Recent Posts
2022: Reflections of an Unusual Year
Bonjour mes amis, This will be my final blog from Paris for 2022, a year we will always remember for many reasons— some very good, some not so good! What started out as a disaster evolved into resignation, then acceptance, and eventually pleasure because we were just glad to be in the city we love. […]
Winners of our Contests
Bonjour, It’s time to announce the winners of this year’s photo themes. Thanks to the almost 60 of you who voted! Café chairs: First Place: # 1 with an overwhelming 28 votes. This is a photo which Peggy Bilbro took here in Paris and sent to me. I posted it in late August. Second Place: […]
A Bonus Post from Heritage Days on Sunday
Bonjour! First off, don’t forget to vote for your favorite café chairs and favorite doggie. Lots of votes coming in and I will post the winners on Thursday morning. I will send out my farewell post for 2022 on Friday as we pull our apartment door closed for the last time. Our final Sunday in […]
Time to Vote!!
Good Sunday morning! It’s been so much fun for us again this year to focus on a photography theme. We’ve done this for five years now including the original cafe chair contest, as well as doors, lovers, light, and most unusual shot of the day. It’s time to select your favorite cafe chairs (vote for […]
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.