Chasing the Elusive Dream
Viewing comments for Chapter 4 "Learning Curves"A southern couple's journey in the 60's,70's & 80'
31 total reviews
Comment from royowen
It seems God was in your marriage whether you were aware of it or not, (I can track exactly where God entered and helped, just before His visitation, He opened a position that led to my conversion, and solved our monetary needs) your testimonial work here reveals His great love for you. Well done, beautifully written blessings Roy
Typo : Each of us (muching) a hot dog. Munching?
reply by the author on 11-Oct-2021
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It seems God was in your marriage whether you were aware of it or not, (I can track exactly where God entered and helped, just before His visitation, He opened a position that led to my conversion, and solved our monetary needs) your testimonial work here reveals His great love for you. Well done, beautifully written blessings Roy
Typo : Each of us (muching) a hot dog. Munching?
Comment Written 11-Oct-2021
reply by the author on 11-Oct-2021
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Thank you, Roy. Yes I did realize God was blessing us in many ways throughout our marriage. I saw many things over the years that seemed miracuous. We were loved even when we didn't deserve it. I was fortunate to marry someone who loved the Lord. He was a better Christian than I.
Beth
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You did the best you could, don?t doubt your abilities Beth, you didn?t ambush God.
Comment from Anne Johnston
Thank you for sharing this story about the early years of your marriage. I can relate to a lot of things, know what it was like to get by on very little. But those years of counting pennies, and struggling, were what made our marriage strong.
reply by the author on 11-Oct-2021
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Thank you for sharing this story about the early years of your marriage. I can relate to a lot of things, know what it was like to get by on very little. But those years of counting pennies, and struggling, were what made our marriage strong.
Comment Written 11-Oct-2021
reply by the author on 11-Oct-2021
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Thank you Anne. Those days were days when we had little money but we survived them and it did make our marriages stronger.
Beth
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You are welcome
Comment from RedMarie33
I love your stories about your early marriage years, I find them so interesting! I think they would benefit from a little more structure -- I know you said in the author notes there was no central theme, but perhaps some headings and maybe a "lesson learned" conclusion at the end of each section. Overall, though, a very entertaining read. (-:
reply by the author on 05-Aug-2013
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I love your stories about your early marriage years, I find them so interesting! I think they would benefit from a little more structure -- I know you said in the author notes there was no central theme, but perhaps some headings and maybe a "lesson learned" conclusion at the end of each section. Overall, though, a very entertaining read. (-:
Comment Written 05-Aug-2013
reply by the author on 05-Aug-2013
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Thank you for taking the time to read this and make suggestion even though it is no longer active. I'm sorry you gave me only four stars because it took away the six star rating it had, and bumped it down to a five. These stories will be part of a book and I don't want to moralize them, but simply tell it as it happened. Is there anything I can do to persuade to change the rating to a five?
Comment from Samuel Dickens
Oh, boy. So much of this sounds familiar. One difference, though, is that my first wife did know how to cook simple things. I knew a bit, too, so we got by okay in that regard. You talk about the heat and how just going to a movie provided welcome relief--yep. I used to enjoy going into a drug store for the same reason. Of course they had soda fountains back then, so that made them an even more ideal respite from the heat.
reply by the author on 20-Jul-2013
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Oh, boy. So much of this sounds familiar. One difference, though, is that my first wife did know how to cook simple things. I knew a bit, too, so we got by okay in that regard. You talk about the heat and how just going to a movie provided welcome relief--yep. I used to enjoy going into a drug store for the same reason. Of course they had soda fountains back then, so that made them an even more ideal respite from the heat.
Comment Written 20-Jul-2013
reply by the author on 20-Jul-2013
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Thank you Samuel, I really appreciate the review and comments. I remember those drug stores with soda fountains too. When I was a kid they weren't air-conditioned, but they had big circulating ceiling fans that made them cooler than anywhere else and big chocolate malts that were only 25 cents were so appealing.
Comment from Belinda
Another memorable chapter of your life, Beth. We learn from our stumbles, don't we? I bet you are an accomplished cook and homemaker by now, along with your other successes in life...:)
reply by the author on 19-Jul-2013
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Another memorable chapter of your life, Beth. We learn from our stumbles, don't we? I bet you are an accomplished cook and homemaker by now, along with your other successes in life...:)
Comment Written 17-Jul-2013
reply by the author on 19-Jul-2013
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Thank you so much, Belinda. I really appreciate the review and comment. I've learned a lot over the years. I'm still not the greatest housekeeper around, but no one complains about my cooking, except sometimes the lack of it. My husband is good cook too.
Beth
Comment from SonrisaEleutheria
Love the story. Can't wait to read more. Very inspirational. Can be any time period. Love the roller coaster part. Also loved the moldy pie in oven. When I'm reading one story , I didn't want it to end . I wanted to read more about it. Like the pie in the oven.
reply by the author on 16-Jul-2013
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Love the story. Can't wait to read more. Very inspirational. Can be any time period. Love the roller coaster part. Also loved the moldy pie in oven. When I'm reading one story , I didn't want it to end . I wanted to read more about it. Like the pie in the oven.
Comment Written 15-Jul-2013
reply by the author on 16-Jul-2013
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Thank you so much for the review and the affirmative remarks. I'm so pleased you liked it. If you want to read more you'll find one in my portfolio which is still paying called Developing Domestically. Two that went before this are also in my portfolio but they are no longer paying. They are The Adventure Begins and the The Saga Continue. They were written several years ago but recently revived.
