Tuesday, April 18, 2017

BOOK & BLOG BLOCK PARTY 2nd Blog

BOOK & BLOG BLOCK PARTY INTERVIEW


Welcome again friends and newcomers to A Writer's Journey at Staten Island, NY!! Today's post will give you an even better understanding of my two books.

Today, until midnight, there will be time to enter the contest by leaving a comment. Two winners, randomly selected, will win either . . . And the Whippoorwill Sang or The Cat Who Wanted a Dog. For Those already having these books, I will substitute another ebook I think you will like. This contest for Rave Review Book Club runs through April ending with a super grand prize. Go to the site and browse other author's as well.

I hope you will enjoy this interview of Noelle by Nancy Jardine. I have written the answers to Nancy's questions based upon things that Noelle said while alive. Her ending statements are what I believe she would have said and felt, using author intrusion and also things she said to her nieces and nephews after passing on from this realm.   

How does a mother explain love?
How does a mother let her child go?
A child so beautiful, funny and bright
Who breathes life into every moment,
Draws bird pictures
Does cartwheels in autumn leaves
Sings down country lanes
                                                        There is no explanation

...And The Whippoorwill Sang  Interview By Nancy Jardine



On Welcome Wednesday I have opened my blog to many different sorts of writing. Sometimes it has been my own, sometimes guest posts from an author, and at other times it has been an author interview.

Today, I have a friend visiting from the US who has brought along a character from her memoir...And The Whippoorwill Sang. So, in a sense, it's a character interview. But it is a poignantly different type of investigation.

Micki Peluso's account is a recreation of her own experience, the loss of a young teenage daughter a main theme of the writing. It demonstrates how Micki, and her family, have dealt with such sad bereavement.

Doing a character interview can be a fun thing to do that's, often, only vaguely challenging. When the character is from a story that happened in real life, and died in tragic circumstances, it's quite another kind of test for the author to recreate. 
I'm so pleased that Micki Peluso has allowed us to have a little glimpse of her daughter, Noelle Marie Peluso. As such, Noelle is not really speaking in the present; more like how her life was many years ago before her time on earth was abruptly and shockingly ended and how she connects to her family situation now. Think of the answers being given for both a time in the past, and from a perspective of present interaction.

Welcome to my part of the world, Noelle. Let's get to know you a little bit. 
Can you describe yourself in only six words for my readers, please, Noelle?
I am 14 and in love.


