Real Stories

It's been a joy to have discussions about my new book Florida, A Love Story.

Set in the 1800s, it is an exciting, fast paced story of old Florida.  The history is real but the story is fiction. 

Or is it?

Many of the events in Florida, A Love Story happened to me - but not all in Florida.  In the late 1960s my husband, Ken, and I, and our two preschool children, left Florida and headed to Georgia where he attended Candler School of Theology at Emory University.  For the first two years Ken was a "student" pastor in North Georgia. We had a circuit of three churches, Bold Spring, Trinity and Liberty.  Yes, Ken was a circuit rider.   

We were life long urbanites with a civil rights background one week and the next week were were living in a church parsonage in the deep south.  And Ken's new name was "Preacher."

This experience was truly like stepping back in history. 

The very first day we arrived we visited a home where a man had died the day before.  Not only were we greeted by family members in the parlor but he was there as well, in a home made coffin in the middle of the room.  No funeral home.  They buried him the next day in the graveyard next to the church - after the "preacher" said a few words.  

It was on the back porch of the parsonage that I discovered a bag of beans and had no idea what to do with it until I discovered it was black eyed peas (just like Catherine did in the book.)  

Sometime during that two years a racist (his description) ax wielding Lester Maddox was running for governor against Bo Calloway.  We voted in the church building.  There was absolutely no privacy. Every person knew how we voted.  But if that wasn't enough, when the weekly paper came out they recorded the count.  87 votes for Maddox, 2 for Calloway.  (Just like the experience Sam had in the book.)

Available on Amazon

The two year experience of living in North Georgia was good for us.  We learned to love these people - with whom we had very little in common and they were very excepting of us.  However I'm sure they thought of us much like the community of Oconee thought of Catherine and Sam.  "It's like the dang king and queen of England decided to take up ranching' in the middle of the swamp! They don't know nothin' about nothin'."

When we visited the smallest of the three churches on the circuit, Liberty, we made sure we went to the bathroom before leaving home because Liberty had no running water, and only an outhouse for those in need.  The kids and I entered the church when we arrived and sat on the right with the rest of the women.  Ken stayed outside with the men who were hanging around their old trucks, plus one family always came in a horse drawn buggy.  At the beginning of the last hymn, that we sang by "lining," the men entered and sat on the left.  

Yes, this is exactly the same situation Cole encountered  during his short stent as a circuit riding preacher in the 1800s. 

***

 

Cowboy Movies

 

When I was a kid my little brother, Paul, and I went to the movies every Saturday and sometimes Sunday as well.  We were each given 25 cents.  15 cents for a ticket, and 5 cents for a bag of popcorn; one for each feature.  We both loved cowboy movies.  And that's mostly what we saw. The movies were called Westerns.  Cowboys were in the West; Texas, Wyoming or Utah mostly.  And there was the "Gunfight at the OK Coral' that took place in Tombstone, Arizona.  These were serious cowboys.  But our favorites were Roy Rogers and Gene Autry who were singing cowboys.  

But in my new book, Florida, A Love Story, we learn that:  

Orange County in Central Florida was the largest cattle-raising area in the United States, including Texas. And during the last quarter of the nineteenth century, cattle raising continued to grow in importance....Florida, a cattle baron's magnet with its open ranges, would be one of the last cattle states to adopt fencing laws. 

Who knew?

We've had fun promoting the book.  My publisher, editor, and I were recently invited to speak on a podcast.  Our editor, Trish, told about how, when she was little, she and her brother would go to see cowboy movies every Saturday, like Paul and I did, only with a little different twist.  Trish's brother had a horse so she and her brother rode the horse every Saturday to see the cowboy movies.

A nice added touch. 

Thanks to all of you who've bought the book.  If you'd like a copy, the easiest place find it is on Amazon. 

***

Film Makers

 How important are the arts?  Could we live whole, healthy lives without the arts?  I don't think so.  Despite our need as humans to receive this,  it's hard to make a living in the arts.  

I've occasionally crushed some young peoples' dreams by reminding them "It's hard to make a living in the arts."  Believe me, I know.

Film makers are a special kind of storytellers. I have a couple of film makers in my life so I have great appreciation for this gift and skill.  I recently read an article in my AARP Bulletin  about film makers, Tefta Bejko and Bujar Alimani.  

The struggle they had to get out of their native land, Albania, and finally land in New York City, would make a triumphant film itself.  Bujar started on foot, climbing mountains and crossing rivers until he reached Greece.  Tefta joined him later, and they had a child. 

They started making films.  Bujar wrote and directed, Tefta handled production. Their work was honored.  Albania chose their first feature, Amnistia, as it's entry for the 2012 Oscars. Later, two other films were put up for Academy Awards. 

Now, years later,  here comes the most interesting part of the article.  Both Tefta and Bujar have full time working class jobs.  Tefta is a cashier in a supermarket.  Bujar works an eight hour construction job.  

As Bujar says, "We don't get paid much for our film work.  Nearly every dollar we earn or raise goes to pay our actors, crew and expenses."  

Additionally he says, "I must document these memories.  I am an artist....My mission is to tell not just the story, but the truth."

Amen, Bujar. 

***

Cheers!

 

These last few years my son has done some interesting (and crazy) things for my birthday.  Some of them are fun, like notes from people in our community I truly admire.  Some are questionable.  Like a few years ago I received an autographed photo of Pat Boone.  

Queue the eye role.  

