Magical Memoir Moments

The Secret of the Best Wedding Blessings: Find the Memoir Moments That Fit Your Child's Purest Self

Three years ago today our only daughter became a bride and wife. Stuart and I were asked to write wedding blessings to read in the ceremony. We were honored and a little daunted by the seriousness of the occasion. How to choose the words when the heart was so full, the memories so overwhelming, the…

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Give Me a Few Minutes, and I'll Get You Started With Memoir

That creative and persistent daughter of mine, Kate, keeps challenging me to do new things. We were looking at the result of the survey we sent to the people who have signed up (right hand side above) for my e-booklet and weekly emails. They told us that they want to write their stories but that…

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Celebrating a Year Since Launching a Website: A WordPress Report

Last January 17, with help from my daughter Kate and the good folks at PlumbMedia, I launched the website that houses this blog. So today, on the exact anniversary of that date, I am pleased to share the summary of the year as WordPress described it for me. According to blogging guru Derek Halpern there…

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Ten Steps to Doing a Book Cover Reveal: How to Build Community as You Prepare Your Book Launch

During the holidays, when my tech-savvy adult children were visiting us, we had a blast with an event called a Cover Reveal. It brought my publisher, my audience, and me together for the first time in a formal way. So, using the holiday theme, I’ve concocted a recipe for the event to share with you….

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350 Posts! Can You Believe It?

The end of July and the first half of August are always celebration times in our family. We celebrate three birthdays and a wedding anniversary in the span of eighteen days. Four years ago, my son Anthony delighted me with the birthday gift of setting up a WordPress blog for me.  The blog today has…

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A Memoir Poem for Late November

Poetry is the genre I feel least comfortable attempting. Most of the poems I’ve written deserve their ignominious fate in manilla folders. I write them most often to sustain a contemplative mood or moment. Here’s one inspired by thinking of my daughter Kate and some of her favorite things this time of year. Apologies to…

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Anniversaries of All Kinds: Blogging and Living Memoir

This week marks the second anniversary of www.100memoirs.com. After about 200 posts, more than 1000 comments, 35,000 hits and new links to Facebook and Twitter, this blog has brought me into the social media world, sometimes kicking and screaming, but always with a reward of new friendships. Thank you, dear readers, for helping me learn….

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Another Blessing, Two Toasts, and a Slideshow: More Wedding Memories

This has been quite a year for our family! Just nine months ago, we were celebrating our son Anthony’s wedding to Chelsea in Manhattan. I wrote about the toast we gave at that wedding then. Yesterday, I posted the blessings Stuart and I offered to Kate and Nik in their Pittsburgh wedding. Today, the wedding…

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Two Wedding Blessings for Our Daughter and Her Husband

Yesterday our only daughter became a bride and wife. Today is Mother’s Day. Need I tell you that my heart was full this morning, even before Stuart placed a handwritten card and a cup of Starbucks coffee on the bedstand and even before the last event of the wedding–brunch with the two families and the wedding…

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Around the World in 80 Days: Reflections on Recent Travels

Pittsburgh:  Saturday morning. Post-Starbucks and pre-wedding planning day with Kate and Nik, Anthony and Chelsea, Ila and Neal.In a mellow, grateful, Thanksgiving Weekend mood. It occurred to me, as I was returning from my third trip to NYC last week, that perhaps I have been around the world (24, 901 miles) in the last 80…

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