullabies on CDs to help you drift off to sleep.

To see me in my pajamas--when I was a kid and now (yes, I took your dare Martha), the fun pajama things I'm giving away, and how to enter, goto: http://tinyurl.com/6gavvnr

Can't wait to hear from you and hopefully to see you in your pjs! You're invited to the online Pajama Party--have fun!

Thanks for reading with me. It's so good to read with friends.

Sleep tight,
Suzanne Beecher
[email protected]
www.MuffinsandMayhem.com

* This month's Penguin Classics book is THE LEAVENWORTH CASE by Anna Katharine Green. Start reading now and enter to win a Penguin totebag. Go to: http://tinyurl.com/January11Classics

 

 

Dear Reader Column 01-24-11

Now on sale . . . Muffins & Mayhem: Recipes for a Happy (if Disorderly) Life by Suzanne Beecher, and when you purchase it, request a free autographed bookplate, by visiting:
http://tinyurl.com/Muffins-MayhemPO

Join my email book club. Over 350,000 people read 5-minutes a day. To see what books I'm featuring this week, go to: http://www.dearreader.com/

Dear Reader,

A police officer knocked on my front door and it's probably a good thing my husband answered the doorbell instead of me. I was busy in the kitchen, so the hoopla was all over by the time I heard the news.

I own a bubble machine. To me, bubble watching is one of life's simple pleasures. It brings me joy. I turn on my bubble machine whenever I need cheering up, to add fanfare to celebrations, and on weekends bubbles are floating in front of my house for the walkers, joggers and parents pushing kids in strollers to enjoy. I've been entertaining folks with bubbles for so long now that I've gotten quite a bubble reputation. If my bubble machine isn't turned on, I get requests, "Where's the bubble machine today Suzanne?" Bubbles seem to give folks an excuse to spend a few minutes in child-like play. People passing by enjoy the bubbles so much that they do an about face, so they can walk through the bubbles again.

And sometimes I turn on my bubble machine late in the day, about the time folks would be driving home, hoping that after a hard day at work, seeing a few bubbles would make them smile. But there's always one. And that one called the police to report me and my bubble machine. "The bubbles could be a driving hazard and they should be stopped!"

So my husband went outside, turned off the bubble machine and gave me the news. It's a good thing I wasn't the one who spoke to the officer, because when it comes to protecting my joy, I'm like a mama bear defending her cubs. My first reaction was: killjoy, drag, party pooper, spoilsport, wet blanket and bubble-hater. But even silent name calling steals my joy, and puts me in the same league with the person who filed the complaint.

Joy is all around me in this life. It's there for the taking, but sometimes it's tough to hang on to because one is all it takes. One cranky person who's looking for a way to unload their crummy day. I should be forgiving, because sometimes when I've had a challenging day, I catch myself heading down the same road. And who knows for sure? Maybe seeing bubbles in the air is a hazard to drivers? After all, how can a person text message friends and family, drink a soda, read paperwork they didn't get to finish at the office, keep at least a couple of fingers on the steering wheel, sing along with a tune, and watch for the light to change--how can a person properly multi-task with bubbles floating in the air? (Whoops, there I go again, stealing my own joy.)

Watching bubbles wafting out over the sidewalk, floating high across the street, over top of the neighbor's house, a few adventurous bubbles even heading up towards the clouds--it amazes me that seeing such a glorious sight wouldn't make someone smile. But alas, there's always one who tries to ruin the fun. But in this situation, there's also one who refuses to give up her joy. I'm heading outside to turn on my bubble machine (I'll set it back a little farther in my driveway--I'm willing to compromise--not looking for a fight.) Nevertheless, if I end up singing, "Nobody knows the bubble trouble I've seen" from my jail cell, my dear friend, author Blaize Clement, assures me she'll bail me out of my bubble trouble.

Thanks for reading with me. It's so good to read with friends.

Suzanne Beecher
[email protected]
www.MuffinsandMayhem.com

* This month's Penguin Classics book is THE LEAVENWORTH CASE by Anna Katharine Green. Start reading now and enter to win a Penguin totebag. Go to: http://tinyurl.com/January11Classics

 

 

Dear Reader Column 01-21-11

Now on sale . . . Muffins & Mayhem: Recipes for a Happy (if Disorderly) Life by Suzanne Beecher, and when you purchase it, request a free autographed bookplate, by visiting:
http://tinyurl.com/Muffins-MayhemPO

Join my email book club. Over 350,000 people read 5-minutes a day. To see what books I'm featuring this week, go to: http://www.dearreader.com/

Dear Reader,

"Ouch!" My electric bill was way...too high...last month, so a friend suggested I call the power and light company to make sure they were actually able to read my meter. Apparently sometimes if the meter reader doesn't have time to get to a meter, the folks in accounting average what they "think" the customer's bill would have been, and then after reading the meter the following month, they make adjustments to the bill accordingly.

