Thank you, thank you, thank you ― I’m truly grateful. I can’t believe this! What an honor and privilege to be nominated for the 7-In-One Award by my friend and fellow blogger, Sherri Matthews at “A View From My Summerhouse”. Continue reading
Words can’t express how truly thankful I am for the following 3 awards given to me by my Scotland friend, Shaun Gibson at “Praying for One Day”. We made an instant connection, when I noticed he lived there as my paternal grandparents were from Scotland. It’s a place that has always fascinated me and I’ve put it on my bucket list as one of the first places I want to visit. I had the chance to Skype with him and loved hearing that accent once more ― put me in tune with my roots.
Shaun lives with chronic Fibromyalgia pain which limits a lot of what he’s able to do, as a man of 40 with a young family. So, he posts on his site on a variety of topics from music, family, personal reflections, ghost stories, space and current events to politics. He researches and passes along what he finds and is pretty successful, I’d say, with 1000+ followers and 100,000+ views. You don’t have to agree with all of what he says, he just wants you to care, be open and be a part of the solution. No doubt, I’m sure you’re bound to find something that will keep you coming back to his site for more.
The 3 awards I’ve been blessed to receive from Shaun are “Sisterhood of the World Bloggers Award” (yes, I know it’s a girly award from a guy ― that didn’t stop Shaun), “Semper Fidelis Award” and “Peace and Justice Award”. I’ve acknowledged each one below and followed the listed rules. I hope you will visit the fellow bloggers I’ve nominated for I have grown close to them and enjoy their stories and the messages in their writing. I know I keep choosing some of them for awards over and over only because I feel they are so worthy of recognition.
I know I’ll be posting the pictures of these awards again further on in my post, as I acknowledge them and choose my nominees. I thought they were especially nice and colorful so I just wanted to put them together here, first.
Peace and Justice Award © 2013 Barbara Mattio
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Copyright secured by Digiprove © 2013-2014 Pat Ruppel 
Dragon’s Loyalty Award
I was happy and surprised when I saw that Sherri Matthews at “A View From My Summerhouse” gave mention to my site for an award and nominated me for this Dragon’s Loyalty Award.
I had never seen it before. It is beautiful and I am extremely grateful and truly honored to be listed as one of her nominees. I’ve recently gotten to know Sherri through photographs, stories and poems.
Though, I haven’t traveled much. I enjoy taking these journeys with her down the wooded paths of the UK, as well as reading about what is going on in her life ― family, her values and struggles. Continue reading
Personal Photo – Pat Copyright 2012
Who I Am
It’s autumn and an icy rain has just fallen.
You can see the breath of a 7-year-old girl huddled in the dark, cold streets of an East coast suburban neighborhood with an ice pick in her hands about to flatten some tires.
Her mother crazed with jealousy sent her on this mission in an attempt to falter an imaginary affair between her dad and a neighbor.
Fast forward to a warm, balmy day in a small, southern beach town where this girl and her grandmother reunite with grandfather, sister and cousins for their annual vacation.
Summer excursions with Grandmom, ghost stories and simple love and truths accepting her for who she is are the saving grace and essence of who she wants to become. This is where I find myself – this is where I am loved.
What I Do
There are many tales to tell that got me from that suburban street to where I now live in Colorado and it started with writing these stories and what I’ve learned to become. It gets more interesting, as daily life ebbs and flows. Days, months, years pass and intriguing family characters emerge as stories of my life unfold.
I write about the magic of love, forgiveness, despair, faith and the supernatural. I write to find understanding and wholeness in my life from what I see as a mixed-up world yearning to connect with one another and find meaning.
The more I tell these stories the more I realize how unique they are in the telling yet not unlike a similar story someone else would tell in trying to make sense of it all.
Why I Do What I Do
I want to connect with others, touch a place in their heart and help them feel loved. I want to help them find who they are by telling stories and give them hope as my grandmother did for me many years ago. Some of the stories may make you laugh when I tell of my “fruitcake moments”. Or they may be similar to yours in the telling of an imaginary friend, mother’s jealousy, 3 rabbits, rooster named Goldie or grandmother’s backyard connection to a funeral home to name several.
In the crafting of my story, I hope it gives a little insight on who I am and together in some small way maybe we can make the world a better place for having just lived to pass along our life’s tales.
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