In times like these, everyone can use
A Cup of Comfort.
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About the Contributors:
A Cup of Comfort
A Cup of Comfort for
Friends
A Cup of Comfort for
Women
A Cup of Comfort for
Mothers & Daughters
A Cup of Comfort for
Inspiration
A Cup of Comfort for
Christmas
A Cup of Comfort for
Courage
A Cup of Comfort for
Teachers
A Cup of Comfort for Women
Contributors
Ellen Jensen Abbott ("Monday Morning") lives in West Chester, Pennsylvania, with her husband, Ferg, and children, William and Janie. In the predawn hours when the house is quiet, she writes middle-grade and young-adult novels.
Beth Rothstein Ambler ("A Bike with Pink Ribbons") began her writing career when she ended her career as an executive and started a new life as someone with multiple sclerosis. She resides in New Jersey with her beloved husband, Chuck, whose rivals for her attentions are Butkus, her Labrador retriever, and Syco, her 160-pound rottweiler puppy.
Nancy Baker ("Enjoy!") retired in 1999 from Texas A&M University in College Station, Texas, where she was a program coordinator in leadership training. Since retirement, she has pursued her lifelong love of writing and has published several stories and articles. Married for forty-three years, she and her husband have three children, eight granddaughters, and three great-grandchildren.
Gail Balden ("The Christmas Box") is a writer on the Oregon coast, where she teaches Creative Journeys Writing Workshops for Women. Her work has been published in magazines, journals, and anthologies. She is currently working on a book about growing up in a small town in the Midwest.
Joyce Lance Barnett ("Little Big Woman") has lived her entire life on the farm where she was born in Mills River, North Carolina. There, she and her husband, Carl, raised their two daughters in a medley of horses, hard work, and mountain grandeur. An artist and writer, her work includes both word and pastel portraits of the people, the animals, and her three grandchildren who now enjoy these magnificent mountains.
Peggy Bird ("The Moon, Two Stars, and Italy") is a writer who lives in Vancouver, Washington. Her daughter, Meg, lives across the Columbia River in Portland, Oregon. They are planning to take Meg's daughter Maggie to Italy any day now.
Lauren Cassel Brownell ("Emily's Front Porch") lives in Newton, Pennsylvania, with her husband and two-year-old son. A freelance writer, she is currently working on a children's book and has published several magazine articles.
Renie Szilak Burghardt ("Two American Ladies") was born in Hungary and immigrated to the United States in 1951. She lives in the country, where she enjoys nature, reading, and family activities. Her writing has appeared in numerous publications, including Whispers from Heaven, A Cup of Comfort, and A Cup of Comfort for Friends.
Christine Caldwell ("A New Year's Magic") has recently completed her first novel, The Complete Lily Lansing. She is a graduate of Rutgers University, Camden, and lives in New Jersey with her husband, Mark McCarthy, and her daughters, Brooke and Jillian.
Talia Carner ("Riding the Rapids" and "Walking in the Wind") lives in Long Island, New York, with her husband and four children. Her personal essays have been published in The New York Times, anthologies, and magazines. Her novel, Puppet Child, will be released in summer 2002, and two others will follow in 2003. Before becoming a full-time writer, she was a marketing consultant to Fortune 500 companies and the publisher of Savvy Woman magazine.
Anne Carter ("Heart to Heart"), a native New Yorker, resides with her husband and precious feline on Long Island, near her children and grandchildren. Her inspirational stories have appeared in several major publications, and she is currently working on a collection of stories about her family's life experiences.
SuzAnne C. Cole ("The Table"), of Houston, Texas, is a former college English teacher who now concentrates on writing. She is the author of To Our Heart's Content: Meditations for Women Turning 50 and other books, and her poetry, plays, and fiction have been published in magazines, newspapers, and anthologies.
Karen Deyle ("Traveling Companion") lives near the Finger Lakes region of New York surrounded by a loving family of choice. Her essays celebrate the joys of food, faith, friendship, and travel. A self-proclaimed travel fanatic, she keeps her backpack and passport by the door.
Hanna Bandes Geshelin ("A Hand to Hold") would be a full-time writer if she weren't side-tracked by homemaking, being Bubbe to her stepdaughter's daughter, gardening, volunteering in the local history museum, and visiting her elderly neighbors in Worchester, Massachusetts. Somehow, she still manages to write inspirational stories and to work on her fourth children's book.
Elizabeth P. Glixman ("Look in the Mirror, Darling") writes stories, essays, and poetry from her home in Massachusetts. She has a bachelor of fine arts degree in studio arts and a master's degree in education, and has worked in arts and education programs for children.
Sharon Hazard ("Joan's Lover") lives in Elberon, New Jersey. She wrote this story as a gift to her sister, Joan Tucker, who, in spite of her handicap, has always been an inspiration to Sharon.