At first glance the woman at the power company said she couldn't see anything wrong with my bill. Yes indeed, the meter reader did fight his way through my thorny bougainvillea bushes last month to read my meter. (Side note: My thorny bougainvilleas are not some kind of electric company protest. The fully, mature plants were already in the ground when my husband and I moved in 17 years ago.) "If you'd like, we can do a test to make sure your meter is working properly," the customer service woman suggested.

So my cordless phone and I went outside and waded through the bougainvillea to find the meter. This was a first for me. I'd never been formally introduced to my electric meter before. A simple little piece of technology, I read the numbers to the customer service woman, she did the math and confirmed the meter was working properly. But then I noticed a silver disk whirling around and around. Maybe something was broken? "Say, before we hang up, what's this silver disk thingy, going around and around?"

"That's measuring how much electricity you're using, Mrs. Beecher. Is it going fast?"

"Fast? How do I slow this thing down? I've got an open spinning wound here! Stop the bleeding! Call 911!"

"Stay calm, Mrs. Beecher, there are ways to cut your electric bill. Do you have your heat on now?"

"No! No heat, no lights! It's a beautiful Florida day here. Help! This slippery, silver disk is spinning out of control! How far away is that power and light rescue vehicle? I don't know if my checkbook can hold on!"

"We'll get through this Mrs. Beecher," and with the soothing calmness of a 911 operator, the customer service woman continued offering helpful money saving tips, but instead of listening attentively to the voice on the other end of the phone, it was my mother's voice I (finally) heard coming through loud and clear: "Turn out that light Suzanne; we're not made of money. No, we can't turn the heat up, put on a sweater." Those do's and don'ts drove me crazy when I was a kid and I couldn't ever relate. "Geez, Mom, it's just a little, itty, bitty light bulb and I'm only asking for two degrees more heat. What's the big deal?"

And now I know.

Thanks for reading with me. It's so good to read with friends.

Suzanne Beecher
[email protected]
www.MuffinsandMayhem.com

KIDSBUZZ: Email an author, sign up for their giveaway, and learn about great books for kids and teens about pursuing dreams, and about musical great Ella Fitzgerald from Monika Schroeder, SARASWATI'S WAY and Roxane Orgill, SKIT-SCAT RAGGEDY CAT: ELLA FITZGERALD. For a chance to win free books and more, see http://www.authorbuzz.com/kidsbuzz

* This month's Penguin Classics book is THE LEAVENWORTH CASE by Anna Katharine Green. Start reading now and enter to win a Penguin totebag. Go to: http://tinyurl.com/January11Classics

 

 

Dear Reader Column 01-20-11

Now on sale . . . Muffins & Mayhem: Recipes for a Happy (if Disorderly) Life by Suzanne Beecher, and when you purchase it, request a free autographed bookplate, by visiting:
http://tinyurl.com/Muffins-MayhemPO

Join my email book club. Over 350,000 people read 5-minutes a day. To see what books I'm featuring this week, go to: http://www.dearreader.com/

Dear Reader,

A reader wrote yesterday suggesting I should be handing out boxes of tissues along with this week's columns. She's right. Even my own tears have flowed while writing, but that's okay. The life lessons I hold most dear are the ones I've experienced in times of sadness. I can't ever really understand how someone else feels when they're grieving the loss of a job, a failed marriage, a friendship gone bad, or a death. Everyone needs to grieve in their own way and their own time. But because of the sadness I've experienced in my own life, when I sit down to write a sympathy card, or pick up the phone, I think back and remember, and those feelings help me choose the words that hopefully will be comforting for my friend to hear.

Cards and emails of sympathy are like love letters. Words written from the heart. Keepsakes, that even when I read years later, take me back and remind me how much I am loved.

Thanks for reading with me. It's so good to read with friends.

Suzanne Beecher
[email protected]
www.MuffinsandMayhem.com

AUTHORBUZZ: Meet this week's authors, enter to win books and even a blue cameo like the one featured in one of this week's books.

Irene Hannon/FATAL JUDGMENT

Sabrina Jeffries/HOW TO WOO A RELUCTANT LADY

Scott-Vincent Borba/SKINTERVENTION: THE PERSONALIZED SOLUTION FOR HEALTHIER, YOUNGER, AND FLAWLESS LOOKING SKIN

Spencer Lord/THE BRAIN MECHANIC

Goto: http://authorbuzz.com/dearreader

* This month's Penguin Classics book is THE LEAVENWORTH CASE by Anna Katharine Green. Start reading now and enter to win a Penguin totebag. Go to: http://tinyurl.com/January11Classics

 

Dear Reader Column 01-19-11

Now on sale . . . Muffins & Mayhem: Recipes for a Happy (if Disorderly) Life by Suzanne Beecher, and when you purchase it, request a free autographed bookplate, by visiting:
http://tinyurl.com/Muffins-MayhemPO

Join my email book club. Over 350,000 people read 5-minutes a day. To see what books I'm featuring this week, go to: http://www.dearreader.com/

Dear Reader,

He was a handful, but he was mine.