That is quite a description and you seem to be having a fun time! Where are you currently living?
I live in Williamsport, Pennsylvania in this great haunted 100-year-old farmhouse with my parents, five brothers and sisters and ghosts. I love it here, except for the bats that single me out.
Had you been there all your life?
No, it seems all my life we just keep moving. I even wrote a poem about it. Each time a new baby arrives we must move to a bigger house, and then mom insisted we leave our house and friends in Long Island, New York and move to Las Vegas, Nevada because of the drug situation. My little sister, Nicole called it ‘Lost Vegas,’ but me and Kelly, my sister and best friend, hated it there. My oldest sister, Kimber, was seventeen and loved it. Mike, sixteen and Dante, fifteen liked to explore the desert and their high school was cool. My school was in a trailer and I hated it. We were younger then: Nicole only four, me eight, Kelly, eleven. Mom kinda liked Las Vegas because her best friend lived there, but daddy, like me, also hated it because he couldn't find a high paying job like in New York. 
How do you mainly spend your days just now?
Well, we all have chores but I usually skip out on mine. I’m the clown of the family, tricking my brothers and sisters to do my jobs while I keep them laughing at my TV imitations. I do a great Groucho Marx.  Kelly got me a job with her, babysitting for a bunch of kids. Course I got Kelly to do the work while I played with the little toddlers and babies. I earned money to buy my new school clothes. Mom sews a lot of our clothes and Kim, Kelly, and I love them, but Nicole wants ‘store bought’ clothes. Mom says someone must've switched babies at birth. Nicole agrees with her.
You're only barely into your teens but what career path do you think would be a good one to follow?
At 14 there's not much else besides babysitting to do to make money, but I want to be a lawyer when I grow up and have six kids just like my mother. She's the best mom a girl could have and I want to be just like her. She never got to go to college but I will – I have great dreams for my life especially since I fell in love with Chuck. I feel he's my soul mate.
What's your favorite reading material?
I love to go to the park down the country road from our house and read Harlequin romance books. Sometimes I meet Chuck there and we talk. He kissed me for the first time the other day and it was heaven! We know we’re meant for each other.
Young love, indeed! That sounds very mature in some ways, quite sure and definite a statement, and yet at 14 there's still a lot to learn about relationships with boys. If you had to change things. What would you do first?
Well, I had a rough time when we first moved here and I went to junior high school. I got depressed because the snotty girls who come from rich families ignored me. I convinced mom I was sick a lot and missed school. She'd make me scrambled eggs and we'd hang out together. She had a similar time in high school and gave me good advice. When kids make fun of you, make them laugh with you and not at you. I realized I was a bit of a comic and took her advice. Soon I was accepted and made many good friends. I became a star basketball player and joined the band, which helped. Mom asked me if I knew the song ‘Long Long Ago, Far Far Away.’ We had just learned it and mom said, then go play that trumpet far far away. Guess you know where I get my sense of humor.
Those are very positive approaches to tackling what can be a very nasty problem. If not Chuck, who or what else would be the love of your life?
I love life. I enjoy each moment. Kelly thought I was nuts one day when we bought new school clothes and then decided to go for a bike ride. I couldn't decide what to wear so I put on layers of my entire new clothes at once. Kelly's a little too organized and rigid and said she was saving her clothes for a special occasion. I told her I thought a bike ride was special enough. After all, you only live once. I love my family more than anything, but my love for Chuck is new and different and I’ve never been so happy.
What is your favorite way to travel?
Certainly not traveling in our station wagon, all six of us and our huge St. Bernard, Luna, who upchucks, making everybody else throw up except Dante. Dad gets furious, but mom brings bags for us. Course Luna didn't know how to use them. Mom always looked out the window so dad wouldn't see her grin. But traveling out West in a dilapidated camper built for four was so fun-- at least for me and my brothers. Kelly kept asking if we'd left the country and Nicole cried, wanting to go home. Kim loved it, until we forgot her and left her in the desert at a gas station. Mike laughed but Kim looked shook up even as she claimed she knew we’d come back for her. When I was 12, Grandma took Kelly and me by bus to Canada to visit a Catholic shrine and that was a blast. Lucky for me, Grandma and Kelly had a sense of humor, as well as a lot of shock over my shenanigans.
What is your biggest goal?
My goals were violently taken away from me on August 23, 1981. My friend and I were walking to the park to hear a concert. I begged mom to let me go and paid her a dollar to do the dishes for me. She laughed and finally gave in. The last words I said to her as I ran out the front door, was, ‘Bye Mom.’ I was telling my friend as we walked that I hoped Chuck would be there. That's all I remember. The next 10 days I was between two worlds. I could not move and I heard the doctors say I wouldn’t live. Mom and my family were with me day and night and mom told me I was in an accident but would be all right. I fought to live for my mom and dad and family and began communicating by blinking my eyes for yes and no. I heard the doctors try to convince my parents take me off life support, but they refused. I'd always said if I was paralyzed I would not want to live, but I couldn't let my family down.
On one visit, after seeing tears running down my cheeks, mom whispered in my ear that it was okay if I wanted to go Home and followed the light to Heaven's realm. I felt free at last . . . And soon after I left my body. I know now my goals were met, according to God's will, in my short life. Now my goal is to remain close to my family, appearing to those, especially my 10 nieces and nephews, who can see, hear or sense my presence. I told the little ones who could see and hear me the clearest that mom would survive her heart attacks. And she did. Now my goal is to wait for my loved ones to come home to me. Time doesn't exist here as it does on Earth. Years are but a second and then we’ll all be together again. And so I wait.

