And Journal, That's That (eBook)

Michelle York Hope (Autor)

eBook Download: EPUB

2025 | 1. Auflage
324 Seiten
Bookbaby (Verlag)
979-8-3178-1572-1 (ISBN)

Infos

And Journal, That's That, invites readers to embark on an intimate journey as we read Carolyn Young's journal alongside her as she re-reads it for the first time, reliving the best, and worst, two years of her life. But where is Carolyn as she narrates? Join Carolyn as she revisits life's celebrations and tribulations, including a murder trial amidst the Covid pandemic. Carolyn comes to realize something said, not said, or maybe even misunderstood, can alter a life, and each life has a ripple effect on other lives.

Michelle York Hope is a Massachusetts native and a graduate of Trinity College in Hartford, Connecticut. She resides in West Newton with her husband Allen and dog Gracie. And Journal, That's That is her first novel.

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And Journal, That's That, invites readers to embark on an intimate journey as we read Carolyn Young's journal alongside her as she re-reads it for the first time, reliving the best, and worst, two years of her life. But where is Carolyn as she narrates? Carolyn's path takes an unexpected romantic turn after a chance meeting with Brian when their Paris to Boston flight is delayed. Now in their late thirties, both tragically lost their fathers in high school, and they form an instant bond. As her relationship with Brian blossoms, she becomes more enmeshed in his life and his mother Pam's, who Brian refers to as "e;the elephant in the room."e; Ditzy and demanding, religious and an avid gun owner, Pam is a mix of extremes. Join Carolyn as she revisits life's celebrations and deals with trials and tribulations, including a literal murder trial amidst the Covid pandemic. Carolyn comes to realize something said, not said, or maybe even misunderstood, can alter a life, and each life has a ripple effect on other lives.

Textauszug

Wednesday, January 1, 2020

Happy New Year, Journal! Four words: most amazing day, ever. It was by far the best day of my life, without a doubt. It went by so fast. The entire day is a speeding blur, a wonderful home movie, but with the remote on fast forward. There were so many beautiful moments throughout the day, I can’t capture them all, so I’m writing a few highlights.

• When I entered my upstairs suite at the mansion to get ready, there was a gorgeous crystal vase with a dozen red roses waiting for me, and a card from Brian wishing me a happy anniversary, and wonderful wedding day. We’ve been so busy preparing for the wedding, I can’t believe he remembered to honor our anniversary. After our elaborate engagement I gave him permission to honor our anniversary with words rather than expensive flowers and dinners as we needed to save for the wedding, the honeymoon, a family… I’m glad he didn’t completely listen.
• As I walked down the aisle, my eyes met Brian’s, and he started crying, then I did.
• We did a sand pouring as part of the ceremony, to literally “blend” our lives together. I’d never seen this before, neither had Brian, and we loved having a unique element.
• Our vows, even though we had read them to each other in advance, still made us cry, but we both made it through with minimal blubber, and lots of deep, meaningful eye contact.
• We had our first dance to “What a Wonderful World”. The harpist accidentally restarted when she should have been finishing, so it was a very long first dance, but it was a happy mishap; the more time in Brian’s arms the better.
• Pam gave the toast on behalf of the mothers as my mother was too shy to speak. Brian asked her to keep it short and sweet, and void of any biblical references. She obliged on the later, but only somewhat on the former, the length was approximately four minutes. The essence of the toast: the mothers are both so happy we found the love of our lives, and they can’t wait to be grandmothers as soon as possible. But no pressure. Everyone laughed.
• Another highlight: watching Mr. and Mrs. Edsel on the dance floor, slow dancing, and still obviously very much in love in their eighties. Brian saw me smiling at them and whispered in my ear “That will be us someday.”
• Brian and I both love to dance, but at one point we took a break and stood to the side and simply enjoyed watching our guests enjoying themselves.

By the end of the night Pam was voiceless and coughing. She decreed it was due to “ecstatic exhaustion.” She said our wedding day was wonderful and could only be eclipsed by the day she meets her first grandchild. I hope that day is soon. I feel like I was meant to be Brian’s wife, and he was meant to be my husband.

Tomorrow we’re off to Paris, just one year after meeting at the airport, yet everything has changed in a mere 365 days, and all for the good!

Monday, January 6, 2020

Bonjour, Journal. Quickly jotting down an entry while Brian is showering before we go to dinner. We’re now in Eze, France, to enjoy the final honeymoon days. Our hotel is set amidst a medieval village on a cliff above the Mediterranean, the hotel rooms are comprised of transformed village homes. The views from our room are straight out of a painting. Today we bought a picnic lunch–a baguette, fromage, pâté, grapes and wine–at one of the shops down the street, then hiked down a trail to the beach below to enjoy our meal. It is off season here and a bit chilly, so we had the trail to ourselves, and not much company on the beach–exactly as we had hoped. Brian’s question to me today while enjoying our lunch on a bench by the beach was more of a statement, “does it get any better than this?” Tonight, we have reservations at the hotel’s gourmet two-star Michelin restaurant. Shannon was right, it has been nice to be able to enjoy fine food and wine without worrying about being pregnant (or if I now am, at least not too pregnant).

