Today is Patricia’s birthday and I think it’s appropriate to repost a blog I wrote about her a while back. To my beloved friend: My best friend growing up was Patricia Butler. I met her when I was three and she was four, when her family moved to my little town and began attending our…
Author: lenleatherwood
I am a native Texan who has lived for the past 30 years in Southern California. I am a published author of both short memoir and fiction, a two-time Pushcart nominee, a nationally award-winning writing coach, an editor, as well as a Licensed Professional Counselor in the state of Texas. In addition, I am the mother of three grown daughters of whom I am extremely proud, a grandmother of four darling children and the wife of a man I still love after 44 years.
Off to Make a Difference
My daughter, Liz, and her boyfriend, Ron, left today for a ten day vacation to Alaska. The twist on this story is that they are not going to Anchorage to hang out and relax; they’re going to help build a house for Habitat for Humanity. I am proud of these two, who are using their vacation…
On Joy
Yesterday, I presented my thoughts on happiness to the best of my ability for what time I had allotted to that activity. Today’s topic is joy. Please note these are simply my musings, not words I think are written in stone. When I write this, I am aware that there will be many points that…
On Happiness
One of my friends asked if I would write my thoughts about happiness and joy. I have undertaken that task and have discovered that I need to break these topics into two separate essays; otherwise, I’m afraid I will not explore them to the level that will feel satisfying to me or to you, my…
Short Post Tonight
I wrote on my computer tonight an essay considering the differences between happiness and joy, but we are at the orange grove with no Internet reception. Granted, I could walk down the road to my neighbors, but it is a dark night and I am not so inclined. I will see how the essay reads…
Rich Versus Poor, What Makes the Real Difference?
Sometimes money is not what it’s cracked up to be. I have met some of the poorest rich people and some of the richest poor people. The key seems to be to have an external focus. Self absorption does not a lovely person make. An example of a poverty-stricken rich man was someone I had…
Bach, Rain and Luna: 3 Of My Favorite Things
I am sitting in my living room, listening to J.S. Bach’s Oboe Concerto in F featuring F. Heinz Holliger. The air is cool wafting in from the open French door since we had a good steady rain a couple of hours ago. The road out front is quiet. A Sunday evening with most people around…
5 Star Recipe for Lemon Almond Cookies
My great-nephew Eli, a fellow non-eater of refined sugar, came up with this delicious and nutritious recipe for a cake-like lemon cookie sweetened with honey or agave. This is one of those recipes that you can count on. The cookies are perfect every time in taste and texture. Today I went out and pulled a…
Beethoven at the Hollywood Bowl
We were lucky enough to be invited by our neighbor, Linda Homer, to the Hollywood Bowl tonight for a picnic and then a whole evening of Beethoven performed by the LA Phil. Linda had three extra tickets so we invited our daughter Rachael to join us, as well. The seats were close to the front…
Flash Fiction Revisited: Now and Forever
Madeline was tired. She had been boxing up all sorts of antiques all afternoon since the owners, Maude and Jason Fredericks, were going out of business. These boxes would be heading to an auction where they would all go for what Maude described as “pennies on the dollar.” Madeline was especially upset about three different…
20 Minutes a Day 