I suppose to have a new beginning, you have to have
something that draws you toward something else, different, new. Perhaps
tragedy, sadness, or boredom.
2014 had a personal profound impact on our family.
In August, my husband was diagnosed with Parkinson’s Disease. While we
suspected the cause of the tremors in his left hand and jaw, hearing those
words from the neurologist changed everything on a dime. I froze. No longer was
I the gal with a gazillion questions, because honestly, I wasn’t prepared for
the answers.
“I came home and visited the Michael J. Fox webpage
for his Parkinson’s foundation. There I read a ton of information, the most
important being, “Parkinson’s is a life altering disease, but it isn’t a life
ending disease.” That is the sum total of what I’ve read about it and that is
all I will ever read. I’m too busy living life and so is Clint. He doesn’t want
to know what he’s facing, because “it will take away from what I have today.”
Upbeat and positive as always, he keeps me laughing
and he actually thanks me for “laughing at my goofy shit.” “Why stop now,” I
tell him. “I’ve been laughing at, er, with you for many years.”
And so we go on, together, with our children and
grandchildren, grateful for all we have, which is considerable. The meds are
helping with the severe deterioration in strength. Clint can hold me again and
make me feel his arms around me. That loss was significant and it’s so
wonderful to have that back. We test his arm strength often, as good monitors
of health should.
I won’t deny that Parkinson’s has altered our lives,
and I won’t tell you that I don’t rail against whatever brought this down on my
wonderful darling’s head. I won’t even say that we’ve learned some profound
lesson from it all. What I can tell you is, 2015 will bring what it brings and
I wouldn’t want to begin a new year with anyone but him. I’ll be by his side
every step of the way, as he has always stood by me. He encourages, rallies me
when I flag, is my biggest cheerleader (looks great in the outfit too!) and
most of all, loves me for being just me.
I will leave you with the poem he wrote the day
after he told me he loved me—nearly 40 years ago. In May, we celebrate our 35th
wedding anniversary.
Letting
Just letting you be you
and letting me be me
Has brought about this
thing we do so naturally.
Without the slightest
tension or effort on your part,
I reached down deep
within my soul and offered you my heart.
You in turn repaid me,
with love of equal kind.
The sort you seek
forever and often never find.
So it’s not hard to
picture how such a love can be.
Just letting you be
you, and letting me be me.
We all have something to gain when we live by such
words. We begin each new year by reaffirming these words, and they have never
been truer than they are now.
While 2014 was my year of rewriting some of my
previously published books, 2015 is the year that I will have new stuff. At the
moment, I’m writing a novel set in 1920s New Orleans. I hope to have it
finished by April and off to a publisher.
In the meantime, I have a new release—Her Timeless
Obsession, with Musa Publishing. Here’s the blurb:
A love that transcends
time.
Ever the explorer,
Honey Danby discovers a treasure trove in her dusty 1910 London attic. Old
trunks filled with clothes, journals, and love letters written between two
lovers in 1810 entertain her and leave her longing for a time and a man long
past. Dressed in an irresistible gown from one of the trunks, Honey discovers a
heart-wrenching love story. When she learns that all was cruelly torn asunder,
the handsome soldier's loving words written to his H. catapult
Honey into an adventure that defies logic.
When, dressed in a
crisper version of the gown, Honey inexplicably awakens inside a rumbling
horse-drawn carriage, she discovers she shares the antiquated vehicle with the
man who tore the lovers apart. Can she convince this stranger to forego his
unreasonable demands, or will history repeat itself on a misty August morn in Green
Park?
About Brita Addams
Born in a small town in upstate New York, Brita
Addams has made her home in the sultry south for many years. In the Frog
Capital of the World, Brita shares her home with her real-life hero—her
husband, and a fat cat named Stormee. All their children are grown.
Given her love of history, Brita writes both het and
gay historical romance. Many of her historicals have appeared on category
bestseller lists at various online retailers.
Musa Publishing publishes Brita’s heterosexual
historical romances, including the rewritten and expanded, best-selling
Sapphire Club series, each with new titles. Again, each of the titles have
again hit the best-selling lists at various online vendors.
Tarnished Gold, the first in her gay romance Tarnished
series for Dreamspinner Press, was a winner in the 2013 Rainbow Awards,
Historical Romance category. The book also received nominations for Best
Historical and Best Book of 2013 from the readers of the Goodreads M/M Romance
Group.
A bit of trivia—Brita pronounces her name,
Bree-ta, and not Brit-a, like the famous water filter. Brita Addams is a
mash-up of her real middle name and her husband's middle name, with an
additional d and s.
Readers can find more information about Brita Addams
at any of the following places:
Monthly
column at The Novel Approach
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