Four years ago, a frightened, tuckered-out, feral, orange tabby showed up in my yard. He was a feisty little guy, but with good reason. Somewhere along the way folks had let him down. The pain and mistreatment he'd suffered, I could see it in his eyes. He kept his distance, but I soon discovered that a good meal was the way to this hungry kitty's heart. Turkey with gravy and a big bowl of fresh water kept him coming back day-after-day, and soon Goldie (everyone needs a name) would stay around after lunch to take a little nap in my lounge chair. Lunch and a nap, led to dinner and a good night's sleep, take a run around the neighborhood, and then might as well see what's on the breakfast menu at Suzanne's house. But Goldie hasn't shown up for meals for quite a while and the last time I saw him something didn't feel quite right.

For days, every hour I'd walk over to the window and look out, but Goldie wasn't there, and finally the other night I came to terms with the fact that he's gone. Goldie may not have been able to show his love to me when he was here, but the other night in a dream, there he was, sitting underneath a street lamp, his eyes weren't afraid any longer, instead they were filled with love and thanks, and he was saying good-bye.

He was handful, but he was mine and I'll miss him.

Thanks for reading with me. It's so good to read with friends.

Suzanne Beecher
[email protected]
http://www.muffinsandmayhem.com/

KIDSBUZZ: Email an author, sign up for their giveaway, and learn about great books for kids and teens about pursuing dreams, and about musical great Ella Fitzgerald from Monika Schroeder, SARASWATI'S WAY and Roxane Orgill, SKIT-SCAT RAGGEDY CAT: ELLA FITZGERALD. For a chance to win free books and more, see http://www.authorbuzz.com/kidsbuzz

* This month's Penguin Classics book is THE LEAVENWORTH CASE by Anna Katharine Green. Start reading now and enter to win a Penguin totebag. Go to: http://tinyurl.com/January11Classics

 

 

Dear Reader Column 01-18-11

Now on sale . . . Muffins & Mayhem: Recipes for a Happy (if Disorderly) Life by Suzanne Beecher, and when you purchase it, request a free autographed bookplate, by visiting:
http://tinyurl.com/Muffins-MayhemPO

Join my email book club. Over 350,000 people read 5-minutes a day. To see what books I'm featuring this week, go to: http://www.dearreader.com/


Dear Reader,

When life feels good, being kind and generous in spirit come easy--not so easy when my heart is heavy. But an email I received from a reader at the book club, has inspired me to strive for something greater.

"Dear Suzanne, I just had to write you and tell you my story:

My daughter Brie loves to read and write. About six months ago she sent me the link to your book club and I joined. It has provided a common topic for us to have conversations together. When she was home with the family for Christmas, we had some interesting conversations about the current book we were reading. Brie has two little girls and is 29 weeks pregnant with her first son.

On Sunday morning, the day after Christmas, she was at church with us and our worship leader taught us a new song called, 'Forever Reign' by Hillsong. Brie was so impressed with the song that at two o'clock that afternoon she posted the lyrics on her blog.

"I'm running to your arms The riches of your love Will always be enough..."

At 6:30 that night as Brie and her husband were headed back to their home, another car veered into their lane and ran into them head-on, killing my daughter Brie. They were able to save her son Curran by emergency C-section. Five hours after posting the song, she was indeed running into His arms.

Anyway, I wanted to thank you Suzanne, for your book club and the bond it helped to strengthen between Brie and myself."-- Tom

(Suzanne replies:)

Dear Tom, I am so very sorry. The measure of a person, their true personality and beliefs, shine through even when faced with tragedy. Taking the time to share about you and your daughter's special connection through the book club--what a generous gift you are giving to me in the midst of your loss. Thank you.

Grieving is hard work and a long, lonely, journey. After my mother died a close friend of mine gave me permission to grieve for as long as it took. I needed to hear those words because I was frightened--afraid that I'd never find my way back. "Grieve as long as you need, Tom." May the love of your family and friends, and the remembrances of your wonderful daughter Brie, fill your heart, hold you up, and give you peace.

Your friend,
Suzanne Beecher

Thanks for reading with me. It's so good to read with friends.

Suzanne Beecher
[email protected]
http://www.muffinsandmayhem.com/

* This month's Penguin Classics book is THE LEAVENWORTH CASE by Anna Katharine Green. Start reading now and enter to win a Penguin totebag. Go to: http://tinyurl.com/January11Classics