Beautiful answers, Noelle, thank you. 
A little fun now for the readers, Noelle. Which do you like best?
Candy or fruit? Candy
City or countryside? Countryside
Reading or walking? Reading
Puccini operas or Rihanna? Neither
Thank you very much indeed, Noelle, for being interviewed today. 





                                               The Cat Who Wanted a Dog

True story of a cat who wants his own little dog but is in for a big surprise Hi boys and girls, I'm Toby, a handsome cat if I say so myself. I do whatever I want but Grandma and Grandpa think they own me! My favorite thing is to take Grandma's shiny jewelry and hide it. Grandpa is still looking for his favorite pen. I have one friend, Casey, a wild cat who lives outside but she tells me through the screen door about the outside world. I was a happy, cool cat until---well, read what I wrote about the day Grandma invited the 'Monster' to visit. Yikes!


And Kids, please try to color in the lines when you color me. I am a bit fussy about my hair. When you read the book you'll find out why!!!


Here's what I look like in real life. I'm also a doctor. Cat's purring causes sound waves that heal us and our human and animal friends. I even make house calls. I can sense when an animal or dog is sick. Grandma things that's pretty cool but Granpa says we are both crazy. 

REVIEWS
on January 13, 2017 ebook &: Paperback|Verified Purchase 5 stars


69 comments:

  1. Great interview. Very moving stuff. Hope your tour day bring a lot of new eyes to your work.

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  2. Hi Micki, your interview brings to mind your book "And the Whipoorwill Sang," which I read some months ago. That was a very good story, and I hope you read my review. Please have a wonderful party today. :D

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    1. Thank you Joy. Yes the interview is based on the book. I commented on your review, explaining that somehow you bought the first edition which neither my publisher or Amazon will remove. I would have sent you the 2nd edition had I known. BTW I won your book!! Yay. Your code did not work so Amazon had me buy it and was reimbursed.

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  3. Hi Micki. What a beautiful tribute to your daughter. Your interview made me remember times like those, made me chuckle and made me cry. I know it's been a long time but I am sorry for your loss. I can't imagine how tough that would have been. Did you find writing to be a big part of your healing? Thank you for sharing.

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    1. Hi Maggie!! Thanks so much. Yes, writing was what saved my life during the following years and even up until today. It never goes away, just gets bearable.

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  4. Hi Micki - very moving - every time I read the story it tugs at the heart. Hoping you have a great RRBC blog day... MikeL

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    1. Thanks so much, Mike.I'm keeping my deathbed promise so this book will be around as long as I am. So glad you stopped by.

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  5. Five Star blog. very Touching. Good luck with the blog tore.

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    1. Nice to see you here, Christian. Wow, no one ever called my blog a 5 star!!! I try to put up good posts to make up for my lack of techno skills and the fact that my blog hates me.

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  6. Hi Micki, Thanks for sharing your daughter with us - very touching.

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    1. Hi Wendy, nice to see you again.This came about while I was writing character descriptions for Lifetime TV film productions. I had all the kids write their own--which was quite a surprise to me. Of course I had to write for Noelle.

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  7. What a beautiful, touching post - thank you for sharing this. And your book "The Cat Who Wanted a Dog" already has me smiling - I can't wait to read it! So glad I stopped by! :)

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    1. I'm glad you stopped by too, Lynn. Noelle's story, . . . And the Whippoorwill Sang is mostly funny, but I felt I had to share the down sides too. Toby the cat passed on at the old age of 21 right after the book he helped write was published.

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  8. I very much want to read "And the Whippoorwill Sang". What a beautiful tribute and interview. I smiled to see my review! The pictures are still being perfected!

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    1. HI D. L., I hope you do get to read the book. I loved your review. The coloring book is supposed to be interactive on kindle and android devices but I can't make it color on my kindle on my tablet--but that's me:). Those type stories would be great for the little one to color and erase. I'm sure Toby would be happy to know his fur is in place :).

