Love, Politics, And More

Born on June 10, 1953, I consider myself one of the lucky ones. The daughter of Carolyn Russell (now Carolyn Howerton) and the granddaughter of Bessie Burns Blackler, I entered into a family where the women were mountains of strength and had hearts of gold. My sister Joyce Renee was born four years later. When I was five my mother married Glen E. Howerton. With him came his daughter Devery Ann and his son Curtis Glen. For the next eleven years we were a family of six. Like all adults I have mixed memories of my growing-up years, some sad and some good. I’d have to say more good than not.The summer before my senior year the family split, each going their separate ways as if we never were. This was the beginning of some very emotionally hard years for me. But like all the women in my family before me, I was blessed with an inner strength that prevailed. My grandmother (I called her Nanny) and grandfather were Godsends during this time.I drifted through many years, then on July 4, 1991, I met the love of my life. We have been together ever since, and yes, the fireworks light the skies for us every anniversary. We share a love for our four-legged friends and have been rescuing babies from the beginning.As a child I wrote a few things, then stopped. More recently, I began writing little things in cards to those I hold close to my heart. Then in 2003 we lost seven of our loved ones in a matter of two months. The pain of these losses prompted me to start writing again. The weekend before Christmas 2003 I started preparing this book as a gift for my mother and Bev. Floods of words have been pouring out ever since.Poetry is a very personal expression of the heart’s most inner secrets. As we travel our different walks in life, we are subjected to whatever the everyday world tosses our way. I hope, as you read through these pages, that somehow the words within will allow you, as the reader, an emotional release as well.