The Spirit

Summer is in full brown, here in Arizona.  We continue to water our plants, even though we know they will all succumb to the heat soon.  Monsoon season is here, which means temperatures over 110, dew point of 55 or more.  Hot, humid, dusty, followed by the blessing of torrential rains.
 
Last July was the last time Lynda came out for a visit.  She stayed 2 weeks.  She had completed all of her chemo and knew she could just chill, read, play games on her Kindle.  I worked some of those days, but she was perfectly fine being alone.  Dave would come home from work, put something on the grill and sit in the pool, allowing Lynda to do whatever she pleased.


I was able to take some days off work while she was here.  The first week we just hung out, got in the pool, chatted until bed time.  We ate a  lot of yummy food Dave had prepared.  Lynda was slowly regaining her taste for food.  She even like the stuffed jalapenos I made.  She was never one for spicy food, but I made sure to remove all of the seeds and ribs so the jalapenos would be pure flavor.  


The second week we finally got down to doing some writing.  We woke up Jo and Susan so they could hang out with us.  They told us about their new adventure.  We knew what had happened to them up to this point, but they spoke to us and lead us to new discoveries. 


Lynda created a new addition to the little group of explorers.  Her name is Elizabeth Victoria Webb.  Named after Queen Victoria and Elizabeth Taylor. Oh, how Elizabeth and JoEllyn butt heads in "Guam Adventures - The Darkened Light".  I never had fights when I was a kid, but Lynda was a scrapper, so Elizabeth was  far more likely to come from Lynda's imagination.


Every day I contemplate the details of the rest of the story.  I know exactly where the girls are heading, and have a vague idea of how they get there.  I can picture their surroundings to the inth degree.  In fact, I have a true vision which I could never clearly illustrate for my co-author.  Not that I didn't try.  We both drew pictures of the scenes described in the book.  It was funny how differently the two of us had imagined everything. 



In our partnership, I was the one who spent hours and hours doing research, digging into the history of Guam.  Lynda took the facts, spent many hours and days contemplating how to meld fact with fiction, and magic happened.  The most rewarding part was writing a story that sounded so feasible the reader could never tell what was real and what was fiction. 


In reading "Guam Adventures-Mystery of the Cave", our sister, Traci said she was constantly wondering what was real and what was fiction.  That is exactly what we were hoping to achieve.  For those who lived at Andersen AFB on Guam, who went to school at Andersen Elementary School, our desire was for them to wonder about whether or not Jo and Susan really did enter the jungle, what of what they discovered was real.  When we lived on Guam, we knew the jungle was a scary place.  We heard of wild boars and Japanese Soldiers who called that dim, humid, exotic, mysterious place their home. 


Even decades after leaving Guam, the mystery of the Island and the jungle enticed our imaginations.  It was, after all, the most exotic place we ever lived.  Although you would think our memories of a place we lived when we were in elementary school would have faded into the deep recesses of old age, it became true to us that, as one gets older, memories of long ago become clearer than what happened yesterday.  Of course, our memories may be a little skewed.  Who knows?  Pretty soon I may start to believe what we wrote, not able to distinguish our lives from those of Jo and Susan.  Dementia could be just around the corner.  I do, after all, have a 40 year old son. 


Many of our cherished memories are displayed in both books.  We had magnificent childhoods.  Moving to Guam from Castle AFB, California, was a culture shock to us.  Tarague Beach, palm trees, the Pacific Ocean were like Heaven to us.  Through our Dad, we came to know some of the Chamorro people who are native to Guam. 


In "Guam Adventures - The Darkened Light" we introduce a native Guamanian to our readers. 


So, hang in there, all of you who have read "Guam Adventures - Mystery of the Cave".   I have actually written a couple new chapters. Slowly, but surely, the desire to set pen to paper and allow the story to flow from my hand, is returning.  I try to imagine what Lynda would add, listen for her voice.  She came up with some pretty unexpected ideas over the years. 


I ask only for your prayers.  Pray that Lynda's creativity will meld with my logical, factual way of approaching things.  I am the bones of the story, she is the spirit.


If you haven't read "Guam Adventures - Mystery of the Cave", it's available at www.createspace.com/4008187.   It isn't too early to purchase a copy for Christmas for that 'tween reader in your life.

Our Liberty

Today is Memorial Day.  It isn't just a day to remember our Military members who are deceased, but a day to reflect on the cost of freedom for all Americans. 


There is something special about our country.  It was founded by those who were tired of tyrants running the show. During the Revolutionary War, the hope of freedom was a burning desire for those who lay down their hoes and cycles and left their loved ones to fight for something they knew in their hearts was achievable.  They wanted a better life for their children, and for us.