So this past December, when my birthday rolled around, I wasn't surprised to receive a Cameo video from George Wendt.  Cameo makes personalized videos featuring  "famous personalities."  You can chose either personal or business videos.  

When I watched my George Wendt video I was kind of doing the "eye roll" thing. Early on he mentioned Nora Ephron and Steve Martin and I had no idea what that had to do with me.  But after watching it a couple of more times I began to realize it was all about me.  

He started out saying "Happy Birthday Cecily" and he pronounced my name correctly.  That's a plus.   He congratulated me on finishing up my book, Florida, A Love Story.  He sort of bellowed "Comin' out soon!" Then he said "you gotta keep up the writing" and I took this as being a little patronizing because he'd not read anything I'd written.

But, as he continued I realized he had read many of my blog postings.  I love Nora Ephron (now deceased) and, over the years, have written several posts about her.  George's favorites seem to be the ones about food.  I wrote a few postings about Steve Martin as well.  He, like Nora, is a serious writer.  He used to write often for The New Yorker.  

George went on to discuss "Fear of Nuns."  On August, 30, 2021 I wrote a posting titled "Nuns and Clowns."  It dealt with our fears, rational or not, of these two groups.  George suggested I watch a show called "Rebel Hearts."  It's about some seriously strong nuns. 

So, I went from "eye rolling" to being impressed by and grateful for, George Wendt's greeting.  I hope you'll take a look at Cameo. What an interesting concept for both personal and corporate use. 

George never once mentioned Norm.  But he did end his video by saying, "Cheers."

***

Introspection 2022

 Yesterday was Ash Wednesday, the beginning of Lent.  For the first time in several years I wasn't able to get to church to have ashes placed on my forehead in the shape of a cross and being reminded that I came from dust and to dust I will return. 

I like ritual.  And I like going deep into myself during Lent.  For me it's very much a time of introspection.  

My calendar page for this morning shows Duccio di Buoniinsegna's painting, "The Healing of the Blind Man."  He painted this sometime between 1278 and 1318.  That was a while back. 

Introspection means taking a deep dive inside ourselves.  

Scary.  

What I know about myself is that I am left brained.  I'm comfortable being analytical and orderly.  I don't like surprises.  I like to know what's happening.  I don't do well with high emotion or magical thinking.  

I think this is why I love the story of the blind man in the book of John, chapter nine.  It's all about the facts.  When his neighbors asked "Isn't this the same man who used to sit and beg?'  He said "I am the man."

When the Pharisees tried to trip up Jesus by asking the blind man what, how and why Jesus had done, he didn't embellish.  He said, "He told me to go to Siloam and wash.  So I went and washed, and then I could see." 

This guy would make a great witness on Law and Order.   

When they asked the man's parents what happened they replied, "We know he is our son and we know he was born blind.  But how can he see now, or who opened his eyes, we don't know. Ask him."

It's pretty analytical but contemplating on what this scripture means to me personally makes me go deep.

Six more weeks of introspection then.....Easter!

***

Florida, A Love Story

 

Yesterday, when I was walking out the door to go to church, my son called to tell me my book, Florida, A Love Story, had just appeared on Amazon.  I wasn't expecting this.  My publisher told me it would be between two and six weeks.  

When I got to church I saw my friend, Lou, sitting in the courtyard.  I sat down beside him and we talked about the book.  A couple of years ago I had given Lou a copy of my manuscript to check out because he's been a docent at the Florida History Center for many years.  He assured me that the history was right.  Yesterday he reminded me that he loved the book.  

And he read it before my editor chopped it up and pasted it back together into a much more readable fashion.  While all the words are mine, many folks have added seasoning to this stew of Florida history and adventure.  

 I have not seen a hard copy.  I ordered mine from Amazon yesterday.  I hope you'll do the same.  It will be in Barnes and Noble soon. 

What's it about?  To me, it's about broken and suffering people being healed.  I hope you'll read it and tell me what you think.  The bottom line is this.  I love the book.  I hope you will love it too. 

***

Adapting to Change

I've had a pretty remarkable life in a remarkable time in history.  So have most of you.

In the 1970s and 1980's mangers began hiring me as a consultant to help them with their "secretary" problems.   This was back when all the men had offices with windows and all the women worked in a "pool." The problem was that these women were quiting their jobs at an alarming rate.  Why?  Because these big boxes where coming in filled with somting called "computers" to replace their dependable, familiar typewriters. It was my job to help these women understand we were moving into a brave new world, a time that would be called the "Information Age."  And that we must adapt.  I found this exciting but I didn't comprehend how drastically our lives would change.

We don't like change but it's happening all around us, every day.  Our life spans have grown longer so even that is relatively new.    

Yesterday I did the first posting on a brand new blog.  It's titled My Meniere's and, in 12 short (one page) chapters, it chronicles my journey with Meniere's Disease.  The reason for this is because I keep running into people who have no idea what this illness is about.  The blog is not about my suffering.  It's about an illness that is rare and strange and hard for us to find the answers we need .
 

My life is blessed beyond measure - but this illness has changed the way I live it. I hope this new blog will help someone you may know who is suffering with Meniere's Disease or vertigo. 

I sent the first chapter out yesterday.  I will send the second tomorrow.  

Google “Cecily Crossman Blog”

 

Click on “User Profile: cecily crossman – Blogger.com”

 

https://www.blogger.com/profile/09159023677029019245

Shows profile and links to both blogs

 

This is the link to My Meniere’s:

https://cecilycrossman.blogspot.com

 

 

Direct link to My Best Time:

http://mybesttime-mybesttime.blogspot.com

***