May 15 - The Halfway Point for the May Guest Blogger Project

Well, it's May 15, which should be the halfway point for the May guest blogger project, but it looks like we'll be heading into June (just a bit) to be sure to include everyone.

I've learned some important lessons thus far:

1) Everyone - and I do mean everyone - has a story to tell.

2) My guest bloggers love when other people react to their stories. (Keep the comments and the shares coming!)

3) Not every post is right for everyone, and that's okay. We all digest these blog posts differently. It's why I decided to ask such a wide variety of writers to contribute.

Keep on reading - there's more gold coming in the second half of the month!

💙💙💙

Coincidence... or not? by Stephanie "Honey" Young (Guest Blogger)

My husband Joe passed away in 2014. Shortly thereafter, I had a string of unusual occurrences. At least two had witnesses or photographic proof.

The first one happened the day I returned to work after his funeral. Joe had given me an iHome speaker/charger for my desk in 2008. I charged my iPod almost every day, and in the six years it sat there, it never turned on by itself.

About 10:30 as I was sitting at my desk, it suddenly started playing a song from my iPod. I jumped and hit the off button.

One of my coworkers made a comment about the volume, and I went into their office to say something when the iHome started playing the same song again at maximum volume. Running back into my office, I slammed the off button again. The iHome remained silent for about an hour. Later, while I was in another coworker’s office, the iHome turned itself on and off twice in rapid succession.

It wasn’t until the next day or so when I went to show someone the recent playlist in the iPod that I realized the series of coincidences that had to have occurred.

Although it had played four times, the song wasn’t in the recent playlist.

The song wasn’t “open” (i.e. currently playing) when I checked the iPod.

Whatever caused the iPod and iHome to turn on and off didn’t affect any of the lights, computers, or other equipment in any of the offices.

Although I had more than a thousand songs on my iPod, it played the same one all four times.

The song was Judy Collins’ Both Sides Now. 

The second series of coincidences took place within a few weeks after the first. I’ll digress a bit, but it will make sense as you read on.

My husband and I liked to drink Sobe Lifewater and text each other the saying underneath the cap; such as "Sobe yourself" or "Love me some lizard." About a year before his death, Sam’s Club stopped carrying Sobe, so we didn’t drink it unless we found it on sale at a grocery store.

I keep my slippers under the corner of the bed when I’m not wearing them. On that Saturday morning, the week after his service, I got up to let my dog out and only my slippers were under the bed.

After I let the dog back in, I spent a minute in the bathroom before I decided to go back to bed. Where my slippers had been, there was an empty Sobe Lifewater bottle with the cap sitting right next to it.

Of the ten or twelve flavors available, it was my husband’s favorite.

It's possible my husband bought it a couple of weeks before he went into the hospital for the last time, but in that case the empty bottle had to have been sitting for over two months somewhere that my dog Bella could get to it. She loves to chew plastic bottles so it’s unusual that she didn’t see it earlier or that I didn’t find it on the floor while cleaning.

Normally when Bella gets a cap off of a bottle, it looks like a blob of well-chewed gum. In this case, the bottle top was nearly pristine with only one tooth mark in it, making it appear that she had succeeded in unscrewing it.

After I found the cap, I’ve checked the internet. Although a number of people have posted lists of the sayings, pictures of Sobe caps, and written articles about the messages in them, I can’t find one that mentioned the phrase in the cap.


The final coincidence? The cap said “MISS YOU LIKE CRAZY”.

------------

This blog post was curated and/or edited by The Ardent Reader, Esther Hofknecht Curtis, BSOL, MSM-HCA. The views expressed in this blog post are those of the guest blogger. Visit www.parrotcontent.com for more information.

Tomorrow, the adventure begins.

I am so excited to present to you, beginning tomorrow, May 1, my guest blog project.

Each day, you’ll find a new blog post from a featured author who may be your neighbor or a bestselling author. They may live on the other side of the world or right down the road. I’m so pleased to be the window through which you’ll get your view of their work.

Some authors have never told their own stories. Some haven't put pen to paper since high school. Nevertheless, their stories are beautiful, unique, and important. In some cases, you’ll learn something completely new.

I hope you’ll come back every day in May to read these fantastic blog posts. I’m so proud to present them to you.

Much love,

Esther Curtis
The Ardent Reader
www.parrotcontent.com

May is going to be an emotional month.

Photo Credit: Reuters

As you know, I am opening up this blog to other guest bloggers in May. Every day in May (if all goes to plan), a different guest blogger will have their own original story published on this blog. And if the past two weeks are any indication of what's to come, May is going to be an emotional month, and not just for me.

So far, the material that's been submitted has been incredible. My writers are taking this seriously, and I am grateful for their efforts. Some have brought me to tears.

I am pre-planning a lot of these posts for the days they are supposed to appear. I'm reading them, making minor edits, confirming the edits with each author, then scheduling them on the blog.

Right now, I feel like the Dutch boy with his finger in the dam, but I'm not waiting for someone to come fix the dam and free me. I'm waiting to pull my finger out and let the deluge flow forth.

You have no idea of the beauty that's in store for you.

Stay tuned.


❤❤❤