Most of us take our way of life for granted.  We are comfortable living in a country that has always stood for liberty and justice, for all.  Sometimes we become so complacent we fail to think about the lives lost to purchase our liberty. 


Our service members fought for us all over the world.  They continue to do so.  Today, I'm sure some of them fight in places we don't even know about.  If you were raised in the military, as I was, and as were my children, you know there are things we can't know or speak of.  There are secrets.  Those secrets serve to ensure our freedom.  There are untold millions who would love nothing more than to destroy our country.  Those people shout out their hatred for the United States of America.  Why?  Are they afraid there are too many people in their own countries who dream of being free?  They must surely believe the word "freedom" should be wiped from the earth. 


I hate that we still have fathers, mothers, husbands, wives, sons and daughters who are in harms way every single day.  There would be nothing better than to have them all safely here, at home.  But if we don't fight the fight away from home, we will, inevitably, be fighting it here, at home, in our own state, city or neighborhood. 

I was born loving a military man, my Dad, William Wilkerson.  He served 3 years in the Indiana National Guard before enlisting in the Air Force where he served another 20 years. He never had to kill a man, thank God.  But he served during the Korean war and Viet Nam war.  He hunted down and secured parts for airplanes. Without him, many planes would have been grounded. 

When Lynda and I started writing "Guam Adventures - The Darkened Light", we spent countless hours doing research on the history of our military on Guam. The above picture was taken the day the United States liberated Guam from the Japanese, July 21, 1944. The mysterious hero in our book was on Guam the day the Japanese invaded that tiny island.  He was also there on Liberation Day.

Respect and awe of our military members run deep in the blood of our family.  Their selflessness and determination made us who we are, free Americans.

I, for one, am eternally grateful.

The Lifting Fog

  After getting my department open and up for business yesterday morning, I got on the computer, as usual.  I kept thinking, "It's the 21st.  What is significant about this day?"  I usually get this feeling and realize it's a family member or friend's birthday or anniversary and I've just now remembered.


It suddenly struck me that it was 2 months ago that Lynda, my sister, friend and co-author, passed away.  An unexpected lump filled my throat and tears sprang to my eyes.  I prayed nobody would come by to talk to me until I had composed myself.


This morning, I have been hearing this small voice saying, "It's time to get busy, Terry.  At least start thinking about what you need to do to get back into the book." 


I've been so incredibly busy at work the book has been pushed to the back of my mind.  When I have thought about it, it's been with dread.  Writing a book is a lot of work.  When Lynda and I started working on Guam Adventures - Mystery of the Cave, we were clueless about the amount of dedication and sweat involved in writing, re-writing, editing, gathering a design team, and pulling the finished product together.  How in the world am I going to do this by myself?  Holy Cow!


At this point, what I really need is prayer.  I need to pray and I ask all of you to pray for me, as well.  I can't let Guam Adventures - The Darkened Light, turn into dust.  That regret can't haunt me for the rest of my days.  I owe it to Lynda to finish telling Jo and Susan's awesome new adventure. 


So, I do feel like I'm beginning to come out of the fog.  Your prayers and support will help to lift my spirits.  I am determined this will be a labor of love, not one borne of grief and duty.   My writing partner will be with me. I pray the voice I've been hearing this morning will inspire me with some of Lynda's creative, quirky ideas. 

Going it Alone

Going it Alone

"Guam Adventures - The Darkened Light", is waiting to be finished.  Lynda and I worked many months creating a new adventure for Jo and Susan.  In fact, the inspiration for the book came to me one evening as my husband, Dave and I watched a basketball game.  Well, he was watching the game, my mind was racing.  I grabbed  my notebook and starting writing down my ideas so I could share them with Lynda.  I didn't want to forget anything.



Lynda signing copies of "Guam Adventures - Mystery of the Cave"

Six years ago, when we decided to write "Guam Adventures - Mystery of the Cave", Lynda suggested we write about a Japanese soldier.  I thought it was a pretty far-fetched idea but I didn't have a better one so we did tons of research, developed our characters, and plunged in.  After tossing out several chapters, doing many rewrites with the help of our amazing editor, Janet, we miraculously finished the book!  Nobody was more surprised than Lynda and I.  Procrastinators from birth, we had managed to publish and even sell some copies.

What a blast we had!  During that time we discovered how differently the two of us remembered our time on Guam. Some things were clear, though.  Andersen Air Force Base, the school we attended, the mysterious jungle we saw every day, our parents, siblings, the weather, etc. were etched into our minds.  We laughed so much!  Memories of the past rolled like a wave through our conversations. What a blessing, after many, many years living so far from each other, to share those years and moments with each other.