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  9. Micki, I love this blog. I read Whippoorwill three times (I lived close to where you lived on LI) I can relate on so many levels to many things you shared with your family. Esp turning the hose on your mother (well deserved LOL) I thought the moral of The Cat who Wanted a Dog was fitting. Something those we fear turn out to be our best friends, whether canine or human. Have fun on the tour. The BLOG TURNED OUT BEAUTIFULLY.

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    1. Thanks so much, Pat. I wonder if we lived on LI at the same times--passed each other in stores, beaches, etc.? Thanks for the blog compliment--it only tortured me for 10 straight hours!! Now it's doing a 'Time out' session until I reover!!

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  10. Wow. That interview was so well done, and the ending left me with goosebumps. Your book is on my TBR list. I'm sure it was difficult to write. This was so touching!

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    1. Thanks so much, Mae. I read the one book of yours-trying to get to the review and start on the other. So many books, so little time! Glad this touched you. It's purpose is to turn people away from driving drunk or allowing friends to,

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  11. Thanks for this wonderful and different interview. I've read and reread parts of AND THE WHIPPOORWILL SANG and this is a fitting tribute. I look forward to reading THE CAT WHO WANTED A DOG, too. All the best for today. Kind regards, Maretha Botha nee Menichini

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    1. Thanks,Mareth, so happy to hear that you read Noelle's story. I was hoping you had. And glad that you got something from it. So nice to see you here today.

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  12. A deeply touching interview, Micki, and one that makes me want to get to reading And The Whippoorwill Sang even more. The Cat Who Wanted to be A Dog sounds fun too. Best wishes with everything! ��

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    1. Thanks, Harmony, that means a lot to me. I'd love your opinion too. So glad that you were able to stop by.

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  13. This blog post had me both dad and happy for you Mickie! I loved reading your memoir and I hope many more will do the same.

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  14. Mary, thank you for coming and I am so thrilled that you read and enjoyed Noelle's book. It means a lot to me in fulfilling my promise to her. Glad you were abl to drop by my blog to comment.

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  15. Super interview, Micki. Wishing you the best today.

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    1. Appreciate that, Larry. It was really nice of you to stop buy to leave a comment.

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  17. A beautiful post, Micki! Thanks so much for sharing with us. I hope you have a wonderful party day!!!

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  18. Micki, all I can say is "WOW"!! What a moving tribute to your daughter. I started browsing thru then stopped to read at the interview. Thank you for sharing this profound piece with us. God Bless You and your family.

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    1. Wow works, Shirley!!! Love seeing you here tonight and enjoying my blog. Usually I keep my posts upbeat because the book is a celebration of Noelle's life, not a eulogy. The book is like that--more ups than downs but the downs are pretty tough--to live through and write about.

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  19. Hi, Micki! This is a wonderful post. I love the interview. I hope you have an amazing day during your block party. Best wishes to you.

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    1. Love seeing you here, Beem and glad you enjoyed learning more about Noelle. It has been a pretty amazing day, thanks to all my friends at RRBC.

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  20. Such a beautiful and moving interview, Micki. I loved your book "And the Whippoorwill Sang" and was deeply touched by it.

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    1. Karen, thanks so much. You wrote an equally moving review about it which I loved. I have your book moving up the tall pile of TBR's and it's almost to the top.

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  21. Great interview, Micki! And the Whippoorwill Sang was such a touching and "real" story. I enjoyed reading it. Hope you have a fun party day!

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    1. Thanks, Jan, your review of it was wonderful. I read yout 'Flowers and Stone'--love the cover btw--and am getting closer to reviewing it and reading the last of the series. Yep,having fun!!

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  22. Micki, thank you for sharing that very moving interview.

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    1. Glad you enjoyed it Michelle, although that's not a good description, I know. I loved your book and am getting closer to a review for it.

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  23. What a powerful and touching interview! It is nice to meet you. Thanks for participating in the block party.

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    1. Nice seeing you again so soon, Flossie. Glad you came and left a lovely comment. See you at the next stop lol.

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  24. Wonderful interview, Micki, a beautiful tribute to your daughter. And the Whippoorwill sang was a powerful and moving read. ♥ Blessings.....

