tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-195629195750583833.post7830099819672486119..comments2024-02-21T14:12:55.866-06:00Comments on coming home to myself: Bridges for SurvivingDeehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00612299013780771262noreply@blogger.comBlogger60125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-195629195750583833.post-63799826671466931772013-03-10T13:30:04.201-05:002013-03-10T13:30:04.201-05:00I understand that some folks find imaginary ways t...I understand that some folks find imaginary ways to cope. I suppose my Dad's passing made him a a spirit I would imagine watching over me and I would also work hard to gain his invisible approval. But over the many years he's faded and only my version of the spirit of an almighty over us all now sits in my head though without shape or from.Heidrun Khokhar, KleinsteMottehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16174142810114806410noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-195629195750583833.post-49923682353568953992013-03-04T15:04:01.151-06:002013-03-04T15:04:01.151-06:00Dear Friko, for some reason I lived much of my chi...Dear Friko, for some reason I lived much of my childhood fully aware of what I was feeling and seeing. Perhaps we all live that way. But it's because of that--I think--that I can recall all this with such detail. <br /><br />As to being totally in awe: that's the same way I feel about you and your life and how you write about it. Peace.Deehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00612299013780771262noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-195629195750583833.post-17650737459673633222013-03-04T14:26:50.092-06:002013-03-04T14:26:50.092-06:00A child’s way of surviving;
it’s all so real and r...A child’s way of surviving;<br />it’s all so real and realistic. I am still totally in awe of you.Frikohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04277167831642088694noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-195629195750583833.post-13536689321537260962013-03-03T21:40:54.503-06:002013-03-03T21:40:54.503-06:00Dear Pam, yes, the Universe surely has taken care ...Dear Pam, yes, the Universe surely has taken care of me throughout my life. I absolutely believe I have about fourteen guardian angels watching over me!!! Peace.Deehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00612299013780771262noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-195629195750583833.post-34369461882523497452013-03-03T21:40:15.331-06:002013-03-03T21:40:15.331-06:00Dear Deanna, I suspect that Arthur came from the d...Dear Deanna, I suspect that Arthur came from the deepest part of myself where holiness and wholeness and divinity dwell. And where grace and graciousness reach out so we can embrace ourselves. <br /><br />Those verdant fields remain so vivid in my mind. Like an oil painting. Peace.Deehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00612299013780771262noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-195629195750583833.post-73379960074573967012013-03-03T21:38:36.043-06:002013-03-03T21:38:36.043-06:00Dear Krystal, I've never heard about OCD and s...Dear Krystal, I've never heard about OCD and so looked it up on your blog and also on Goggle. Your last sentence really bears some thoughtful recollections on your part. I was surprised at all I found from my past when I began thinking how I survived. I hope your anxiety-OCD lessens as time passes. We need to practice so much patience with ourselves. And we so need to be gracious to ourselves. Peace.Deehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00612299013780771262noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-195629195750583833.post-17683414771302711082013-03-03T17:29:16.433-06:002013-03-03T17:29:16.433-06:00Dearest Dee, God provided you with the strength an...Dearest Dee, God provided you with the strength and the help of others to see you though. Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-195629195750583833.post-4471260941963489942013-03-02T19:59:33.336-06:002013-03-02T19:59:33.336-06:00Thank you, Dee, for this bridge and glimpse into y...Thank you, Dee, for this bridge and glimpse into your inner self and the gifts you received during childhood. I love learning about Arthur; what a friend. The fact that he told the truth about you being a good girl implies things to me, though I can guess that people would have differing theories on where he "came from." At any rate, somehow you were given the correct messages about yourself as a help in your struggle. I'm glad you also could rest in the verdant field at times. This is a great message.deannahttp://deannahershiser.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-195629195750583833.post-5141222215709718382013-03-02T15:57:25.500-06:002013-03-02T15:57:25.500-06:00Hi. I just ran across your blog..think I got here ...Hi. I just ran across your blog..think I got here through Sanny. I cannot wait to read previous posts, looks like I have alot to catch up on. I have anxiety-OCD and wonder if it was triggered by a tumultuous childhood. I hated my parents fighting, most of which was about my fathers drinking. I never saw him drunk..but he would stop at a bar after work and be late for dinner so we would eat over my mother screaming at him. Really damaging for children. I wonder if OCD somehow became a coping mechanism for me. hmmAnonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16288842067954888301noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-195629195750583833.post-59271946149654143902013-03-02T08:53:59.143-06:002013-03-02T08:53:59.143-06:00Dear