The last time Lynda and I worked on the new book was last October when I visited her after her first surgery.  We headed to the park, opened up the laptop, leafed though our notebooks and hung out with Jo and Susan and the rest of the gang.  Lynda was in pain, but she never complained.  She was more concerned about me walking around without the boot the Dr. told me to wear on my ailing foot.  I told her to forget about my foot, it was nothing compared to her situation.  She wouldn't hear of it.  She said, "pain is pain". 

After a year and a half of dealing with cancer, our family gathered with Lynda in the nursing home last month.  When I first arrived at her room, she was sleeping.  At least she seemed to be sleeping.  We knew her time was short.  Very short.  I sat next to her, held her hand, talked to her.  Told her I loved her.  My brother Mark and his wife, Tracy and I sang along with the young musician from the hospice group who stopped by.  He played some of her favorite songs and we harmonized to "Crystal Blue Persuasion", and other songs we'd sung together over the years.  Lynda didn't make a sound, but I could hear her voice, anyway. She was probably inwardly cringing at our sour notes.

She passed away at 7:18 that same evening.  We siblings and our kids had gone to dinner, leaving her husband, Glenn, their sons and wives in the room with Lynda.  Halfway through our meal we had a message saying Lynda was gone.  It didn't seem real then and doesn't seem real now. 

Lynda was my big sister.  The only living person I had known my entire life. When we were little we played together and fought together. Sometimes we couldn't stand to be in the same room together, even though we always shared a bedroom.  When we were in high school, every time a boy broke my heart, she would hold me in her arms and just let me cry.  She was my first friend.

I'm going to finish "Guam Adventures - The Darkened Light".  It will be a lonely job.  Sitting at the table, by myself, I pray I will hear her encouraging me.  My inspiration will come from her.  When the book is completed, I hope our readers will hear her voice along with mine, in the telling of the story of Jo and Susan.

It's Christmas in our Hearts

It's Christmas in our Hearts

 

 

Sitting here on my couch, my foot on the ottoman because I had surgery last Friday, I've had ample time to reflect on Christmas and the year that is almost past.

 

Lynda and I fully expected to be talking about the sequel to "Guam Adventures - Mystery of the Cave".  "Guam Adventures - The Darkened Light"  waits in our notebooks and on Google Drive for completion.  Have we been slugs and not worked on it this year?  No.  It is nearly half finished.  We just hadn't planned for life to get in the way.

 

Following our big book signing last year, Lynda learned soon after returning home, that she has cancer.  I wish I could say she "had" cancer, but that is not the case.  She has had chemotherapy, 2 surgeries, and now is undergoing radiation therapy.  She visited Dave and me in July after completing chemo.  We worked on the book, as planned, but mostly just hung out and enjoyed each others' company. 

 

I have made 3 trips to Indiana this year.  Unprecedented for me.  Lynda is the one who usually does most of the flying.  But this year has been my turn.  Two days before my surgery I returned from Indiana after spending many days and nights in the hospital with her.  As difficult as it was seeing her in pain, fighting the cancer with every breath, I was blessed to be there. 

 

While at the hospital I was so impressed with those who took care of her.  The nurses were amazing!  Not only were they smart, professional women, they were caring, loving, and funny.  The doctors put up with the endless questions.  If they didn't know the answers, they would find them.  One young doctor showed Lynda's husband Glenn the results of every time her vitals were taken.  Explaining every detail.  Knowledge can be very comforting.

 

Lynda is currently at a nursing home in Kokomo, Indiana.  She is undergoing physical and occupational therapy in between the radiation treatments.  It's all very complicated.  Our hope and prayer is for her to be home in a couple weeks.

 

Christmas is the time when families gather to celebrate the birth of our Savior.  It is difficult to be here in Arizona, far from any of my family, save my wonderful, generous husband, Dave, who has encouraged me through out this year to go be with my sister.  But I have felt the presence of our Savior more this year than I have in many years.  I have talked to Him continuously.  Why would He care what I have to say?  And why am I always asking Him for something?  Not literally some "thing", but for His continued help and blessings on Lynda and all of our family.  I am just a speck among all of the other millions of people who need His help.   He does care, though.  I've never been more sure of that.

 

Next year, be ready to go to createspace to order "Guam Adventures - The Darkened Light".  Lynda and I will revisit Jo and Susan and get their story told.  I'm sure you will want to buy it for your 8 to 13 year olds, or just for yourself.

 

In the meantime, have a blessed Christmas.  Celebrate the birth of our Savior.  His love is endless.

