It’s David Bowie’s Fault

Christiane F. how could I forget her? The name is very well known in Germany and other German-speaking countries. Men and women close to my age, remember her well. We met her in school that day when our teacher dimmed the lights. It was movie time. “We talk about it later.”

Victim or Perpetrator?

Bill Cosby’s verdict left me wanting to spit fire like a dragon, preferably in his direction. Reading that he is touring to advocate people on the sexual assault law made me physically ill.

My Drug Problem

The other day, someone at a store mentioned that a Methamphetamine lab had been found in an old house nearby and he asked me a rhetorical question:

“Why didn’t we have a drug problem when you and I were growing up?”

Why I hired a Felon and an Addict

I had this iron rule. I would not hire anybody with a felony for a violent crime, and I would not hire an addict. And now guess what? Exactly! I hired a new helper for my workshop, and she is both. She is an addict, and she spent one year in prison for a violent crime. 

Come on in…

I love to prepare food for family, friends and neighbors. That is the Italian in me, like a shepherd dog trying to herd them all together around a table, that is my alltime favorite thing to do. I love to plan special dinners and they are not special because of the ingredients, no, they are special because of the company. 

Decisions, decisions…

I was rich! Went to bed dirt poor and woke up a Millionair, at least thats how I felt. I was 19 years old and had just gotten $500 out of the blue. An older gentleman, a neighbor who I adored when I was a kid and who I pestered every chance I got, had just died a couple of weeks earlier. His daughter visited us the night before, she talked with my Grandmother for a long time and then they both handed me an envelope with a bunch of money. The old Italian currency Lira was not really worth the paper it was printed on, if I remember right 10,000 lira were about $5. So, I had an envelope full with money bills. Yes, I felt rich.

Guest Post “Smoking takes it all”

Life does not always give us the happy ending we hope for, over time we all have to learn to say Goodbye to family and friends who feel like family. The next guest post was written by a very special lady, her blog >>>A day in the life<<< was one of the first blogs I followed, when I stepped into the blogging world. We talk back and forth via comments and got to know each other a little bit better. I know this post wasn’t an easy one to write and I am so grateful, that she is willing to share her story and experience with all of us.

Smart or not smart?

I love my cellphone and the day it will be able to notice that I can’t find it -again-, will be the day when I will be willing to call it smartphone…until then it’s just an android-something. I really didn’t want one, carried around an older, dinosaur flip phone and it worked just fine for me.

Let’s be brave and drop a few…

When I read today’s daily prompt I thought about an oldie but goodie and found it to be the perfect reply:

Guest Post from my Australian friend…

It was about one month after I quit smoking, when I met the Lady, who wrote the next guest post. I was fairly new at the quitsmokingmessageboard myself , still busy trying to understand everything that was happening to me, when she signed on. Our story, how we quit were similar and I felt an instant connection. I was still a newbie myself, but reached out to her. She is the only one, who I stayed in touch with and I am proud to call her my friend. She just celebrated her 1-year smoke-free anniversary and I am glad we both quit smoking around the same time, so we could meet.