Please welcome Karen S. Elliott — the Word Shark today. As I
promised last week, Karen is sharing her wit and wisdom here. I appreciate Karen taking the time to stop by. Thanks.
Now, take it away Karen:
I have been connected with Stacy for so long, I cannot honestly remember how we connected or when. The important thing – we connected.
She recently posted
A few tips from a blog groupie on my blog - a great post about getting around on blogs, how to connect with others, how to share (and be shared).
Stacy invited me to write a post for her blog. So I blasted over and dug deeper into Stacy’s blog, wondering, “What should I write about?”
I revisited her
About Me page. I know I looked at it back when, but as the extravagance of blogging and tweeting and Facebooking shows us, we can sometimes lose that personal touch.
By visiting that About Me page, I was reminded what we have in common.
The early years – At 8 y.o., Stacy liked skating, biking, and eating mustard. I liked skating and biking. I did not like mustard. I wore the old metal skates, the ones that pinched your toes and fell off only when you were screaming along at five miles an hour. I have the scars to prove it. What’s with the mustard? Pass the mayo.
Teen years – In high school, Stacy was voted “Most Likely to Succeed.” I was the captain of my Color Guard in my senior year, an honor I still flout to this day. I consider that a success even though it was barely written up in the yearbook.
Study and Experience – Stacy studied journalism, worked at a Newspaper, was an Editor – for two decades? I thought she was my son’s age. She must have an awfully good photographer. I studied Gregg Shorthand, typing, and was happy to work at a steno job with a huge corporation on the east coast. But I was a secretary extraordinaire and department VPs came to me to sub for their secretaries.
Languages – Stacy has studied Italian – In Italy! I studied German and went to Germany. Since, I’ve collected books and dictionaries for Swahili, Russian, Swedish, French, Thai, Welsh (my roots), and a couple dozen other languages. I learned American Sign Language working at the NM School for the Deaf. On my bucket list is to spend a month or two in Wales and really immerse myself in their language.
Publishing – Stacy has been published all over the place – no wonder there. She’s a great writer, and she knows how to edit. I’ve been published, here and there.
Writers’ Club - We have both been associated with the SouthWest Writers club! She won an award for a Memoir Category, and I won an award for “Best Hook.” See? Our affiliation is destiny.
Travel – Stacy has been in Italy, Africa, the U.K., and Puerto Rico. I’ve been in Germany, Mexico, Canada, on a cruise through the Virgin Islands.
Through the U.S. – Stacy is a native of Georgia, lived in North Carolina, Texas, and now Colorado. She’s been in WA, OR, ID, CA, NE, MS, FL, SC, VA, SD, NM, and a lot of states in between. Whew. I’ve been in Maine numerous times, all up and down the East Coast (born and raised in Delaware), through to Florida, all over the SW, all over California, the Midwest, through Nevada, Utah, Arizona. I’m now in the nether regions of North Dakota, spitting distance to Canada.
Stacy lives in Colorado Springs – I’ve been there (thanks to my son’s service the U.S. Air Force). What a wonderful place. The Air Force Academy and their chapel is the place to see.
Family – Stacy has one boy. I have one boy and two grandsons. She has a husband … uh, moving on …
We all have commonalities, we all have differences. The sameness draws you together; the differences are surprising rewards and help you grow.
What commonalities and differences do you notice in your best friends? Your closest confidants? Your writing associates?
Coming together is a beginning. Keeping together is progress. Working together is success. ~Henry Ford
The most beautiful discovery true friends make is that they can grow separately without growing apart. ~Elisabeth Foley
Karen was raised by a mother who wanted to be an English teacher and who worked for Merriam-Webster as a proofreader and an aunt who could complete the Sunday New York Times crossword puzzle in a day. Their favorite expression was, “Look it up!” Karen reads punctuation and grammar manuals for fun. Her favorite book is the dictionary.
Posts