Beth
Comment from Zaltana
Beth,
I enjoyed your "rambling essay."
I loved the way you intersperse the events with humor especially the part about the roller-coaster ride. I laughed when I read, "His arm left my shoulder...I stumbled off with weak knees, wet pants, and the conviction that when things go south, it's every man for himself."
The bit about the Tupperware in a hot oven which soon became a storage unit was so vivid. Nice use of description. For example: "inch-high growth of hairy gray mold."
The visual images were good. I could see the gracious in-laws and felt your relief at not knowing what they said.
So unexpected was the sentence, "By doing his homework, I learned a bit of Spanish, and he earned a passing grade. Earned is probably not the correct word..." How funny!
You may want to consider revising the sentence, "Since I was enrolled in college, we didn't want to move to a town with no college where I could complete my degree." Maybe something like "Since I was enrolled in college, we wanted to find a town where I could complete my degree."
Nice happily ever after ending.
This would made a nice piece in a collection of memoirs. Keep writing!
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The highest and the lowest rating are not included in calculations.
reply by the author on 16-Jul-2013
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Beth,
I enjoyed your "rambling essay."
I loved the way you intersperse the events with humor especially the part about the roller-coaster ride. I laughed when I read, "His arm left my shoulder...I stumbled off with weak knees, wet pants, and the conviction that when things go south, it's every man for himself."
The bit about the Tupperware in a hot oven which soon became a storage unit was so vivid. Nice use of description. For example: "inch-high growth of hairy gray mold."
The visual images were good. I could see the gracious in-laws and felt your relief at not knowing what they said.
So unexpected was the sentence, "By doing his homework, I learned a bit of Spanish, and he earned a passing grade. Earned is probably not the correct word..." How funny!
You may want to consider revising the sentence, "Since I was enrolled in college, we didn't want to move to a town with no college where I could complete my degree." Maybe something like "Since I was enrolled in college, we wanted to find a town where I could complete my degree."
Nice happily ever after ending.
This would made a nice piece in a collection of memoirs. Keep writing!
This rating does not count towards story rating or author rank.
The highest and the lowest rating are not included in calculations.
Comment Written 15-Jul-2013
reply by the author on 16-Jul-2013
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Thank you so much for the review and the nice comments. I really appreciate you sharing what you found especially likable about this piece. Since you find one sentence awkward, I will revise it. We didn't want to move at all, but certainly not to a town with no college.
You're the only one who gave me less than a five star rating. The FanStory rating system is a bit confusing. Most people give five stars or better unless they feel the writing is seriouly flawed. Some people get upset over less than five. In this case, it doesn't count against me since there is only the one.
Beth
Comment from Righteous Riter
The transition is good. The balance is good. The pace is consistent as the writer does a good job of leading the reader where the reader needs to go. This is a complete story that I see no changes to be made to.
reply by the author on 16-Jul-2013
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The transition is good. The balance is good. The pace is consistent as the writer does a good job of leading the reader where the reader needs to go. This is a complete story that I see no changes to be made to.
Comment Written 15-Jul-2013
reply by the author on 16-Jul-2013
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Thank you so much for the review and the nice comments. I really appreciate you taking the time to review this.
Beth
Comment from marion
Hi there
What an interesting slice of your life. I love the first quarter where the apple pie comes out of the oven - two weeks old and furry on top! Classic! Neat concise writing, but more importantly - very enjoyable to read.
Marion.
reply by the author on 15-Jul-2013
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Hi there
What an interesting slice of your life. I love the first quarter where the apple pie comes out of the oven - two weeks old and furry on top! Classic! Neat concise writing, but more importantly - very enjoyable to read.
Marion.
Comment Written 15-Jul-2013
reply by the author on 15-Jul-2013
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Thank you Marion, I did some dumb things and was forever embarrassing myself. I'm so glad you enjoyed reading it.
Beth
Comment from teacherdub
Dear Beth, your rambling sounds exactly like my early days. However, I was a single teacher with such a poor income that I often lived on peanut butter sandwiches and school cafeteria meals. (In the early days of teaching, they were provided for the faculty.) I so enjoyed this one. It made me sit back and take in a trip down memory lane.
I have been away from FS for almost a year, but I am again ready to read all your postings. I thoroughly enjoy them. God bless. td
reply by the author on 15-Jul-2013
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Dear Beth, your rambling sounds exactly like my early days. However, I was a single teacher with such a poor income that I often lived on peanut butter sandwiches and school cafeteria meals. (In the early days of teaching, they were provided for the faculty.) I so enjoyed this one. It made me sit back and take in a trip down memory lane.
I have been away from FS for almost a year, but I am again ready to read all your postings. I thoroughly enjoy them. God bless. td
Comment Written 15-Jul-2013
reply by the author on 15-Jul-2013
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Hi It is good to have you back. I've been here off and on. I went for several months without posting anything. I do appreciate you reading and commenting on this. Those were interesting days, weren't they? I'm writing this for my kids to know what it was like before they came on the scene. There is another posted in my portfolio that is still paying and along the same line called Developing Domestically if you haven't read it. It is actually the one that goes before this one.
Beth