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    1. Gwen, thanks for your comments. Your opinion means a lot. I loved your book as well and almost could not review it due to the emotions it evoked in me.

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  25. Hi Micki, I feel like you're an old friend, as I've known of your sad story for a long time it seems. I loved the interview and now have learned your daughter's name. I don't recall seeing it before. I didn't know you had a heart attack either, but can understand why. Thank you for sharing your story. I can't imagine your pain from an injury that will never fully heal. My heart goes out to you every time I see "And the Whippoorwill Sang" or your name which is embedded in my memory. Great post and great Party! Thanks for being a part of the group.

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    1. Thanks Larry, odd but your name sticks with me too. I appreciate your kind, loving thoughts. You have nailed it pretty well. It never leaves, just becomes bearable. The book is a blessing. I will always have her memories long after I forget and whenever I open the book, she'll be alive to me again.

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  26. What a unique and wonderful post.Thank you.

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    1. Thank you Fran, for enjoying it as much as one could and taking the time to stop by and comment.

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  27. Tears are still flowing, as I read and reflect upon this poignant interview with Noelle and recall your beautiful, yet heart-wrenching story inspired by a loss this reader can only imagine. Thanks so much for sharing some of it in this post. I'm sharing it too! HUGS and love to you, my dear friend. <3 Bette

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  28. Thank you my wonderful friend for coming by to support me as only you can.I'm grateful for all you do for me but more so for your deep friendship. Love and hugs back to you always.

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  29. My heart both aches and feels at peace at the same time. Thank you for sharing that interview. As for your children's story, it looks fantastic! The fact that it's true makes it even better. ;-)

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  30. Very moving interview, Micki. Bless you and your family. It's so hard to lose a loved one at such a young age. My heart goes out to you.

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  31. Oh my...Such a gift to share with us, Micki. Thank you. Hugs XO

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    1. Thanks Natalie, it is my pleasure and promise to Noelle. So happy to see you here. X0

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  32. Hi Yvette, so glad you could make it. Sometimes I feel the same way but still mourn the loss of a child so young with so many dreams for her life. Toby the cat passed away at age 21, right after the book he helped write was published.

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  33. Hey, Kim, thanks for stopping by. Thanks for your blessings. I am so blessed to have the book, because when I miss her, all I have to to is turn the pages and she is there.

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  34. Very beautiful, Micki! You've kept your daughter's memory alive these years and today you've honored her in a happy, loving way.

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    1. Linda, thanks. I'm at the stage where I hold onto the good memories which makes me happy. I'm so glad I have the book because I'll never be able to forget the little things I loved so much about her. Mainly her wacky humor. So glad you came by.

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  35. (((((hugs Micki/Noelle)))))
    Sorry I'm late - usual too much on, too little time... <3

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    1. I hear that, Jan!! Not enough hours in the day which is half gone and I have a whole days work and more to accomplish with my writing and promo for me and all of you. Besides, my friend, I knew you would come :).

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  36. I'm so sorry to be such a late arrival, Micki.I've been in hospital for a few days (The hospital is expected to recover fully) I have an deep ache in my heart after reading this moving tribute to your beautiful Noelle Marie. She lives on through your words. A mothers love is boundless and limitless my friend.

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  37. Hi Micki,
    Nice to meet you over here again. Great post!

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  38. Nice and touching stop on the blog tour, as usual, as every other eternal second...I am behind in reading, but And The Whipporwill Sang paperback is coming up for me.
    Robert Kimbrell

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    1. Hi Rob, see how often I use the the lovely promo banners you made for me. I just love them!!!I can't wait for you to read my book but I swear I can't live long enough to read all the books I've bought waiting for me, tempting me, calling my name. So glad you came by today.

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  39. Lovely to meet you Micki! Your topic is very profound for any mother (I have two grown children). This is personal since my name is Noelle. Good luck and enjoy the blog party!

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  40. Yes, it is personal since Noelle is not a common name and whenever i see it my heart jumps a little, yet I love seeing it--complicated. Thanks for stopping by, Noelle.

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