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childhood

The Grandmother Diaries:  My "Great" Aunt

The Grandmother Diaries:  My “Great” Aunt

2016-01-18
By: Live by Surprise
On: January 18, 2016
In: The Grandmother Diaries
With: 15 Comments

If you’ve followed my Grandmother Diaries, you’ve “met” my Gran.  All my life (and most of hers), Gran’s younger sister Minerva lived a block away.  I’m not quite sure how it happened…my Gran moved into the house she was in most the time I knew her after my Grandfather died.Continue Reading

Childhood Anxiety - Don't Pass It On

Childhood Anxiety: Don’t Pass It On

2015-11-07
By: Live by Surprise
On: November 7, 2015
In: Life, Mental Health
With: 2 Comments

What was your biggest fear as a child?  Do you still have it today?  If it went away, when did your feelings change? Today I’m taking my daughter to do the thing that caused my initial fear to go beyond a “little bit” of anxiety into a full-blown reaction.  I’veContinue Reading

Simple Memories

The Grandmother Diaries: Simple Memories

2015-09-21
By: Live by Surprise
On: September 21, 2015
In: The Grandmother Diaries
With: 6 Comments

I’m still slowly working my way through her diaries.  Today, I thought perhaps I’d just write about all the memories that the entries are inspiring. My Gran was a formidable woman.  Despite her anxiety issues, she managed to raise two kids almost completely on her own. I remember her workingContinue Reading

The Grandmother Diaries: I Opened the Box 1

The Grandmother Diaries: I Opened the Box

2015-07-27
By: Live by Surprise
On: July 27, 2015
In: The Grandmother Diaries
With: 1 Comment

I finally jumped into Pandora’s box. I pulled out a handful of Gran’s journals today. I’m starting with 1987 – as it seems to be the earliest I found. Just the first page brings back memories. It’s yellow, curled a little and smells faintly of cigarettes. She lists the timesContinue Reading

Building Strong Children 1

Building Strong Children

2015-07-13
By: Live by Surprise
On: July 13, 2015
In: Divorce, Learning Disabilities, Mental Health, Parenting
With: 1 Comment

I love those little revelations that come with spending time with family. I’m just back from a week’s holiday in Canada – my mother, her dog, and my niece joined us. My mom reminded me of a number of things that happened when I was a child. And one littleContinue Reading

Lola's books

Doctor Who: The Forgotten
Star Trek: The Next Generation / Doctor Who: Assimilation2, Volume 2
Doctor Who Classics, Vol. 1
Doctor Who: The Eyeless
Chronic Profit: Building Your Small Business While Managing Persistent Pain
Doctor Who: The Slitheen Excursion
The Other Emily
Tracing Your Ancestors in Lunatic Asylums: A Guide for Family Historians
Memories of Tomorrow
The Mercy of Snakes
Red Rain
The Praying Mantis Bride
Photographing the Dead
In the Heart of the Fire
The Painted Girls
The Other Typist
The Woman Who Stole My Life
Great Shape Hunt, The
Zoe's First Book of Seasons
Tim Burton's The Nightmare Before Christmas: Zero's Journey Issue #0


Lola Marguerita's favorite books »

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