Looking Forward

First I'd like to welcome my partner in blogging, Jeannie Steinman, a new Heartwarming author. Welcome Jeannie. We look forward to your blogs.

Writing a blog this month has proved to be a challenge. I always wonder if what I write will be interesting to anyone else, and I especially worry about that right now. Let me explain:

I live about ten miles from Stoneman Douglas High School. I used to be a high school English teacher. I worked closely with my students. I was student council advisor and practically a permanent chaperone for everything that went on at the school. So what happened on Valentine’s Day two weeks ago was more than a national tragedy. It felt like a personal one.

My usual advice of “shake it off” hasn’t worked this time. I’m glued to the television watching unbearable grief and unequalled inspiration. The students of Stoneman Douglas have shown themselves to be bright, articulate and civic minded. I wish them well in their quest for justice.

But what about me? What can I do to look forward, to have hope, to forget the pain of  the last two weeks? We all are faced with this problem at some time in our lives.What gives us hope?

Okay, here’s my simple solution, one that I hope will work for me. Anyone who knows me, knows I love the High Country of North Carolina. My current Heartwarming trilogy (the first , HIGH COUNTRY COP, was released this month) is set in this beautiful, comforting place.

I have been going here during the summers for several years. This past summer I decided to make my six month stay more permanent, and so I bought a little place in the mountains. When I say “little” I mean LITTLE. I bought a “destination camper” thirty-eight feet long, with a large wooden deck on the outside. It’s just perfect for me and my little Malti-poo, Willie.

I haven’t yet slept a night in my new place. When Hurricane Irma hit Florida last summer, my family escaped to the mountains and some of them stayed in my camper. I was happy to have them there. And then my time was up, and I had to come home to Florida. I can’t wait to get back to my sunny space, my happy place.

I hope each of you have a happy place, some where or some thing that gives you hope and diverts your mind from the troubles of the day. Maybe it’s a camper, maybe it’s a park, maybe it’s a book. We all need something.

Here are some pictures of the place I can’t wait to see again.

Cynthia

And please check out the Heartwarming books this month. I guarantee your heart will feel better