Time of My Life by M. K. Stelmack

Earlier this month I celebrated my big 5-0 by attending the funeral of a 42-year-old father and husband who died after a sudden, ten-day illness. I sat  in the jam-packed auditorium of his church, sharing a box of tissues with my son beside me and with the burly guy in a Harley-Davidson jacket seated in front of me. Bewilderment, shock and simple, pure grief pierced the singing of his favorite songs and caught in our laughter at his brother's candid and intentionally hilarious eulogy that both stung and warmed our battered hearts.

So why do I call his funeral on my birthday a celebration? For one, that is the official name of the funeral--a celebration of life--so, nothing amiss there. But let's be honest: there is nothing like celebrating the passing of a healthy man eight years your junior on your birthday to wake you to how good life is.

I was blessed.

Gone are my silly worries about the gray squiggling into my hair, and how I can't shed ten pounds. Even the big ones like mortgage payments and medication costs have shrunk to their deserving size.

Instead, I choose to see that I was given fifty years to hike in the backcountry of the Rockies, to get a degree, to walk the Royal Mile in Edinborough, to build a family, to love a dog, to have my heart broken, to break a heart, to hurt and be hurt, to dye my hair blond, to cry when my son was given his diagnosis and to cry when he took first place in a speech competition, to still quote to my seventeen-year-old daughter the funny lines she said when she was three, to weatherproof my house, to laugh until I cry, to grow a flower garden, to paint rooms different colors, and always, always since I learned how to print, to tell stories.

A week from now--many of you may already have received it in the mail--my debut Heartwarming novel will be released. 

Two more are scheduled for release in June and October. These are the stories of my heart, fifty years in the making. May they give you light and laughter and maybe a few tears, like life itself.

And may you each and every day until you no longer draw breath, like the song played at the funeral said, have the time of your life.

Okay, I need to add a little more sweetness to that bittersweet song. 

So here's some exciting news. The other February Heartwarmers The other February Heartwarmers and I have come up with fantastic prize packages--yes, plural, as in FOUR, the entry for which will be showing up on our FB handles next week (make sure you like our pages to get it in your feed) and I'll lay out the full deal on Sit-down Saturday on February 3rd. In the meanwhile, here's a glimpse at all of our stories together.

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