November 3, 2017 IT'S A HEARTACHE

REJECTION. It's a fact of life.  Having a BROKEN heart is ABSOLUTELY DEVASTATING. Believe me--I KNOW.  I remember it well. First love-- Senior in high school--madly in love with BLAH BLAH-- broke up with me to DATE other girls. CAN YOU BELIEVE THAT NONSENSE???  My heart hurt for at least a year. I smiled on the outside but felt like I was dying on the inside. I WAS CRUSHED. Life did go on and I  DID get over it. I actually saw him a few years back---believe me--IT'S ALL GOOD. I've also broken a few hearts along the way too--SO SORRY--Even wrote a Dear John letter once. Still feel guilty about that one--wish I could apologize--young and dumb.   As of late--I seem to be RELIVING MY EVERY BATTLE WITH CUPID--while trying to help my own kids navigate the affairs of the heart. Seriously, when my daughter was heartbroken a few years back--I could REALLY feel her pain. I wanted to help--put a band-aid on her BOO BOO to make it all okay--but I couldn't.  THE ONLY CURE--TIME AND DISTANCE. Unfortunately, growing up is hard and the lessons ALL come with a  price.

When I think of books about heartache, one really stands out. It was written in 1977 and to date has sold over 33 million copies. It's also number one on the list of best romance novels ever written. Can you guess?? The Thorn Birds by Colleen McCullough. Even though I read it over thirty years ago, I remember it as if I read it yesterday. TALK ABOUT HEARTACHE. This wonderful saga focuses on three generations of the Cleary family and spans 1915-1969 . Paddy and Fee Cleary have just relocated to New Zealand where Paddy has been offered a job working for his rich sister, Mary, at her sheep station called Drogheda. Here, the family, which includes several older sons and a four year old daughter named Meggie, meet a young, ambitious priest named Ralph de Bicassart. Ralph has befriended Mary in hopes  that she will  bequest him money to further his career. Over the years, Meggie and Ralph develop a special relationship that Mary is determined to stop. On her deathbed, it seems as though Mary has two wills. One that guarantees Ralph all the money he would need  to rise to the top of the Catholic Church, or a second will that would leave the money to her family and businesses. She makes Ralph decide between Meggie and the Church. Will Ralph choose Meggie or the Church? Will power and ambition be more important to Ralph than his desire for Meggie? Will Ralph and Meggie ever consummate their passion? Find out the answers to these questions when you read this book turned mini-series for yourself. It is a bit of a commitment--690 pages--or a 6 mile run--that you will never, ever forget.