With the exception of getting ready in separate parts of the estate on our wedding day, Brian and I have now spent almost every minute of every day together for the past seven days, and I couldn’t be happier. He may be the only person on the planet whose company I never find tiresome. I wish we could extend our trip indefinitely, but alas, we are needed back at work and of course need work to fund any future excursions. And potential new family members who might very well result from our trip. Simply put, Brian is irresistible. Lately he’s been teasing me by calling me “insatiable”, which has only added fuel to the fire. And with those confessions now on paper, dear Journal, I bid you adieu.

Thursday, January 9, 2020

We’re home from our amazing week in France, and it was even more wonderful than I had hoped. Sight-seeing, castle tours, delicious dinners, and romantic evenings. Evening details must remain to the imagination–I need to keep journal entries family friendly in case it accidentally falls into the hands of any potential future children.

I think my most treasured moment was our visit to Musée Rodin, but this time, standing in front of my favorite statue, Le Baiser, a little more than a year after my first visit, I didn’t have to envy the magical connection of the two entwined figures. I finally had my own soul mate, right by my side. Brian agreed the statue was breathtaking. The next day we found a street painter selling his modernistic version of The Kiss, and Brian insisted we buy it for our bedroom.

We took a French cooking class with my mother and Benoit. On a bathroom break my mother voiced her doubts my father would ever consider taking a cooking class–a subtle nod to Benoit and dig at my father–although I suspect she is right. The four of us also took a day trip to the Château de Versailles. Even in January the gardens are amazing with statues and fountains and paths and coiffed bushes, and we were shocked by the abundant opulence on the inside.

On our own we took a Hemingway walking tour (the same one my mother and Benoit took last year), and a French Pastry walking tour. Brian and I are still debating which walking tour we enjoyed more, and our answers are subject to change with each conversation (possibly based on how hungry we may or may not be). I think my favorite tour was the Loire Valley excursion castle tour. Even the tour bus was enjoyable as we snuggled up in our seat for the ride portions.

Two words in English, three in French: simply amazing, tout simplement incroyable!

Sunday, January 12, 2020

Pam is an interesting human being. She gave me a gun for Christmas, and for our combined Sunday Supper/joint birthday celebration today (mine was the second, hers is the fourteenth) she gave me a private two-hour gun lesson with an instructor at her club. She created a voucher in her beautiful cursive handwriting with multiple flourishes extending out from the “G” in “Gun”. I think Pam is the only person on the planet who would even consider embellishing the word “gun”. The elaborate handwriting would be a great match for a class like cake decorating, or floral arrangements, but a gun lesson? Definitely not a match in my book.

From us, Pam received a lovely, non-controversial painting of a Parisian Street scene, and a throw pillow I found on Etsy with “Be Blessed” stitched on it, her favorite closing sentiment. She thanked us, but then immediately returned the conversation back to my new gun from Christmas, and the thoughtful and useful lesson she purchased for me. Had it not been for a Pam coughing fit, Brian and I may not have had the chance to share a quick honeymoon overview. Although she already knew most of the Paris portion of the trip details from her new best friend, my mother.

Observation: it was clear Pam missed us, but I had the feeling she missed having us as HER audience as opposed to actually missing US. Maybe this is just a birthday thing.

Tuesday, January 14, 2020

Tonight, after work I went out for dinner with Julie, Joan, Chrissy and Kathy. They wanted to dissect the wedding, and know every honeymoon detail, and I was more than happy to revisit the best moments from both. Kathy had a large marketing bag with her that I assumed housed her laptop and maybe some work folders, but it turns out the four of them really did have a wedding gift fund for me, and they had secretly bought the Paris Silent Auction painting I had been outbid on at the holiday party. Their thoughtfulness rendered me momentarily speechless. Wiping tears from my eyes I asked how they knew I was in love with this painting? Kathy replied, “after you bid on it six separate times, mon chéri, we had a hunch.” Very sneaky of them, but I am so grateful they noticed.

The West household is rapidly filling with special pieces that make me love it even more. It truly feels like my home, our home. Now we just need to fill it with new family members.

Wednesday, January 15, 2020

Hey, Journal. Today was my first annual physical since we started our official child creation attempts back in September. I was so excited to tell my long-time doctor the wonderful news: I’m newly married, and we’re...

Produkt-Details

• Erscheint lt. Verlag: 24.10.2025
• Sprache: englisch
• Themenwelt: Literatur ► Romane / Erzählungen
• ISBN-13: 979-8-3178-1572-1 / 9798317815721