Monday Memories--Easter 1976

Hello and welcome to the Focused on Story blog!

Monday Memories--Easter 1976

Today I'm beginning a new series--Monday Memories. You may know by now that I'm penning a memoir, a tiny slice of my life. I'm writing about the first year we were in the flower business, 1976. We purchased a shop in Fremont, Michigan in 1976 and moved from our home in Central Illinois to this charming West Michigan town where we knew no one. No family. No friends.

Yesterday was Easter bringing back my memories of that first Easter in the flower business. Ted and I were stressed since we had no experience in the flower business when we bought the shop. So we had no idea of what to expect. You can imagine our stress and anxiety dealing with the unknown.

Besides that, my father passed away in March making this time in my life one filled with sadness and loss. My mother was a strong woman, but I worried about her on this holiday.

Here's an excerpt from the book. Please join me in this Easter memory.

Easter 1976

The next morning I dressed Sara in her Easter outfit. She was so sweet in all her pink. A pang of guilt cut through me. I wished Mom could see her. How was she coping without Dad?

 A prick of sadness stabbed through my middle. How could I get through this first Easter without Dad? I took a few ragged breaths. I couldn’t go to church with red-rimmed eyes and a red nose. Get it together. You can do this. 

We left for church dreading wearing a happy face when I felt so sad inside. But how many people do go to church and pretend everything is alright?

We parked the car in the crowded church lot. Greetings of Happy Easter met us as we walked down the rows of vehicles and into the church. We dropped Sara off at the nursery and continued down the hallway to the sanctuary. The warm greetings and the happy faces lifted my spirit. I had been so wrapped up in my sorrow, I had forgotten today I could focus on the Easter message of Good News.

Easter Message

When we walked into the sanctuary, I stopped in my tracks in awe of the beauty ahead of me. The lilies in gold foil and cream bows lined the railings and the front of the church as in a heavenly garden. Their fragrance didn’t overpower me here in this huge room but instead empowered me. The brilliant sight ahead touched me. Perhaps it was a God moment. My heart flooded with joy and peace pushing out the sorrow and stress I had harbored inside.

When we sat down in the pew, I couldn’t stop staring at those lilies. The same ordinary lilies that had lived in our greenhouse for months had been transformed into a blessing for us and our congregation.

***

Do you have an Easter memory you'd like to share with us? Are you writing a memoir or planning to write one? Please leave a comment below. 

Celebrating the New Release: Dangerous Sanctuary by J.Q. Rose, Touching People's Lives

Celebration Time! Come on in and join the party! 

Books We Love just released my romantic suspense, Dangerous Sanctuary.

Dangerous Sanctuary by J.Q. Rose

Pastor Christine Hobbs never imagined she would be caring for a flock 

that includes a pig, a kangaroo, and a murderer.

I'm thrilled to have the Kindle format AND the Paperback book available for you at amazon. I had so much fun writing this story that includes a pig, a kangaroo, and a cat. 

Take a peek inside at these links:

BUY LINKS

Available at amazon

Kindle 

Paperback 

Previously published as Coda to Murder

Touching People's Lives as a Writer by J.Q. Rose

While working on Dangerous Sanctuary and writing a memoir this fall, I made a discovery.

I spent twenty years of my working life as a floral designer. My husband, Gardener Ted, and I were co-owners of a floral shop and greenhouses/garden center. I never realized the parallels that experience had with my “job” as a writer until recently when I began writing my memoir about the year we bought the business.

When we purchased the floral shop and greenhouses from an old couple, we knew absolutely nothing about being business owners or the floral industry. I know…crazy kids. But when you’re that age, you‘re more willing to take risks. 

Ted had raised vegetables and flowers in his hobby greenhouse for several years first growing plants for our newly landscaped yard, then for the neighbors, then retailing them to customers. That gave him the inspiration to do more--to have his own floriculture business-- so we jumped at the opportunity when we found the floral shop and greenhouses for sale.

When I started writing, I was a kid, but every story I wrote made me hungry to write more especially when the stories were so well received and made people happy when they read them. When my first novella received a contract from a small publisher, I knew absolutely nothing about the publishing and marketing of a book.

In the flower business, I was privileged to meet many wonderful folks and share important occasions in my customers’ lives. We designed flowers for a boy ordering his first prom corsage, a new dad sending his wife flowers to her hospital room where she and his new son were waiting for him, a bride (and her mom) planning the perfect arrangements for her bridal bouquet and church decorations, a daughter who just landed the job of her dreams, families celebrating holidays or a grieving wife mourning the loss of her husband. 

I was caught up in the emotional events in people’s lives and honored to have been chosen to help them express their feelings through the gift of flowers.

Romantic suspense

As an author, I am writing stories now, not so much because it’s fun for me, but because I want to be caught up in people’s emotions again. I want to give the reader a chance to experience strong feelings through my stories whether it is hate, anger, love, guilt, betrayal, forgiveness. When a reader shares with me how much they loved or hated a character, I want to holler "YES." I connected with the reader through the story.

Now I arrange bouquets of words wrapped up with sweetness, spiciness, sauciness and love instead of bouquets of colorful roses, lilies, daisies, and tulips.

I’m so lucky to have been in two careers allowing me to touch people’s lives.

# # #

The J.Q. Rose blog

Thank you for stopping in and joining in the celebration today. Please check back for updates on prizes and contests during the Dangerous Sanctuary Virtual Book Tour--better yet, follow the J.Q. Rose blog by email by adding your email address to the box above. You'll be notified when a new post is made. I promise no SPAM!

The quirky, realistic characters will definitely make you smile 

but the pig, cat and kangaroo will make you laugh out loud! 

~~Gail R.