 

 

Terry

 

By the way, if you'd like to send a card to Lynda her address is:

Lynda McCroskery
Sycamore Village
2905 W Sycamore St,
Kokomo, IN 46901

 

 

 

 

 

 

I'll take fiction

In "Guam Adventures - Mystery of the Cave",  Jo and Susan  are almost constantly together; sitting next to each other on the plane flying the Wilks family to Guam, taking their first tentative steps into the jungle with their Mom and little sister, Graci, being dive-bombed by bats in the cave at Tarague Beach  with their friends Mike and  Ryan Mulligan.

Lynda and I were similarly together much of the time when we were kids.  Was it because we just loved hanging out together and didn't have any friends of our own?  Of course not. The two of us shared a room most of our lives, fought over everything under the sun, as siblings do.  As young women we married military men and lived apart for way too many years to calculate.  When both of us moved to Indiana, it was with joy that we began spending as much time together as possible ... because we wanted to.

Jo and Susan, altough created from the essence of our lives, are fictional sisters. However, we wanted to create our story around the two girls and didn't want to lose our readers by adding too many characters.  The same holds true in the 2nd book in our series, "Guam Adventures - The Darkened Light". 

Our fans might ask, "when is 'The Darkened Light' going to be available?"  Hmm, that's a good question.  We have made an extra large dent in the new story.  In fact I wrote a new chapter last week. Hang in there.  We will finish it.  This year?  Maybe.  We hope so...

Last October when Lynda came out to visit, we had our book launch for "Mystery of the Cave" at Davis-Monthan AFB.  We did a book signing and talked to some interesting people, including some Vets who had served our country well.  It was a priviledge for us to listen to their stories.

Lynda headed back to Indiana after spending 3 weeks with Dave and me.  We always love having her here.  A few weeks later, after Lynda went to see her Dr. and was put through some grueling tests, we got the scary news that Lynda has cancer.  Heck, I knew she was having some issues, but did NOT expect cancer to be the prognosis. 

Now what?  Well, I wish we were Jo and Susan and someone could do a re-write and edit cancer out of our lives, out of Lynda's life.  Alas, life is not a work of fiction.  It is stark reality.

For those of you who are stunned by this news, it is almost unreal to all of us Wilkersons, as well. It's now that I wish I was still in Indiana so I could pop in just to get a look at my sister, maybe sit and chat about politics, Dancing with the Stars, our grandkids, the weather, nail polish, age spots,  getting old, being young, happy times, sad times.

 Lynda is doing well.  She is into her 4th (and hopefully last)  month of chemotherapy.  Some days she is shaky getting out of bed or standing from a chair.  There is the ever-present nausea and constant quest for something she can eat that doesn't taste like metal or dog poo (not that she's ever eaten dog poo, but she can imagine).  With the exception of our brother, Mark, God granted us Wilkersons with approximately 1 quadrillion hairs, so, although she pulls out handfuls every day, Lynda still has enough to brush.  It
may or may not all fall out. I offered to send her some of mine, but she declined. I don't think she'll need it, anyway.  If she does end up bald, what the heck, bald looked good on our Dad, his Dad, Uncle Joe, and brother Mark looks a-okay with his shiny dome.  Besides, it may grow back the strawberry- blonde she would accept as her reward for months of using the lint roller on everything. 

This coming Thursday morning my brother-in-law, Glenn, will send out the first text message of the morning "We're at the hospital.  After the blood test results come back we'll know if Lynda will have chemo today". (Glenn has been a godsend to all of us during this time.  He always keeps us informed and has been a rock for Lynda.) She's been good to go all but one time, which was a couple weeks ago when her red blood cells were in hiding and the white ones were way too small.  So, she got to take a couple weeks off, only to resume with the dreaded "double dose" she's been getting at the beginning of each series of chemo.

I pray for Lynda every day.  Oftentimes I awake during the night and immediately start to pray.  My big Sis is never far from my thoughts.  It is the same for all of us Wilkerson siblings, Lynda's kids, nieces, nephews, friends.  God has been good.

In a couple months we are hopeful Lynda will get the 'all clear' from her Dr and will fly out to Arizona to hang with Dave and me before she has to go back and have surgery.  I'll still go to work every day, but my evenings will be full of talking and laughing and, maybe, some crying with my Sis.  We will write.  We will dig into Jo and Susan's new adventure.  Maybe we'll get lost in the lives of two fictional sisters who resemble us, but whose biggest concern is solving the mystery of "The Darkened Light".


You haven't read "Guam Adventures - Mystery of the Cave", yet?  Holy cow!  Hurry to creatspace.com/4008187.  Get your copy today!!!