Hedy Wiktorowicz Heppenstall ("Tree of Life") lives in Winnipeg, Manitoba. She is the writer-in-residence for the Manitoba Artists in Healthcare and co-facilitates a course called A Write to Joy. When her writing allows, she works as a nurse in a community health clinic.
Amanda Krug ("No Longer Strangers") lives in Fishers, Indiana with her husband and four children. Her award-winning stories have appeared internationally in books, e-zines, and newspapers. She is currently coauthoring a book with Devasis Jena about an ancient tribal community in India.
Heidi Kurpiela ("Six Summers Ago"), of North Collins, New York, majors in journalism at Buffalo State College. She writes for two newspapers and works in a bookstore.
Madaleine Laird ("Sharp Eyes") is a freelance writer and editor whose credits range from how-to articles and book reviews, to personal essays and textbooks. She lives with her husband, Carl, in Canyon Country, California, where she uses her sharp eyes to spot roadrunners in riverbeds.
b.j. lawry ("Pink Organdy") was a former reporter, feature writer, editor, and publisher of magazines and newspapers for thirty-six years. Retired now in the Arkansas hill country, she continues to write and has authored two published books, Desert Heat, a romance novel, and The Piper of Featherly, a mystery.
Rochelle Lyon ("A Little Taste of Heaven") is a homemaker and the matriarch to a large and ever-increasing family. She loves to write, and says that her home beside a small lake in Franklin, Texas, provides the perfect environment for reflection. She and her husband think it's the most beautiful place on Earth.
Donna Marganella ("The Women Who Made Me") has published short fiction and nonfiction, and favors humorous essays that reveal truths about contemporary life. By day, she is a high-tech marketing manager, but fails to see the humor in it. She lives in Carlsbad, California, with her husband, Kevin, who still laughs at her jokes.
Marsha McGregor ("These Small Things") is a freelance writer who lives with her husband, two children, and three cats in Hudson, Ohio. Her essays and articles have frequently appeared in The Plain Dealer Sunday Magazine. She also writes corporate and marketing communications for regional and national companies. Marsha is a member of the International Women's Writing Guild.
Robin Davina Meyerson ("The Wrong-Number People") is a former marketing communications director of a Fortune 300 company, who now works as an author, teacher, and speaker on self-improvement topics. She grew up overseas and currently lives with her family in Arizona.
Jann Mitchell ("Fairytale Endings") now lives a Cinderella life with her rediscovered Prince Charming near Stockholm, Sweden, and is learning Swedish. She and her prince travel widely and spend time in East Africa, where he works with AIDS patients and she sponsors a preschool. She is a freelance writer and motivational speaker.
Camille Moffat ("The Rising of the Sun") lives in the south and writes from her home on the side of a mountain overlooking the Shenandoah Valley. About her writing, she says, "I've always been grateful that I can write. After all, everyone needs a gift of some kind, and I'm a lousy cook."
Mary Jane Nordgren ("T Roses") is a retired teacher and family doctor now living with her husband (the principal in her book Early: Logging Tales Too Human to Be Fiction) in Forest Grove, Oregon. Their home overlooking snowcapped Cascade peaks often rings with the sound of children's laughter as they gather for family celebrations.
Barbara Nuzzo ("Camaraderie") lives with her husband, Ray, in North Brunswick, New Jersey. Her favorite pastime is traveling, which fits perfectly with her job as a travel agent. She'll go anywhere once, but is partial to France. An avid reader, she also enjoys writing and belongs to several writing groups.
Janet Oakley ("Technicolor Dreams") is the curator of education at Skagit County Historical Museum in LaConner, Washington, and teaches at a local college. She has published articles in historical journals and popular magazines, and has completed four novels. A recent widow with three grown sons, she still has dreams.
Marge Pellegrino ("Thanksgiving in Tucson") is a published author who leads creative writing workshops for all ages in libraries, schools, and other community settings. She resides in Tucson, Arizona.
Shannon Pelletier-Swanson ("The Truth About Dreams") is a freelance journalist, copywriter, and graphic designer. She also writes creative nonfiction and fiction. She shares a home with her husband, Ryan, and their identical twin daughters Presley and Shyann in Apopka, Florida.
LeAnn R. Ralph ("Valentine's Day Special") resides in the state of her birth and childhood, Wisconsin. A staff writer for two weekly newspapers, she also writes freelance stories about growing up on a dairy farm that her Norwegian great-grandparents homesteaded in the late 1800s. Her work appeared in A Cup of Comfort for Friends and A Cup of Comfort.
Barbara Rich ("The Mended Cup") relocated from the East coast to Southern California more than twenty-five years ago. A semi-retired secretary, youthful grandmother, and newlywed, she loves interior design and storytelling.
Kimberly Ripley ("To Pearlie, with Love) is the author of Breathe Deeply, This Too Shall Pass, a collection of tales about the trials and triumphs of parenting teenagers, and a contributor to A Cup of Comfort. She lives with her husband and their five children in Portsmouth, New Hampshire.
