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Overview
The best way to let you experience the beauty of this book is to share a few stories. I will let you be the judge of reading further.
Paper Airplanes
In the early 70’s, our family was new to Albany and St. Mary’s. Fr. Mel Stead was the pastor at the time. He introduced me to Nikki, another Italian girl, that was also new to the area. We worked on the bulletin together each week. At that time the bulletin was done on a very old mimeograph machine. It took us almost all day to put it out. Nikki and I both had small children, and they played in the old gym while we worked on the bulletin. We became very close friends having lots in common. We both grow up in large Italian families sharing in the same foods and similar experience.
One Saturday afternoon, Nikki invited my family and Fr. Stead to her home for dinner. During the afternoon, Fr. Stead sat showing the children how to fold paper airplanes and the art of soaring them across the room. He was so patient with them. They practiced folding and flying airplanes all afternoon. Getting more proficient as the afternoon wore on. The following day we went to Mass, picking up a bulletin on our way in. We sat in our usual place, in the front pew. Adele, my daughter, who was usually so naughty in church was very quiet. I was not paying attention to what she was doing; she was quiet! She sat and meticulously folded the bulletin into an airplane, just as Fr. Stead had taught her. She drew back her little arm and sailed that puppy right onto the altar like a pro. Fr. Stead was grinning from ear to ear on how well she picked up the art of folding and flying paper airplanes. He could not have been more proud of her. However, I wasn’t! I made her march up to the altar and pick up the airplane.
After all these years we are still laughing over one of the many antics of Adele. ...Rosanne Wilson
Product Details
| BN ID: | 2940152626124 |
|---|---|
| Publisher: | Patricia Grasher |
| Publication date: | 07/09/2012 |
| Sold by: | Smashwords |
| Format: | eBook |
| File size: | 819 KB |
About the Author
Short Bio:
Vancouver Blogger and Author, Patty Grasher helps visitors, newcomers and residents of Vancouver, WA find fun and exciting things to do in Clark County. She is the author of the popular guidebook, Explore Vancouver Washington as well as creates games, puzzles and other Vancouver themed books and games.
Long Bio:
Patty Grasher has lived many lives, from a country girl in upstate Washington to a sailor with tours in Iceland, Germany, Florida and California to a cloistered nun in a small Catholic monastery to getting married and living in an almost normal state of life in Vancouver, Washington.
She has managed a 24 hour AM radio station, created the internet’s largest and most popular Catholic E-card site (at the time) which was featured on USA Today, published 6 books of which a few were Catholic bestsellers, blogged for the Seattle Times, hosted, created and managed websites, ecommerce stores and blogging sites.
Her passion for publishing began in the third grade when she would fold, cut and staple pages to make small booklets decorated with spaceships flying through the stars to galaxies far beyond. She is, was and always has been an avid reader from silly romances, science fiction and adventure stories growing up to books by the score on writing, publishing, publicity, and marketing. Her current book journeys cover anything to do with Vancouver history, cozy mysteries, fantasy and science fiction.
Besides books, publishing and other assorted enterprising venues she is very fond of dogs, cats, any wild kind of animal from beavers, bears and mountain lions, to to birds of all shapes and sizes. While in the monastery she rescued a baby robin that had fallen from a tree and was too young to survive on her own. Having trouble getting it to eat a friend told her she needed to give it cut up worms so she went on daily worm forages, closed her eyes and tried not to gag as she cut up worms for its tasty breakfast. Robbie the robin grew up but was never able to walk or fly and so Patty cared for it for several years till it passed away.
While in the monastery TV viewing was limited to news and a weekly Sunday movie so after leaving the monastery in 2009 (that’s a very long story, you will need coffee to hear that one) she is now making up for lost time watching all kinds of old TV shows, movies, murder mysteries and everything in-between.
She has accomplished many different things but one thing solidly remains on her bucket list and that is to create the best Adventure and Fun Vancouver Washington City Guide. “One can always find adventure,” Patty says, “I am definitely proof that you don’t have to travel far to find it!”
5 Fun Facts You Didn’t Know About Me
1. I was written up in the Navy for being an international Coke Smuggler when I carried a six-pack of coke from the Air Force Exchange (military installation) across a field (Icelandic Territory) to the Naval Security Compound (second military installation). Obviously some sailors didn’t have enough to do. They showed me long range photos they had taken of me during the trip in which I had stopped every once in a while to put a big rock on top of a fence post (I didn’t have enough to do either).
2. In my family there were seven boys and four girls. Although girls were outnumbered we managed to hold our own. We played army, baseball and sometimes pretended we were a gang and went out on raids though we lived in the country and there wasn’t much to raid. We had great fun planning though!
3. When I was just out of boot camp I got two sets of orders to report to two different air bases for my flight to Iceland. I couldn’t quite figure it out so I picked one to show up first and was promptly told I was supposed to be at the other one. By the time I got to the other one (via Navy aircraft) I was told my flight to Iceland had already left. I spent the next two weeks swabbing decks and running a buffer down barrack hallways. When I finally got to Iceland I was written up for being AWOL for two weeks and I got my first XO (Executive Officer) Mast. I don’t think I said it but I definitely thought that if I had wanted to go AWOL I could have found better things to do than scrub latrines. I never did quite get the Navy thing.
4. Another time in the Navy the dog came in with paint down the side of him. I was promptly accused of painting the dog. I had not painted the dog. He had leaned against a newly painted wall and painted himself. I don’t know why I was always getting in trouble for things that were always someone else’s fault.
5. Finally, at one time in the monastery I conjured up a nun with an old habit, veil and sweater which looked pretty authentic from the back. I called her Sister Esmeralda. Her first appearance was in the music room where I had her hunched over the piano in serious music contemplation. The Abbess (mother superior) came along, looked through the door and started talking to Sister Esmeralda but Sister Esmeralda didn’t say anything. The Abbess got annoyed at this and after two or three further attempts with no response she stated very firmly and loudly “I’m talking to you, Sister!” She was not pleased.
Of course they knew it was me who had done it, who else?