Valentine Memories ~ Nostalgia from Heartland America

~ A Valentine Love Note from Trudie McAfee

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I always did have a soft spot in my heart for Daddy’s older brother, Uncle Chester — especially when he had a hangover after pining for his delicate Rose.

I figured if he was grumbling, it had to be better than singing sad songs to his own guitar all night out on the farm, with nobody to talk to but his flop-earred hound and the howling coyotes . . .

Valentine’s Day was not easy for him that winter of  ’47. But I remember him ever fondly for his heart of gold, despite the grumbling. And his music is still a miracle to me.

ENJOY:

Valentine for Uncle Chester

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From HAVENWOOD TALES Beginnings novel by D.J. Houston

Coming of Age Story – Life Lessons – Miracles – Inspirational Stories – Heartland America

Copyright©2010, 2014 D.J. Houston. All Rights Reserved.

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Paranormal Stories – Inspirations of Gifted Children

A new peek at the novel HAVENWOOD TALES Beginnings by Author, D.J. Houston

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Continued from Havenwood Tales Surprise – Gabriel White Cloud Walling

 “I like all your names, Mister Walling,” I assured him, and that pleased him very much.

Then he told me the story of a loyal Irish setter named Buddy. And how, when he was a boy, Buddy laid down one day and never got up.

He told how his father had lumbered off on a spotted mule with Buddy’s body draped behind him over the mule’s rump.  And for seven years after, a bright orange butterfly flitted and danced above the cornfields where Buddy and he used to race the sun together.

Mister Walling never said life goes on. And all I did was listen . . .

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American Literature Treasures – A Tale of Snowful Mystery

“I wondered if God might not have gotten sick of watching that blizzard stir up so much trouble down on earth, and decided to just suck up the last of it into the Milky Way . . .”

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A peek at HAVENWOOD TALES by D. J. Houston, Author

My father’s camaraderie with his able-bodied, Irish-minded brothers was a source of luck and light to the McAfee clan . . .

When the three Irish brothers teamed up for a challenge, it was “God between us and all harm.”

Anything was possible . . .

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CLICK to READ

“Family Wisdom – Mysteries of Snow”

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Inspirational Stories – Life Journey – Mystery – American Literature Treasures

Copyright©2007, 2012 D.J. Houston. All Rights Reserved.

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Christmas Tree Inspirations – Heartland America

~ The World’s Most Beautiful Christmas Tree ~

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It was the first time I can remember ever having a Christmas tree — and a real one, at that.

When the idea of saving the forests first came into vogue, we tried using a silver tinsel one.  Then one of those phony white ones with the “snow-flocked” branches for a while.  And years of “realistic” plastic green ones I never liked, either.

I never knew when I’d remember my last Christmas tree.  So I thought it fitting to commemorate that first one now, and the imprint it left on my life. . .

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CLICK to READ:  Inspiring Christmas Story

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From the novel HAVENWOOD TALES Beginnings by D.J. Houston

Copyright©2008, 2012 D.J. Houston. All Rights Reserved.

Inspirational Stories – Historical Fiction – Social Commentary – Heartland America

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Inspirational Stories of Christmas – Carols and Coming of Age

The fact that I learned to sing Christmas carols by first finding out what the words in the lyrics actually meant is why I can still remember them to this day.   And the carols I remember best are the ones we learned in Havenwood School’s Young People’s Christmas Choir, under the able auspices of Miss Lucinda Greenlee . . .

The payoff came one brisk, starry night at the County Christmas Pageant, on the grounds of Old Capital Square . . .

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CLICK for  “Humorous Holiday Stories – Christmas Choir Inspirations”

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Excerpts from HAVENWOOD TALES Beginnings by D.J. Houston

Copyright©2010, 2012 D.J. Houston. All Rights Reserved.

Holiday Stories – Inspirations – Coming of Age – Life Journey – Heartland America

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Wisdom from Secrets – Coming of Age – Inspirations

Excerpts from the novel HAVENWOOD TALES Beginnings

by Author, D.J. Houston

“My mother spoke the wisdom of the Ancestors, secrets from beyond Earth”

My mother’s mother, Meda, left this world before I was born.

She was a full-blood Shawnee Indian, the daughter of my great-grandparents whose keen eyes still watched over us from a tintype photograph high on our living room mantle.

Inherently proud of my Native American heritage, I felt honored to be part of a ritual she had once shared with my mother on that giant rock, overlooking the stream in the hidden woods . . .

CLICK HERE for SECRETS

Paranormal Stories – Mystery Novel – Coming of Age Story – Intrigue

Copyright©2010, 2012 D.J. Houston. All Rights Reserved.

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Autumn Dreams – Life Lessons – Truth in Nature

“Sprinkled with shadows of leftover leaves in the bare autumn branches that filtered the sunlight above us, we soaked in the splendor of that golden afternoon together. . . “

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I hadn’t pictured my mother away from her home and work routines since the factory days of the war.  But this peaceful, natural setting seemed to suit her to her core.

And I realized she’d brought me here for a reason . . .

CLICK HERE –

Excerpts from HAVENWOOD TALES Beginnings

Copyright©2010, 2012 D.J. Houston.  All Rights Reserved.

Literary Fiction Novels – Mystery Story – Intrigue – Nature’s Beauty – Inspirational Stories
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Wisdom from Mystery – The Truth About Monsters

“When people are willing to look at evil deeds for what they are and forbid them, then evil can’t hide anymore.”

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CONTINUED from Life Lessons – Truth and Autumn Dreams

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“Your grandmother Meda used to bring me to this place when I was a very young girl.  We could talk about anything here.”

My mother’s mother, Meda, left this world before I was born.  She was a full-blood Shawnee Indian, the daughter of my majestic great-grandparents whose keen eyes still watched over us from their tintype photograph high on our living room mantle.

Instinctively proud of my Native American heritage, I felt honored to be part of a ritual she had once shared with my mother on that giant rock overlooking the stream in the hidden woods . . .

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Havenwood Tales Beginnings – Secrets of Gifted Children

“. . . the magic of that last, abiding summer of my freedom before the era of my schooling years began was too often lost in longing to see Mister Walling . . .”

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INSPIRATIONS from the novel HAVENWOOD Tales Beginnings

by Author, D. J. Houston

For all its endless sunny days and amazing Milky Way nights, the magic of that last, abiding summer of my freedom before the era of my schooling years began was too often lost in longing to see Mister Walling.

It took more miles than I could walk in a day to reach his secluded cabin and still make it back home before dark.  But I didn’t dare ask anyone to drive me there.  I had decided that his and mine was a private friendship, and revisiting his world would be a journey I would have to make alone.

And although I would cling to my childhood for as long as I could get away with it, that decision marked a clear beginning of the end to it for me . . .

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