Author Archives: beth

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About beth

Ann Arbor-ite writes about enjoying life with all of its ironies and surprises.

We’ve lost Paul Curran, our master guest columnist and prolific comment-leaver

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We’ve lost Paul Curran, our master guest columnist and prolific comment-leaver

rip paul. i always enjoyed your stories, your comments and the way you always beat the odds. we will miss you –

markbialczak's avatarMark Bialczak

Those of us who’ve grown to love the lively words that bounced from the head and fingers of Paul Curran will never be the same.

The writer from Canada has died, according to his neighbor Steve Watson.

I received this email on the contact tab from my blog:

With great sadness I have to tell you that Paul Curran has passed away. Paul passed last week.

Our guest blogger, Paul Curran. Our guest blogger, Paul Curran.

Your Barrista -- Paul Curran Your Barrista — Paul Curran

Now Your Barrista – Paul Curran Now Your Barrista – Paul
Curran

A series of the column head shots Paul sent me since 2013 to just a month ago.

I found the email this morning. I arrived yesterday. Steve Watson was listed as the photographer in the If We Were Having Coffee Sunday column Paul had me post here on Sept. 11 after his emergency operation.

I could not find an obituary through search engines.

Paul lived in Ottawa, Ontario…

View original post 518 more words

“if you listen to your fears, you will die never knowing what a great person you might have been.” – robert h. schuller

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norma and  her therapy dog, ringo on the road.

Norma Bauerschmidt, who decided to take a cross-country RV trip instead of undergoing cancer treatment has died at the age of 91.

More than 400,000 people have followed Norma Jean Bauerschmidt’s journey with her son and daughter-in-law on her “Driving Miss Norma” Facebook page. Her final stop was San Juan Island, Wash. San Juan County Coroner Randall Gaylord said Bauerschmidt died Friday, Sept. 30.

When 90-year-old Michigan native Norma Jean Bauerschmidt learned she had a large, likely cancerous mass on her uterus, she wasn’t going to waste any time with what she saw as debilitating treatment. Instead, she spent her final days experiencing as much of the world as she could.

Bauerschmidt, a native of Presque Isle, died in her motor home on San Juan Island, Wash., on Sept. 30 at the age of 91, but not before she’d traveled more than 13,000 miles in an RV, sleeping in 75 different locations in 32 states.

In that time, “Miss Norma” became in internet sensation, with more than 482,000 people following her travels via a Facebook page set up by her daughter titled “Driving Miss Norma.”

Her story has since gone viral, appearing on CBS News, BBC, Huffington Post and NBC’s “Today Show.”

Bauerschmidt’s decision to refuse treatment was made just two days after her husband, Leo, passed away. While sitting in an OB/GYN office talking about treatment options, including surgery, radiation and chemotherapy, a doctor asked her how she would like to proceed.

According to Facebook, Bauerschmidt, a tiny woman at 101 pounds and under 5 feet tall, looked the young doctor dead in the eye and with the strongest voice she could muster, said, “I’m 90-years-old. I’m hitting the road.”

And that’s what she did. They did, “what they don’t teach you in medical school,” and hit the road on Aug. 24, 2015.

While on the road, Miss Norma experienced many things for the first time. Big things like riding in a hot air balloon or on a horse, to little things like getting a pedicure or having her first taste of key lime pie, oysters and fried green tomatoes.

She was hosted by the U.S. Navy, the Atlanta Hawks, the Georgia Aquarium and the towns of Winthrop, Mass., Marietta, Ga., and, according to her Facebook page, what felt like the entire state of South Carolina.

Miss Norma also visited the Grand Canyon, Mount Rushmore, Walt Disney World and Yellowstone National Park.

She began hospice care after arriving in the San Juan Island town of Friday Harbor in August, according to the Associated Press.

A celebration of Miss Norma’s life and a memorial tree planting is scheduled for Friday, Oct. 7 at 4:30 p.m. at Friday Harbor’s Overlook Park.

“Our families, friends, and the many thousands of former strangers have lifted us up and kept our spirits high,” a message from Miss Norma’s family reads on Facebook. “We continue to be overwhelmed by the kindness and love that has been directed our way.”

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credits: mlive.com, brandon champion, pittsburgh post gazette/ap

 

wall.

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“most of us can read the writing on the wall;

we just assume it’s addressed to someone else.”

-ivern ball

“the dew of compassion is a tear.” – lord byron

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image credit: @teachers4refugees

dash.

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img_0426goldilocks makes a break for it during our dramatic retelling of ‘the 3 bears.’

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“whenever you meet difficult situations dash forward bravely and joyfully.”
— tsunetomo yamamoto

sandals.

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just one more good reason why i wear sandals until after halloween.

croc

Woman scares off crocodile with flip-flop in Australia
2 October 2016 

A woman has scared away a salt water crocodile, which was swimming towards her and her dog, by slapping her flip-flop at it. It is thought that are at least 120 crocodiles in this stretch of the East Alligator River, in Kakadu National Park. The last fatal attack there was in 1987.

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“life is too short to wear boring shoes.”

-author unknown

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credits: bbcnews.com

four.

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a relaxed and wonderful evening 

spent with my three daughters

dinner at the prickly pear cafe

then

movie and laughs and talk  

just the four of us

enjoying each others’ good company.

because of them

i have always known

that

four is my lucky number.

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“love is the flower you’ve got to let grow.”

-john lennon

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image credit: google images

it’s saturday, another perfect day for a joyride.

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amelia earhart and eleanor roosevelt 

once sneaked (yes, sneaked) out of a white house event,

commandeered an airplane, and went on a joyride to baltimore. 

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“if you surrendered to the air, you could ride it.”

-toni morrison

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credit: mental floss magazine

puddles, meetings, moments.

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“the real test of friendship is

can you literally do nothing with the other person?

can you enjoy those moments of life that are utterly simple?”

-eugene kennedy