Tag Archives: Romance

Ponder the Preciousness – Our Dementia Story

Dementia Story, , , ,

Ponder the Preciousness – Our Dementia Story. Once Upon a Time – on a day just past fifty-two years ago – I was too harried to be nervous. The next several hours were my wedding gift for my husband-to-be. My Jonathan. I had kept it all a secret. He had no idea what was planned.

A Hundred Details were Yet to be Addressed. I had made many lists as always. Thank heaven for that because soon our little house on Burnup Road in Black River, New York would be overrun by my women friends impatient to take charge .

Ours was a Homemade Wedding from the Start. This day would be everything my previous marriage that crashed and vanished had never been. No upscale impressive venue. No silver embossed matchbooks. Only the golden-hearted efforts of our precious personal community.

The Cake was Baked by a Relative’s Roommate. The turkey and ham were from the ovens of our mothers in law. Hors d’oeuvres and salads were concocted in our own kitchen that very day by a sisterhood of strong women wielding vegetable peelers and powerful opinions.

The Sisterhood Forced Me Out Eventually. I had found my nervousness and was causing too much fuss. Off I went with a bridesmaid to be gowned in hippie homespun still waiting for a hem and soft slippers to keep my clumsy self from stumbling down the aisle.

I Cannot Remember Getting to the Church. Jonathan and I walked to the altar together. Nobody owned me so I did not need to be given away. Neither did he. I can remember every step we took. To this very day – I Ponder the Preciousness – Our Dementia Story.

I Designed the Ceremony to Reflect Our Love. Still, what happened that day astonished even me. Thanks to the passion of the players. A profound reading from a beloved friend. A soulful song composed and performed by my brother. An inspired blessing by a former priest in flowing robes. Jonathan reveled in everything as I had hoped he would.

Also Surprises I had not Planned. My son created beautiful baskets of wildflowers and roses for my bridesmaids. A vintage Cadillac at the church door whisked us away to our Burnup Road reception. Coworkers had filled our bathtub with ice and champagne bottles.

All Day Long Memories were Born. Moments that caught in our hearts. Moments to split your seams with laughter. Moments bathed by tears. Moments as sunlit as the yellow rose bouquet I never tossed to anyone because I could not bear to let it go.

We have Lived a Half-Century of Memories Since Then. Adventures. Struggles. Triumphs. Disappointments. Joy. Astonishment. Regret. Celebration. Tragedy too because our Once Upon a Time has been reality not fairy tale. Now we Ponder the Preciousness – Our Dementia Story.

LESSON LEARNED – Perpetually ponder every preciousness.

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You possess storytelling magic. Keep on writing whatever may occur. AliceOrr https://www.aliceorrbooks.com

Alice Orr is a number of things. Teacher. Storyteller. Former Editor and Literary Agent. Author of 15 novels, 2 novellas, a memoir, and No More Rejections: 50 Secrets to Writing a Manuscript that Sells. She also blogs for writers and readers at https://www.aliceorrbooks.com.

Alice’s Memoir is titled Lifted to the Light: A Story of Struggle and Kindness. At the beating heart of this moving story a woman fights her own disease disaster. All her life she has taken care of herself. Now she faces an adversary too formidable to battle alone. An inspiring read available HERE.

Praise for Lifted to the Light: A Story of Struggle and Kindness: “I was lifted. I highly recommend this book as a can’t-put-down roadmap for anyone.” “Outstanding read. Very, very well written. Alice Orr is an amazing author.” “Honest, funny, and consoling.” “Ms. Orr is a fine, sensitive author and woman. I have read other books by her and am glad I haven’t missed this one.” “Couldn’t put it down.”

All of Alice’s Books are available HERE .

Ask Alice Your Crucial Questions. What are you most eager to know? About Alice and Jonathan’s experience? About telling your own stories? Ask your questions in the Comments section at the end of this post. Or email Alice at aliceorrbooks@gmail.com. She would love to hear from you.

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Long-Time-Together Tango – A Personal Post

Stories of my Life, ,

On Sunday, my husband Jonathan and I will have been married forty-six years, which doesn’t count our half-year courtship before the wedding happened. We met in March and spent the next month in tentative mode, circling one another from afar. Our Long-Time-Together Tango had begun.

The rhythm was sort of twitchy-jittery-nervous then. I detected signals from his side of the floor and expected an approach at any moment, but he was shy. Twitchy-jittery-nervous continued long after the band should have packed up and gone home. Until my patience wore characteristically thin, and I made the first unmistakable move.

We’ve stepped through a World of Dance style catalog since then, including the Bickering Bossa Nova. Which brings me to the six arguments. I have a theory that every long-term relationship features six signature arguments. Three serious, and better suited to the boxing ring than the dance floor. Three silly, but still good for many a whirl.

20th Anniversary Roses

The specifics vary from couple to couple. Sometimes we strut. Other times we glide deliberately out of reach. Always we engage in a choreography uniquely our own. Let’s confine the serious stomping to private dances. The three frivolous fights Jon and I favor step out as follows.

The Full Moon Minuet. Whatever particular geography we may currently inhabit, our heckle over the heavens remains the same. He says, “The moon is full tonight.” I look up and shake my head. “Not quite,” I say, pointing out a flatness at the lower edge, usually to the left. We’ve carried on in that vein, month after month, year after year, even when the sky was mostly overcast.

The Tuning the TV Tarantella. The notes of this number shift a bit with each technological advance. Our present debate quick steps back and forth between to surf or not to surf, whether the venue is network or Netflix, on demand or of the moment. He takes the former position, I take the latter.

The Time and Distance Drag. Which is a drag because, trivial or not, these disagreements can take on heat. In the city, subway options are the issue. Uptown, downtown, crosstown. We each have pet preferences for getting wherever whenever. As for out of town, thank heaven for GPS or murderous mayhem might ensue.

We could easily settle our signature silly arguments. By checking the calendar phases of the moon. Googling our stream or non-stream options ahead of screening. Clocking actual travel times from one station stop to the next. Riding together to avoid suspicion of misreads where miles per hour are concerned.

Simple as that, decades of atonal music would fall silent. We could leave the dance floor and sit down. On the other foot, as our long time together grows longer, I suspect we should hang onto every form of available movement, including exercise of the small bones we pick with each other, one gradually slowing toe tap at a time.  Alice Orr – https://www.aliceorrbooks.com.

–R|R–

A Time of Fear & LovingIt is Amanda and Mike’s second time on the dance floor, and every step takes them deeper into danger. Don’t miss Alice’s latest novel, A Time of Fear & Loving – Riverton Road Romantic Suspense Book 5. Available HERE. Look for all of Alice’s books HERE.

What readers say about A Time of Fear & Loving. “I never want an Alice Orr book to end.” “Alice Orr is the queen of ramped-up stakes and page-turning suspense.” “Warning. Don’t read before bed. You won’t want to sleep.” “The tension in this novel is through the roof.”
“A budding romance that sizzles in the background until it ignites with passion.”
“The best one yet, Alice!”

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