|
Marie Bostwick | Choices Choices Everywhere A Choice!
April 26, 2010
Paper or plastic? Decaf or regular? Debit or credit? Every day, every one of us makes hundreds of decisions. As a matter of fact, a
study by Cornell University found that we make more than 200 daily decisions
just about food! (Personally, I suspect I’m above the curve on that score. For
me, chocolate choices alone "tip the scales" in that direction.) I have no statistical information on this, but instinct tells me that the
average woman has to make more decisions in a day than the average man. And one
thing I am absolutely certain: today’s women face more decisions, and weightier
ones, than our grandmothers ever did. Don’t get me wrong; I’m not pining for the old "Father Knows Best" days when men
made all the choices for their wives and the only career paths open to women
were nursing, teaching, or marriage. But, no matter your age or level of life
experience, the smorgasbord of choices we face today - marital, relational,
educational, vocational, reproductive, domestic, professional, and financial -
can be daunting, even paralyzing. Liza Burgess, one of the main characters in A Thread So Thin, the third
of my Cobbled Court novels, understands exactly what I mean. In her last
year of college and teetering on the cusp of independent womanhood, Liza is
stunned at the number and magnitude of choices she is now expected to make.
When Garret, her long-time boyfriend and the son of her unofficial second mom,
Evelyn Dixon, owner of the Cobbled Court Quilt Shop, surprises her with an
incredibly romantic and wholly unexpected proposal of marriage, Liza doesn’t
know how to respond. And when she is offered the job of a lifetime in far-off
Chicago, things get even more complicated - and confusing. As Liza says, "The
way I see it, the older you get, the more chance there is that the choices you
make now will screw up the whole rest of your life." She may have a point.
Things aren’t any easier for the more senior members of the Cobbled Court Quilt
Circle. With her mastectomies behind her, and her business finally on more
stable footing, Evelyn Dixon is looking forward to a quiet and restful winter in
the charming village of New Bern, Connecticut. But her boyfriend, Charlie
Donnelly, owner of the Grill on the Green restaurant, has other things on his
mind - mainly marriage to Evelyn. Evelyn loves everything about Charlie - his good looks, Irish brogue, dry sense
of humor, and generous heart. And he cooks, too! If she’d met Charlie thirty
years earlier, Evelyn would have jumped at his proposal. But what a woman wants
from life and love at fifty is different than what she wants at twenty. And
Evelyn has been scorched by love’s flame before. For the first time in her
life, she is enjoying her independence. Why did Charlie choose this moment to
press his suit, just when she’s worried about Garret and Liza’s future and
trying to figure out what to do about her mother? Eighty-year-old Virginia is
twice the quilter Evelyn is - and twice as stubborn, too, especially when it
comes to considering Evelyn’s suggestion that Virginia leave Wisconsin and move
to New Bern. Virginia is adamant; she doesn’t want or need her daughter’s help.
Evelyn isn’t so sure. So much for enjoying a quiet and restful winter in sleepy New England. Whether you’ve been following my Cobbled Court series from the start or
you’re making your first armchair visit to the village of New Bern, you’re sure
to relate to this tale of friendship, family, love, and the choices we must make
in their name. Some of the choices that Liza, Evelyn, and the other characters
who people the pages of A
Thread So Thin make will surprise you, some may make you clap your hands and
cheer, or brush back a tear, but one thing you can be sure of is that each of
these characters will make a good decision, the right decision, for herself. Isn’t that what we all hope to do? And (the paper versus plastic conundrum
notwithstanding) don’t you feel lucky to live in a time when people, and women
especially, can make their own choices? I know I do. But, what about you? How have the choices you’ve made impacted your life? Is
there a decision you faced in the past, an opportunity you seized or let slide
that if you had that chance, you’d make differently today?
Comments
23 comments posted.
Re: Marie Bostwick | Choices Choices Everywhere A Choice!
I hope I wouldn't change anything. The choices I've made--good and bad--are what's made me, me. Thanks for an interesting post.
(G S Moch 11:20am April 26, 2010)
There is a few things I have done it my life I would do over different if I had the chance. I would change a few thing in my life! We all make bad choices in life sometime and would like to change them.