Jo-Anne, I was blessed in so many ways and co...Dear Jo-Anne, I was blessed in so many ways and continue to be so. Peace.Deehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00612299013780771262noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-195629195750583833.post-23058374139312722372013-03-01T23:35:46.045-06:002013-03-01T23:35:46.045-06:00I think it is wonderful that you had so many thing...I think it is wonderful that you had so many things to help you through such a rotten time in you life.......Jo-Anne's Ramblingshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11418152399382818709noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-195629195750583833.post-45969051505282508102013-03-01T22:10:23.134-06:002013-03-01T22:10:23.134-06:00Dear Inger, what a friend you are to lump me with ...Dear Inger, what a friend you are to lump me with famous writers!!!!! <br /><br />I'm glad your posting on the Time magazine article on health care in the United States garnered so many comments. You've done us all a great service by writing about it. Thank you. Peace.Deehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00612299013780771262noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-195629195750583833.post-85446380918164658892013-03-01T22:09:12.254-06:002013-03-01T22:09:12.254-06:00Dear Perpetua, at the time all I thought about Art...Dear Perpetua, at the time all I thought about Arthur was that he was a friend and he'd wait for me each morning in the vacant lot and accompany me to school and each night he'd wait to accompany home and then when I went to bed at night in the neighbor's house, he'd lie on the floor and I could hear his steady and reassuring purr. Peace.Deehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00612299013780771262noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-195629195750583833.post-86996808196140262172013-03-01T17:02:47.356-06:002013-03-01T17:02:47.356-06:00So that's how you became such a wonderful writ...So that's how you became such a wonderful writer. A mind that can create an imaginary friend and dream about a world far from reality must be the starting point for every great writer. The words, the grammar, the length of a paragraph and so on, would come later, that would be sort of the house built on that foundation that you created in childhood. You often read about difficult childhoods of famous writers, maybe they did the same. <br /><br />I replied to your comment and a few others on my blog today and gave my own opinion on the sorry state of US healthcare. I was worried I got too much into politics, but most people agreed with my views and even if they didn't, I feel good about giving them something to think about.Ingerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02924736131382149056noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-195629195750583833.post-21008790432590040762013-03-01T14:00:00.461-06:002013-03-01T14:00:00.461-06:00We all have survival techniques of some kind, Dee ...We all have survival techniques of some kind, Dee and I love the variety and imaginativeness of yours. They stood you in good stead at a very difficult time of your life.Perpetuahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01214396019726161983noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-195629195750583833.post-14877081809609440402013-03-01T09:34:56.948-06:002013-03-01T09:34:56.948-06:00Dear Joared, we all find our own ways to cope beca...Dear Joared, we all find our own ways to cope because if we don't the ship sinks. Thank you for your kind words about my writing. Peace.Deehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00612299013780771262noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-195629195750583833.post-34784539749203126682013-03-01T01:17:45.821-06:002013-03-01T01:17:45.821-06:00Interesting to read about your coping mechanisms, ...Interesting to read about your coping mechanisms, some with which I can identify. You write eloquently about your experiences, thoughts and feelings. joaredhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09999395062839739698noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-195629195750583833.post-53760249090010771042013-02-28T22:04:38.129-06:002013-02-28T22:04:38.129-06:00Dear Arleen, your kind words bring tears to my eye...Dear Arleen, your kind words bring tears to my eyes. Thank you. And peace to you ever and always. Deehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00612299013780771262noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-195629195750583833.post-91019398758627568072013-02-28T22:00:56.909-06:002013-02-28T22:00:56.909-06:00Dear Kathy, remember that old song, "Dream wh...Dear Kathy, remember that old song, "Dream when you're feeling blue. Dream, that's the thing to do"? It's what helped you and me and so many others. I always like to read about your Aunt Molly when you include her in one of your posts.