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Kelly Hoey

Linda DeMers Hummel

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27 June 2017 1010ParkPlace

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Books inspire us and transport us to other times a

Books inspire us and transport us to other times and places, but there were many years when books weren’t a part of my life. If I wasn’t racing cars or hacking my way through three-canopy jungles with a machete, looking for #Maya artifacts, my days were filled with being “on-guard.” Doing everything in my power to make sure I was safe, my husband was safe, and we didn’t die.

It’s only been in the last 20 years that I’ve found my way back to #books, and I started with #TomClancy and “Hunt for Red October.” In many ways, it mirrored my life. When I crawled into the pages of that book I was with people who led dangerous secret lives. People who didn’t shock easily.

#xoxoBrenda #1010ParkPlace #memoir #memoirs #memoirwriter #Oprah #OprahsBookClub #strong #smart #survivor #makelifecount #whatareyouwaitingfor

I am now a woman of faith but at 17, I had an ille

I am now a woman of faith but at 17, I had an illegal abortion, and I can see both sides of the issue. It happened in a scuzzy motel on a bad side of town and was performed by a Mexican woman who practiced witchcraft and didn’t speak English.

Her instructions were clear: I needed to be alone in that horrific six dollar motel or she wouldn’t come.

Here’s a snippet from the opening chapter of my #memoir

I lie down on the thin motel mattress, bare-assed, legs spread wide as she puts her battered black bag on the bed beside my feet. The only light in the room is from the bare bulb hanging over the bed. I watch, afraid to move, as she pulls a candle and a bundle of small, dried sticks tied together with string from her bag and then lights them both with the same wooden match. I feel like I’m the center of a voodoo ceremony.

She places the candle on a table behind her and begins waving the smoky, strange-smelling sticks around the room as she mutters and whispers to herself. She runs the smoking sticks back and forth in front of the walls as though she’s erasing words and images from an unseen blackboard. She bends down and waves the smoke under the bed and then stands up and draws an outline in smoke around my body and down between my legs.

#xoxoBrenda #1010ParkPlace #memoirwriter #freedomofchoice #womanschoice #mychoice I wouldn’t wish this terrifying experience on anyone. @cleowade

Annie’s here to remind us that we have another w

Annie’s here to remind us that we have another week of exciting meals ahead of us. If I ate the same thing every day, three days a week, I would die from culinary boredom. But Annie? She sees every brown crunchy morsel as a savory masterpiece!

Don’t you love dogs?

#xoxoBrenda #1010ParkPlace #mustlovedogs #dogsofinstgram #adoptdontshop #bff What would I do without her?

As far back as I can remember, my mother referred

As far back as I can remember, my mother referred to me as “poor little thing” as though it were my first, middle and last name. “Poor little thing, she has such a long horsey face,” or “poor little thing, her glasses look like Coke bottles.” It’s not surprising I grew up wishing I looked like Sandra Dee, the 60’s, blonde beach babe with the perfect features.

But as I’ve gotten older, I’ve come to understand the truly magnificent faces are often the ones that are imperfect.

My first husband was attracted to women who had unusual features like the late actress, Karen Black and Barbara Streisand. Both are cross-eyed, and Streisand’s nose is far from angelic and petite. At the time I didn’t get the appeal, but now I know that beauty isn’t always what we’ve been led to believe.

While I wanted to be a cookie cutter blonde, I’m drawn to men who are the opposite of the male versions of Sandra Dee. Instead I like chiseled men like @Lyle_Lovett @MarkGrischke and #charliewatts

To read the rest of #MagnificentFaces click on my bio.

#xoxoBrenda #1010ParkPlace #BrendasBlog #Top10BlogWomenOver50 #writer #memoirwriter @barbrastreisand

Remembering... #neverforget #911 #strengthinadvers

Remembering... #neverforget #911 #strengthinadversity

#xoxoBrenda #1010ParkPlace #strong #resilient #makelifecount #whatareyouwaitingfor

In the next 30 minutes or so I’m going live with

In the next 30 minutes or so I’m going live with @sandrasallin from my bedroom! We’re going to talk about all kinds of fun things. Stop by and say #hello It’s my first #IGTV

#xoxoBrenda #1010ParkPlace #womenover50 #womenover60 #womenover70 #memoir #memoirwriter

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