We were "Children of the 60s"

In the 1960s life was much different than it is today.  The world was still recovering from The Great Depression and World War II, believe it or not.  It really did take that long for our nation and the world to get back on its feet. 

Nobody we knew really had a lot of money.  Most of our family and friends lived  pretty conservatively.  The United States was (and is) the land of opportunity.  Hard work and big dreams ruled.

We were just kids, Lynda and I.  We attended the same school in California before we moved to Guam where we, again, attended the same school.  Our father, Bill, wore an Air Force uniform to work everyday.  Mom, Joanne, was raised in a very poor family and appreciated her new life as a military wife.  She adored our father and he adored her. They cherished us kids, although we were a handul at times.

On television we watched "The Donna Reed Show", "Leave it to Beaver", "Bonanza", "Captain Kangaroo" and "Howdy Doodie". Most of the time, tho', we played outside. 

In December, 1960, our family took the 36hr flight to Guam.  I'm sure it was difficult for Mom to leave her family in California, but she never let on to us kids.  She was ready for a new adventure.  Our sister, Traci, was only 19 months old when we made that long journey.  There were two stops along the way.  The first was Hawaii and the second was Wake Island.  Guam was like Disneyland to us.  We dressed in shorts, t-shirts and zoris, even at school.  Tarague Beach was amazing!  White sand, palm trees, coconuts, hermit crabs and sand castles.  There was a way cool cave where tables were set up for the squadron picnics. This cave is featured in "Guam Adventures - Mystery of the Cave".

From Guam we moved back to California, but this time we were only an hour or so from Los Angeles and Mom's family.  Sadly, her father had  passed away while we were on Guam, but her brothers and her sister were there.  We didn't move into military quarters right away, but lived in a community outside of Riverside called La Sierra.  Lynda was in Jr. high by then and she and I started going to separate schools.  We had a little brother, Mark, who was born on Guam and little sister, Kim, was born before we moved into military quarters at March Air Force Base.

We were all about music in those days.  The Beach Boys, The Beatles, The Supremes, The Temptations and too many others to name.  We learned the words and harmony to all of the most popular songs.  Singing was like breathing, a gift we inherited from our parents.

Lynda and I both entered high school in the Moreno Valley school district. When I was a new freshman, just discovering boys and getting used to being in school with the big kids and Lynda was a junior with a steady boyfriend, we got the news that we were moving again.  This time it was to a cold, snowy place ... Goose Bay, Labrador.  Lynda thought it was the end of the world and I was none too happy about it, either.  I'm not sure how the other 3 kids felt about it, I couldn't hear anything outside of Lynda's crying and carrying on.

The first day of school at Goose Bay was a shock.  We were in temporary billeting on base and waded through several feet of snow to board the school bus.  (In fact, on our way to McGuire AFB, where we would catch the plane to Goose Bay, was the first time we witnessed snow falling from the sky.  It was pretty cool.) 

Our time at Goose Bay AFB turned out to be one of the biggest blessings of our lives.  Everybody knew everybody and we made life-long friends.  Our parents allowed us more freedom within the bounds of curfew.  School was more a social gathering to us (as our grades reflected), which extended to the youth center with its weekly dances, the ski slope, bowling alley, gym, theater and the basement of friends' homes. Lynda and I are both married to wonderful men we met there.  

Dad retired from the Air Force in 1971. We lived in Indiana at the time, and Dad was stationed at Grissom AFB.  Life would never be the same for Lynda and me.  We were kids of the 60s.  Adulthood arrived with the 70s. 

In my opinion, the 60s was the very best decade in which to be a kid.  Our parents didn't worry about predators, violent tv shows or video games, too much sex on screen when we went to the movies, which we did a lot.  We respected our elders, held our hands over our hearts every morning when we recited the 'Pledge of Allegiance' at school, we built tents out of blankets draped over trash cans in the carport, played hopscotch, hide-n-seek and 'Mother May I'.  We ran across the street on pavement so hot it took our breath away.  We rode the shuttle bus to ballet lessons and the bowling alley.  We crossed our hearts and hoped to die, and meant it.  We also both experienced first kisses and fell in love in the 60s.

In "Guam Adventures - Mystery of the Cave", Lynda and I wanted to convey a sense of innocence and endless possibilites.  In "Guam Adventures - The Darkened Light", we will once again lead readers through the jungle, caves and mystery that surrounded Jo and Susan on the island of Guam, when they, and we, were children of the 60s.

You can own your very own copy of "Guam Adventures - Mystery of the Cave".  Go to www.createspace.com/4008187.  Join your friends in reading the adventures of Jo and Susan.