Writing Reality

  "...Phil, and Mark are pleasantly surprised, and so is her coach.  I gave her a good go of it.  And that was my job, besides getting in some good free sparring.  As we shake hands and hug again, I'm having a tough time getting out of the ring.     I held someones's shoulder to not fall, because I couldn't feel my feet....     Phil replied, 'Jody, you did great!  How do you feel?'     I replied almost laughing, 'Well, my back and SI joint no longer hurt... Buuuut , see my feet?  They're numb on bottoms, and my right foot hurts really badly at the toes.  My Raynaud's Syndrome flared up a bit today.  Otherwise I'm pretty good.'..." https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1545243603/ref=dbs_a_def_rwt_hsch_vapi_taft_p1_i1

      One Sunday night in 1995 we were watching 60 Minutes .   They had a piece on Chinese adoption.   We sat together and as we watched the piece, it touched us.   Seemingly Norman and I at the same time, nodded our heads, as if to say ‘yes’.   As we watched the segment on 60 Minutes , I fell in love and felt as if my heart getting pulled in.   At that same time Norman said, “Oh I’d adopt from China.”   It was music to my ears.   It sounded perfect.       The piece ended and Norman lowered the volume on the television.   We began discussing adopting from China.   Norman said, “You know, if we can’t have our own.   I would be glad to adopt a couple of those babies from China.   They need homes.”       I responded, filled with joy, “Really?!   I was thinking the same thing. I’m game.   There is a need.   I’d adopt any child..."    Norm...

    ...We go to dinner; she has no interest in anything.  Norman and I carry everything with us for her.  Nothing works.  We try an orange cracker with peanut butter, Lauren offers me.  Sarah QiQi won't take that either.  We try to enjoy dinner with the two other couples and their babies.     ...Norman gets Sarah QiQi to take in four ounces of diluted fruit punch Gatorade.  We celebrate... https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1542599083/ref=dbs_a_def_rwt_bibl_vppi_i3

    Before I knew it, it was the last day of my junior year.  As we sat in our homeroom, awaiting our report cards from our homeroom teacher, Ms. Akillian.  Ms. Akilian would announce our names in alphabetical order, and we’d come up and receive our report cards.  Ms. Akillian, stood nearly five foot in height.  She was stocky and graying.  She wore glasses that fit her,  and always wore a serious scientific face.  She was a Chemistry teacher.  I knew I would never be smart enough to take one of Ms. Akillian classes.  I’d felt guilty and ashamed that I was not smart enough to take one of her classes.  Yet, she was my gracious homeroom teacher everyday for all four of my years of high school.     I’d always wondered what Ms. Akillian thought of me.  Because she to me, overflowed with high levels of brilliance.  I wondered if some day, I could be brilliant.  And maybe she’d nod and tell me, ‘You’re s...

...Detective Gallagher responds, “I hate to say this, but she’s not the sharpest tool in the shed.”   He tilts head and shrugs.     Jackie nods her head, “Yeah, too many of her grandma’s sweets and not enough exercise. How can your blood even go as high up to you brain, her’s must stop at the first floor. How can you process anything when the elevator doesn’t even go to the second floor for the ladies’ lingerie department.”     Looking and the ground grinning, Detective Gallagher says, “Jackie. That’s brutal.”   He wags his head.     Jackie adds, “Hey, sounds like its true.”   She smiles.     Detective Gallagher replies, “Well,Detective Caprice has had some choice words privately to me about McCaskell.   She said one day that, ‘Sandra is about as useful as tits on a bull’.” https://www.amazon.com/Jody-Lynn-Reicher/e/B00R3VUZ18/ref=sr_ntt_srch_lnk_10?qid=1418802234&sr=1-10

...Phil Dunlap, a Grand Master in the Martial Arts. Phil is primarily a Grand Master in Burmese style martial arts of Hkyen , meaning “all out fighting.” The Burmese call it ‘ Thaing .’   Phil has a broad range of understanding of the aspects of many areas of ‘ htwi hkyen ’ (‘ lethwei ’ in Burmese), ‘ gamu hkyen ’ (‘ naban ’ in Burmese) and other forms of martial arts for sport and self-defense.     Phil was trained from age six and forward by his now deceased maternal grandfather, William O’Shaunessy, they called him ‘Wild Bill’.       Phil has always been straight with people.   He even tried talking guys out of fighting.   Because like he would say, “Fighting is crazy.   Don’t you know that?”   You would stand there and look at him and wonder why is this guy who some called, ‘The Crazy Guy in the Basement’, just dissing the very thing he trains and has done for most of his life?     One thing quite a ...