<br /><br />Thank you for the kind words about my writing. I composed a generic query letter today for "The Reluctant Spy" and used the suggestions that you and others left as comments on my Sunday blog a week or so ago. Tomorrow I'll start looking at the agents' websites to find the names of agents who have some interest in historical novels. So I'm not giving up. I'm going for it!!!!! Peace.Deehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00612299013780771262noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-195629195750583833.post-22298761974714474652013-02-28T21:11:38.048-06:002013-02-28T21:11:38.048-06:00Thank goodness you had Arthur, Blue and Daydreams!...Thank goodness you had Arthur, Blue and Daydreams! It's so fascinating what all of us, as children in terrible circumstances, chose as coping methods. While I coped by bonding warmly with Aunt Molly, several nuns, my mother, family friends and my brother, I also survived, at least in part, with daydreams. I would imagine myself being 24, a famous writer in New York with plenty of money and bright prospects. That helped a lot -- until I was 24, a sort-of well-known writer in L,A, in a small niche with not a lot of money -- but still had big dreams.<br /><br />I love the way you write, Dee. You're so talented and I'm so glad you're persisting with the blogs we all enjoy so much and hope that publishers begin to discover you again, too. It's such a tough business. But don't give up!!Dr. Kathy McCoyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02903015507894951725noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-195629195750583833.post-27755561796956847772013-02-28T20:51:14.694-06:002013-02-28T20:51:14.694-06:00Oh my, Dee; why don't you know what a relevant...Oh my, Dee; why don't you know what a relevant person you are. You must give yourself that gift. Great harm has been done to you, but you have lived an extraordinary life of giving. Your life has mattered. Come home, dear heart, to the amazing person you are.Starting Over, Accepting Changes - Maybehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06032033918798053005noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-195629195750583833.post-18107399998421931022013-02-28T15:13:27.746-06:002013-02-28T15:13:27.746-06:00Dear Debra, I, too, find myself wondering about wh...Dear Debra, I, too, find myself wondering about why a lion, whose name was Arthur, appeared to me in that vacant lot across from Our Lady of Good Counsel Grade School. Why not a little girl or boy? And the truth is I think that I needed the power of a lion to protect me and to let me know that I was loved. <br /><br />There's a great story about Caryll Houselander, an English mystic who died in the 1950s. When she was small, she'd come home from school and want to describe to her family something that scared her that day. They had an almost daily salon to which other London intellectuals were drawn and so paid little, if any, attention to a little girl's fears.<br /><br />One day Caryll sat in a corner and listened to the talk swirling around her. She heard someone mention lions and being fearful of them and so not ever going on a safari.<br /><br />Well, the next day, Caryll was scared by a dog barking at her and so she rushed into the house and shouted, "Mommy! Mommy! A lion's chasing me!" She was sure that the word "lion" would get attention but "dog" wouldn't!<br /><br />That's what I call creative coping with a problem!!!! Peace.Deehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00612299013780771262noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-195629195750583833.post-81429769216838250592013-02-28T15:03:57.561-06:002013-02-28T15:03:57.561-06:00Dear Penny, I've never thought to look for a p...Dear Penny, I've never thought to look for a painting of Aslan. I suppose that's because I found a sculpture that so reminded me of Arthur. Way back in about 1967 I was visiting Antioch College in Ohio and went to the gift shop.<br /><br />There I picked up a painted clay statue of a lion. His rump fits into my left palm and his dear face fits into my right. So often I've head him and felt the fear and the tension and stress that sometimes in the past entered my life flow into him. And I've always known that Arthur could handle this. He was . . . he is . . . my dear friend and my best self. Peace. Deehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00612299013780771262noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-195629195750583833.post-16662126467944624442013-02-28T15:00:39.399-06:002013-02-28T15:00:39.399-06:00Dear Betsy, I bet you developed and have used some...Dear Betsy, I bet you developed and have used some fine coping mechanisms also. They've enabled you to find--finally--a wonderful and fulfilling life. Peace.Deehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00612299013780771262noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-195629195750583833.post-19563779731512322013-02-28T14:30:57.875-06:002013-02-28T14:30:57.875-06:00I am just in amazement that Arthur was so similar ...I am just in amazement that Arthur was so similar to Aslan, yet you hadn't yet experienced the Chronicles of Narnia! What a big surprise! I've never read what influenced C.S. Lewis to choose that amazing image of the Lion for such an important and central role, but it makes me wonder of his own experiences and perhaps this image is important to other children needing this very special reassurance in such a friend. I am deeply touched at the way you share the importance that Arthur played in bringing you through such painful childhood years.<br /><br />Debra http://www.breathelighter.wordpress.com<br />I am glad you shared this bridge between the stories of abuse to whatever humor you will share. You have such a healthy outlook on life today, there had to be many bridges! You are so gifted in being able to share such delicate and hurtful memories, but still infuse the with courage and hope. I really think you have something to offer others, and that's also a very precious gift, Dee. Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com