Tag: childhood memories

  • WINDBLOWN IN LIVORNO

    WINDBLOWN IN LIVORNO

    (A short story loosely inspired by real-life events) Glimpsing her distorted reflection in the polished brass railing, Bianca wanted to cry. Or scream. Preferably both. Out on the Europa’s main deck, surrounded by crowds of passengers, she felt painfully conspicuous, convinced almost every eye was trained on her horrendous hair. She resisted the urge to…

  • THREADS OF MEMORY

    THREADS OF MEMORY

    (Cover image by Freepik) I have very few memories of Nonna, the grandmother whose name I carry— fragile, translucent threads that still linger in my memory after more than half a century. The last time I saw my grandparents, my family was preparing to leave Italy for South Africa, and though I was too young…

  • Remembering the drive-in theater: the best pajama fun

    Shenandoah Valley, VA 2002 When earlier this month I read Janet Dailey’s novel, Blue Moon Haven, I was transported back to my childhood. The book is a romance novel about a woman who moves to a small Alabama town with her two foster children, where she takes on the arduous job of reviving an old…

  • Hold on to your memories

    by Josephine Strand (first published in Memoirabilia Magazine in 2016) How I wish there were a recycle bin in our brain for old memories to be stored in. Then, when we’re unable to fully recall a life experience, all we’d need to do is look for the missing ‘file; and ‘restore’ it to its original…

  • Confessions of a late bloomer

    This article was first published in the online literary magazine Women Writers, Women’s Books (booksbywomen.org) My name is Josephine Strand and I’m the author of my first published romance novel, Misty Dreams, released in April 2021. I’m what is known as a literary late bloomer. Three years ago, I was a soon-to-be novelist past the…

  • Book Review: Of School and Women, by D.S. Marquis

    Of School and Women by D.S. Marquis is a riveting, nostalgic dive into the past. It’s brilliantly written and humorous, cleverly mingling cultural nostalgia with great life lessons. I wasn’t living in the United States during the 80s, but in all democratic countries the same fundamental changes in standards of living were taking place, and…

  • BOOK TALK: How I got hooked on reading

    When I was a young girl, the local library was one of my favorite places in which to spend the afternoon hours. It was before the internet, even before computers made it into our homes. It was where my friends and I would meet to do research for a school project, do our homework, or…

  • Laughter is the best medicine

    Laughter is the best medicine. How many times have we heard this phrase? Experts say it’s good for our health. Among other benefits, it boosts the immune system, relaxes the muscles, and reduces stress by releasing endorphins, making you feel less burdened. I’m a firm believer of this theory. Who doesn’t need a little less…

  • Fields of Poppies and Other Childhood Memories

    How many times do we come across an image that reminds us of something we experienced in the past? Imagine a vast green field scattered with bright red poppies as far as the eye can see. It may sound unoriginal and travelblog-ish, perhaps, but for me it has great meaning. Poppies represent one of the…