...Jackie now realized, that she was the only one of her sisters and her mother’s sisters who lived anywhere near where her mother Margaret was born and raised.   Even her biological father moved out west, to the other side of the country.   It was as if everyone intuitively knew to escape from the epicenter of family tragedies.     She thought, ‘Should she distance herself as well?’   She shook her ‘No’ .   She was someone who didn’t runaway from her problems, yet speared them head-on, even in the face of death or the fear of it.   For she had one thing that was of great value, it wasn’t just her faith.   It was her courage. https://www.amazon.com/Jody-Lynn-Reicher/e/B00R3VUZ18/ref=sr_ntt_srch_lnk_10?qid=1418802234&sr=1-10

Detective Chuck Bianchi, Jr."...She graduated high school at age sixteen and was working part-time at a bakery.  She also was attending Columbia University in New York for Physics. The assault and thus the pregnancy are what stopped her.”     Detective Gallagher asks, “How do you know this?”     Detective Bianchi, Jr. responds, “My Pop’s Uncle Vito knew what had happened.  And when Pop decided to go into law enforcement in 1942 before I was born, Vito had connections and told him the story, about this guy named..." https://www.amazon.com/Jody-Lynn-Reicher/e/B00R3VUZ18/ref=sr_ntt_srch_lnk_10?qid=1418802234&sr=1-10

    ...I beg you, to watch yourself, and watch after your children. There are predators, even the people you and I know. Yes, even people that have been friends and perhaps blood-relations as well to.         The preciousness of a child is beyond belief.  There is a way to ruin a pearl.   To steal a sparkle from an innocent girl.  To douse the light from all hope.  To do so, life must be ruthless.  Creating an intolerable living for a spirit that has something to bring to light.  Thus, the curse of insanity is bestowed upon a child corrupted by the greed of lust, and the misery of a spoiled gender.                   You see girls and women are still considered property in our families.  It’s always been                   that way. So, nothing may ever change.  It all has to do with the bad luck of being bo...

...the retreat from rising out of the deep abyss of such a hellish nightmare, sometimes more courage, sometimes more knowledge, and then there are those times of when more nobility occurs. And the victim arises more victorious than those who had the bravery, but not the fortitude... https://www.amazon.com/Jody-Lynn-Reicher/e/B00R3VUZ18

    ... I replied, “Well, I have a little situation I need help with.   And I don’t want anyone to taken care of it for me.   That’s not the reason why I’m calling.   You remember the thing I told you about in 1991?”     Phil responded, “Yes.”     I continued, “Well, they let the bad guy out fifteen years early.   He will be moving within six miles of my home.   Train me.”     Phil said, “Oh no.   How did that happen?”     I responded, “Well, I really don’t know.   There were plenty of us that wrote the parole board.   The prosecutor called me about three weeks before his release in April.   I feel the prosecutor didn’t complete his job on this case.”     Phil replied, “That’s terrible.”     I responded, “Yes.   The prosecutor offered to put a car outside our home.   I turned it down. That’s ridiculous. ...

"...Tell me, how could a young girl climb out of a hole dug for her, centuries ago?  In a family that sees females as a condemnation.  There appears no eradicating of the cycle that repeated itself for centuries in the family.  And as she grew; then married and gave birth.  Did Margaret then, realize that every family has its tainted legacies.  But by then, it had been too late.  Her innocence was gone."      I hope you can forgive the family’s past.  I hope you can forgive me. And by you knowing this, I now pass the torch for you to rectify the wrongs of men.  https://www.amazon.com/Jody-Lynn-Reicher/e/B00R3VUZ18/ref=sr_ntt_srch_lnk_10?qid=1418802234&sr=1-10

    Emil pours everyone another cup of coffee, “Jackie, you know that Norway probably has the most coffee drinkers per capita?   This coffee is from Grunerlokka micro-roastery in Norway.   We like our dark roast coffee. And black coffee is better than any.   You get the taste of the fruit and nuts used to make the coffee.   I’ve ordered a special blend just for your wedding, Ingunn helped me pick it out.” https://www.amazon.com/Jody-Lynn-Reicher/e/B00R3VUZ18/ref=sr_ntt_srch_lnk_10?qid=1418802234&sr=1-10

    Detective Caprice chimes in, “Jackie, calm down it’s okay.”    Detective Bianchi, Jr. looks at Detective Caprice.   Jackie takes a breath, you can see the wear on Jackie’s face of pain, anguish, and lacking no sleep. https://www.amazon.com/Jody-Lynn-Reicher/e/B00R3VUZ18/ref=sr_ntt_srch_lnk_10?qid=1418802234&sr=1-10