Storytime Tapestry Newsletter

The newsletter devoted to spreading love and cultural awareness throughout the world.

Special Treat – Paula Booher

July 27, 2006

Luck revisited: Inspired by Sharon Bryant

Paula Booher

Paula Booher here.  Just read your story "Luck".  Enjoyed it very much.  It warms my heart to read a normal story of someone who has lived a life like my Aunt Margaret.  You remind me of her.  She is as lovely as the day she married my Uncle Dale.  Except for her hair color you'd hardly know she wasn't the same exact person.  She is as consistant as the driven snow.  I appreciate her consistency.  And reading your story blessed my heart.  With all the troubles in the world and growing up in a very abusive childhood myself I appreciated that my Aunt and Uncles home provided my cousins Charles and Brenda with the normal things that kids are supposed to have.  I was always considered the crazy child.  No one thought for a minute that maybe something was wrong.  They just passed me off as nuts.  Back then no one talked of such vile things and kids were seen and not heard. 

On my Dads side of the family, (my parents were divorced when I was five, and I lived with my mom from then on), you didn't discuss naughty things like were being done to me at my Real home.  There was no place for me to Talk about my woes so I kept them to myself till I was 15 and they came out by accident.  My aunt Joann was eavesdropping on the staircase when my little sister and I were talking.  She heard me asking a question to my sister.  Which by the way didn't get answered until I was in my thirties.  My aunt Joann interrupted us and told my grandmother that things were being discussed and all hell broke loose.  The good news is: My stepfather got kicked out that very day and the abuse STOPPED!  The not so good news is at age 15 I took a job and all through High School all my money was taken to support the family.  That's ok because when I graduated from school and left on my own when my sister’s future husband moved in and helped the family.  It didn't happen as smoothly as all that but they are still married today almost 30 years later.  My Aunt Margaret is still with us but Uncle Dale has gone home to Glory.  My stepfather passed away 6 weeks after my Mother in 2000 even though he was 10 years older.  He really did love her but he had a problem with alcohol.  He was a good man and I forgave him when I got past my anger.  God helped me in ways I will write about in great detail in "Riding In The Rumble Seat", my book due to be written later this season.  The story of my life.  I too have been Very lucky although I don't refer to it as luck.  In fact I've always despised that particular word and been very outspoken about it.  But your story helped me to see that it's not the word I had issue with.  It was probably something that someone said and it's just lodged in my memory somewhere waiting to come out.  A splinter.  Gods so good to get those out too.  One by one.  As He plucks each one I find myself writing about them.  The book, the poems, the stories just flow like living water from a dam that's been all pent up inside of me for many years.  It's part of the healing process I suppose.  If I were to ever go to a professional doctor and let them inside my head I'm thinking that's what they'd tell me.  I just let God do things His way and it's worked well for me.

Carol and Storytime have been the best "LUCK" I've run into so far next to my salvation of course and the love of my life Larry.  Just wanted to let you know.

Paula Booher

wrappednword@yahoo.com