Recent Posts
Hot Sluggish Day not Great for Interesting Posts
Bonjour I must apologize that there is not much to post about from yesterday. We were almost too hot to move, much less to get any sleep. It is predicted to be 100 degrees today in Paris, the hottest ever for us after 22 years. Folks who say the climate isn’t warming should come over […]
Hot, Busy and Boisterous Saturday in Paris
Bonjour, Saturdays are incredibly busy in Paris especially in our area of the Marais. It’s a working class neighborhood which means that shopping and other chores are done on that day. The streets are already flooded with residents and then you add tourists on top of that and you’ve got pretty much a madhouse. We […]
Last Day with Cousins
Bonjour mes amis, Twenty-two years ago, I was retired and struggling with loneliness, wondering where my life was headed. I was 56 years old. The golf course was my respite along with some of you who are close friends. Then a lady named Jan Smith introduced me to Bernie (his former boss) and a whole […]
A Very Hot But Enjoyable Day with Cousins
Bonjour, Our day began early with an outing to a lesser known museum in Paris, the Guimet. We have been here before, but today was a special exhibit on bronze statutes from Cambodia. Bernie served in that area years ago and this was especially of interest to him. Though he never saw Angkor Watt because […]
Books
Her first book entitled Leading Ladies published in 2003 offers practical leadership tips for women, encouraging them to embrace their femininity as a leadership asset.
In Catch Your Breath, Linda has written a raw, honest series of meditations for caregivers based on her experiences in caring for her own mother. These will evoke both laughter and tears as they offer insight and courage to those caught in the caregiving web.
In Bernie ‘s Paris…Travel Stories with Love, Linda describes with tender and often humorous clarity her eleven years visiting Paris with her best friend and lover, Bernard Verdier, a native Frenchman. From Southern belle to world traveler, she will delight you with her Parisian escapades, her love affair with “Bernie” and hopefully inspire you to fall in love with Paris as she has. Bernie’s photographs will ignite the urge to plan a Paris fling. The book is now available.
Now Available: Bernie’s Paris…Travel Stories with Love
This memoir captures an improbable journey between a love-starved, Southern belle and an over-eager, homesick Parisian. If you’ve ever been to Paris or have always dreamed of going, this is a must-read full of savvy tips, funny mistakes, compelling drama—all entangled in the tender love story of two people who had mostly given up on a late-in-life relationship. You will chuckle; you will sigh; you will remember; and maybe, you will call your travel agent!
Now Available from Balboa Press
Whether you have chosen to be a caregiver or were hijacked by circumstances, Catch Your Breath, a series of touching meditations by Linda Spalla, will become a wisp of sanity and a day-to-day stabilizer. Spalla retraces an eight month care-giving journey with her mother, captured in raw, candid images, truly becoming a walk in her shoes. What started as a thirty-days-to-live commitment of care in her home turned into an unexpected eight months of never-ending responsibility. You will feel a kinship with the roller coaster of emotions; from anger, confusion, surprise, resentment, guilt and ambivalence, to finally relief, recovery and celebration. You will learn through the various vignettes some refreshingly practical information on such topics as finding sitters, managing medicine, dealing with sibling rivalry, contracting with Hospice, moving to assisted living, doing will preparation and other legalities as well as funeral planning. You will laugh; you will sob; your heart will soar; your heart will break. You will find solace, encouragement and inspiration for one of life’s most daunting challenges. But especially, you will discover your best self, emerging stalwart, strong and forged by the fire of your caregiving experience. Give yourself a gift of renewal and Catch Your Breath.