Subscribe to one of Suzanne's online bookclubs and receive her daily column at: DearReader.com
AUTHORBUZZ: Discover new books, "meet" the authors and enter to win: Goto: http://authorbuzz.com/dearreader
Dear Reader,
When my parents were still alive I'd call and ask, "So how are you today?" The names would change, but the conversation went pretty much like this, "Laney's been sick with pneumonia for two weeks now and she's in the hospital, Frank has an ulcer, Alan's back went out again, Helen had her gall bladder taken out, and do you remember Mr. Klein? You know, the man who used to run the fix-it shop on Main Street? He died last week. Mrs Anderson hasn't been looking so good either, and we're getting a little concerned about her."
It was frustrating. Even if I rephrased the question, "So what have you and Dad been doing for fun lately?" I couldn't get my parents to share anything other than the latest medical update on family and friends. I'd make fun of my parents after I hung up the phone, describing the conversation to my husband.
There's a little thing called karma, and karma's been known to come around and bite me in the behind. Like mother, like daughter, I realized the other day that lately too much of my daily conversation has been consumed with who's got what wrong with them, including my own aches and pains. (Gasp! I've become my mother!) Who's laughing now?
I understand that topics of conversations change with age. When I was a teenager it was parties and the cute guy in Biology, and soon it was all about careers and babies, and now, well, I don't know what other 59-year-old people spend their time talking about, but I'm determined not to follow in my parents' footsteps.
So the next time someone asks the usual, "How are you today Suzanne?" Instead of telling them how I'm feeling, and updating them on my latest doctor visit, I'll pretend the question they asked was, "What are you going to do today Suzanne?" That should take care of any possible moaning and groaning about my aches and pains.
"So what are you going to do today Suzanne?"
"I'm taking my grandson to the skateboard park, doing some writing, and I have to stop by the pharmacy because my shoulder has really been bothering me. Do you ever get a pain in your shoulder and it runs all the way down your back? Boy, it's killing me. And while I'm there, I should pick up some cough syrup, everyone I know has a cold. Hopefully I don't get the flu. Our neighbor's been sick in bed for three days with the flu....
Okay, so I was a little hard on my mom and dad--who's laughing now?
You can still enter this month's Chocolate Chip Cookie Giveaway. Do you prefer milk chocolate or dark chocolate? This month you get to choose which kind of chocolate chips you'd like in your cookies. Enter this month's Chocolate Chip Cookie Giveaway today. Go to: http://www.emailbookclub.com/photo/Cookie-101513.html
And congratulations to the winners of Timestorm by Guest Columnist Julie Cross: Joyce Rife, Lynn Demsky, Rita Pierini, Barbara Goettler and Marian Walker.
Thanks for reading with me. It's so good to read with friends.
Suzanne Beecher
[email protected]
* This month's Penguin Classics book is BUTTERFIELD 8 by John O'Hara. Start reading now and enter to win a Penguin bookbag.
http://www.supportlibrary.com/bc/v.cfm?L=drclassqqxqN1AFE3FA7A11&c=CLASSICS
AUTHORBUZZ: Meet authors, win free books and more at this week's Authorbuzz. Go to: http://authorbuzz.com/dearreader
Comments