Julie Clark Robinson ("A Solid Investment," "Bountiful Gifts," "Demystifying the C-Word," "From Me to We," "On Turning Forty") fuses what she sees with what she feels to write her oddly reassuring column, "Such Is Life." Her essays have been published in Bride's Magazine and Family Circle. Once an advertising writer, and still David's wife and Reid and Jenna's goofball mommy, she can be found writing her heart out from their home in Hudson, Ohio.
Shaun Rodriguez ("Legend of the Perfect Girlfriend Girl") resides in Washington, D.C., with her husband and three children. A graduate of the Duke Ellington School for Performing Arts, she is an avid reader and lover of the arts. This is her first published work.
Therese Madden Rose, Ph.D., ("In My Mother's Heart") spent most of her life in Southern California. She is a special educator, psychotherapist, and writer. When she finds the time, she enjoys swimming, urban hikes, needlework, and traveling to visit her three adult children. She now resides on Long Island.
Julia Rosien ("Dishwashing Therapy" and "Well Furnished with Love") lives in Ontario, Canada, with her husband and four children. She teaches personal journaling and creative writing, and her essays have appeared in international magazines and newspapers. Words she tries to live by: "Happiness is a way, not a destination."
Nancy Scott ("Kneading the Bonds of Friendship") is an essayist and a poet with numerous bylines in regional and national publications, including ByLine, Dialogue, and The Philadelphia Inquirer. Two poems from her chapbook, Hearing the Sunrise, appeared in the disability anthology, Staring Back. She lives in Easton, Pennsylvania.
Lynn Seely ("My Time"), a nonfiction writer and book author, lives in Martinsburg, West Virginia, with her husband, John, and their two cats. The Seely's appeared on the television program Miracle Pets with Aggie, their heroic feline, the inspiration for Lynn's next book.
Pat Skene ("A Gift of New Beginnings") is enjoying her "arrivement" in the beautiful rural community of Cobourg, Ontario, Canada. She is an avid storyteller at the Ronald McDonald House and the Hospital for Sick Children in Toronto, Canada. Pat's first book, The Whoosh of Gadoosh, was released in June 2002.
Janie H. Starr ("Laura: Moving Friends Forever") holds master's degrees in public health and clinical psychology. In the mid-1980s, she left her private practice to work for issues relating to peace, justice, and community building. She has been a passionate speaker and writer on topics ranging from adolescent development and human sexuality to the nuclear threat, environmental sustainability, diversity, and now cancer, with her first book, Bone Marrow Boogie: The Dance of a Lifetime, a memoir.
Sarah Stockton ("Steering into Safe Waters") lives with her family in the San Francisco Bay Area, California. A writer and the executive editor of Centered Path Publishing, she also teaches and mentors on spiritual writing and creativity.
Cheryl Terpening ("Chrysalis"), of Ann Arbor, Michigan, is an occupational therapist for the visually impaired. She has a twenty-two year-old daughter and a ("brand-new") husband.
Gina Tiano ("Trip to Plentiful"), originally from Santa Fe, New Mexico, is a freelance writer and humor columnist living in tropical McAllen, Texas, ten miles from the Mexican border. By day, Gina works with her husband at his mortgage company. By night, she dances the meringue and sips margaritas.
Peggy Vincent ("The Four Marys"), a retired midwife, is the author of Baby Catcher: Chronicles of a Modern Midwife, a memoir. She lives in northern California with her husband of thirty-two years and her teenage son. Two adult children live nearby.
Sue Vitou ("Must Be Wednesday") is an award-winning writer with more than 200 published articles and essays. She lives in Medina, Ohio, with her four children, Matt, John, Brad, and Brenna.
Donna Volkenannt ("Julie's Gift") is a wife, mother, grandmother, godmother, sister, aunt, and friend. She lives in St. Peters, Missouri, and works for the Department of Defense. In her spare time, she enjoys reading and writing (but not arithmetic) and spoiling her grandchildren, Cari and Michael.
Davi Walders ("Duty Free") is an award-winning poet, writer, and education consultant. Her poetry and prose have appeared in more than 150 publications, including The American Scholar, Ms., and JAMA, and in numerous anthologies, including Words: Contemporary American Women Writers and Beyond Lament: Poets of the World Bearing Witness to the Holocaust. She developed and directs the Vital Signs Poetry Project at the National Institutes of Health and its Children's Inn for parents of children in treatment for life-threatening illnesses.
Dera R. Williams ("Quilting a Legacy") has resided in the San Francisco Bay Area of California for most of her life. She works in administration at a local community college. Her passion for researching her family's history has inspired her novel-in-progress.
Tracy Williams ("Fly Away") now works as a freelance writer after a career in newspapers, radio, and television. She lives in upstate New York with her husband, Robert, and daughters Lauren and Haley.