Posted by in Pink Flamingos, Travel In recent months Israel and Hezbollah in Lebanon bombed each other only a few miles from my Lebanese family. At this moment there is a ceasefire agreement. This is a Christmas Story that happened in December 2022 during a peaceful time in Lebanon with its struggling economy. I found a safe window of travel to…Read more »
Posted by in Pink Flamingos, Uncategorized In Search of Pink Flamingos was published over four years ago and its reception is still going strong. Over 30 book clubs have hosted my book and I attended most of these as the guest author, in person or virtually, with no fee. I offer a slideshow with videos from Liberia followed by a robust…Read more »
Posted by in Heartfelt This U.S. Memorial Day Holiday (a day we honor and remember all of our veterans), I want to include a story written in 2008 about my former husband’s 86-year-old uncle Truman. Truman enjoyed reminiscing about the past. When he spoke of being in the war, I assumed he was speaking of World War II. (Truman…Read more »
Posted by in Travel, Uncategorized Some of us have heard of these mesmerizing men who twirl for hours in long white skirts. I wanted to learn more. My OAT (Overseas Adventure Travel) to Turkey in 2023 included a demonstration of this dance; a Sufi tradition (Muslim religious figures akin to monks) that involves spinning faster and faster to summon the…Read more »
Posted by in Travel I traveled to Turkey for the first time in June 2023. So many fascinating experiences caught my fancy. But this one stood out as the cousin to our interstate truck stops or roadside inns in America. Camel caravan rest stops –caravanserais– were created before gasoline, diesel, big-rig trucks, and motor homes. The journeys of merchants and their animal…Read more »
Posted by in Pink Flamingos I recently read some alarming statistics and want to share them with you. After my Peace Corps assignment as a health education volunteer during the early 70s in Liberia, West Africa the topic of Maternal and Child Health became near and dear to my heart. The maternal mortality in the country at that time was…Read more »
Posted by in Heartfelt, Uncategorized I love the summer Olympics and watch them religiously every four years as I did this summer (2024). I tear up as their life stories are told or when they win and achieve their goal. I have never watched the Paralympics, but this year I did. The competitions were jaw-dropping. How did the woman with…Read more »
Posted by in Heartfelt, Never the Same Again, Pink Flamingos Here in the USA, we are fortunate. In many of the 50 countries I have lived or traveled to, the recent history of war is part of their human fabric. Either people can recall the wartimes, have a family or friend killed or maimed, or the remnants of past bombings dot the landscape today. Yes,…Read more »
Posted by in Heartfelt, Pink Flamingos Today, I want to honor my deceased father. He passed away nearly 30 years ago. As a young child and his only daughter, my dad was everything to me. He was a skilled farmer by trade, but he was also a WWII veteran, a hero, a mechanic, an electrician, a builder, an inventor, a veterinarian,…Read more »
Posted by in Uncategorized A Senegalese proverb has an expression for a wise deceased person who led a full life: his or her library has burned to the ground. I heard this phrase recently at a memorial service for a 97-year-old friend. As a writer, author, poet, and storyteller, this proverb rang loud. Its meaning is profound. There are…Read more »
Susan E. Greisen 