(Gail Hurt 11:33am April 26, 2010)
I think that there are always some regrets, that in hind site we would change if we could
(Jeanine Lesperance 12:29pm April 26, 2010)
Looking back, there are some things I would have liked to have done differently, but they can not be changed...
(Colleen Conklin 1:27pm April 26, 2010)
Are there things in my life I wish I could change? For sure! I tell people all the time about them, and some of
them my friends consider shocking. However the life I lead is the one I'm leading because of the choices I
made, so I guess I'll take the choices I made because overall I'd say it's going fairly well.
Can't wait to read the new title! I'm also excited you'll be in Dallas and I'll have the chance to meet you.
(Sandi Shilhanek 4:52pm April 26, 2010)
I have made decisions in the past that I would love to undo. Not possible so I moved on & just got on with it.
(Mary Preston 5:31pm April 26, 2010)
Even though there were some choices that I wish I had done differently, They are what makes me me now. Maybe I wouldn't like the person I would have been or the life I would have lived.
(Karin Tillotson 5:50pm April 26, 2010)
I try hard to think things thrugh before making a decision. I know I don't always make the right one...and hind sight being 20/20...I think I would love to go back and change my choice....but then again, maybe not.
(Mitzi Hinkey 6:03pm April 26, 2010)
I think if I went back to change any decision, it would be what I majored in in college.
(Kelli Jo Calvert 6:07pm April 26, 2010)
Hind sight is always 20/20 and we all have made some bad choices but I wouldn't want to change anything in my life, even if I had the chance. I love who I am today.
(Rosemary Krejsa 6:20pm April 26, 2010)
I'm sure each of us has made a decision at some point in our lives that we wish we hadn't but we wouldn't want to change it now no matter what.
(Diane Sadler 6:23pm April 26, 2010)
My decision is that I truly enjoy your Cobbled Court series.
Blessings,
Marjorie
(Marjorie Carmony 7:00pm April 26, 2010)
Second guessing yourself takes a lot of energy away from your present day. Reliving the past is like Ground Hog's Day, the movie, in an ever circling loop.
(Alyson Widen 7:06pm April 26, 2010)
Hello Marie, Please enter me in your fantastic contest. I love entering and winning contests from FreshFiction.com too!
God Bless YOU, Cecilia
(Cecilia Dunbar Hernandez 7:27pm April 26, 2010)
Who doesn't have choices they
wished they could undo? The
problem that would cause would
be you'd probably never be
satisfied as others decisions
also effect yours.
(Lisa Richards 9:08pm April 26, 2010)
Well I don't know where to begin... there are so many things I wish I would have done differently, Not that I have a bad life because I DO NOT but maybe if i would have waited on things I would have more material things now BUT I have LOVE instead so ya know I don't think I would change much of anything after all.... good topic!!!
(Brandy Blake 9:15pm April 26, 2010)
I try never to look back, the choices I made were made with all the information I had at the time, more information and I might have made the decisions differently, but we don't have that. I always say hind sight is 20/20. Please enter me in the contest! Thank you!
(Brenda Rupp 9:20pm April 26, 2010)
I have some regrets in my life like everyone else, but I'm sure that if I lived my life over, I would make the same choices, not knowing what I do now. My life is a happy one and I love who I am today.
(Cathy Phillips 9:25pm April 26, 2010)
I took the opportunity to travel and work abroad in an exchange program for college students and the recently graduated. People thought I was crazy not to try to jump into a job and begin on a career. It ended up that I met and married while abroad and then travelled various countries due to his work. It was exciting and challenging. Am glad I did things that way.
(G. Bisbjerg 10:32pm April 26, 2010)
I joined the Peace Corps and was to
leave a month after graduating from
college. A week or so before I was
scheduled to leave, Our old 4-H agent
(and one of my references for the
Peace Corps) offered me my dream job
- develop 5 outdoor classrooms, write
the curriculums, and run the program
for a school district on Long Island. I
went with the Peace Corps because I
had already made a commitment and
had some training. The other job
would have been fantastic, but with
budget cuts, who knows how long I
would have had it. I met some
wonderful people and had some
fantastic experiences. I made the
right choice.
(Patricia Barraclough 9:56pm April 27, 2010)
I've made many choices in my life, some good and some bad, but each choice has let me to where and who I am today. I regret very few of my decisions to such a point that I'd go back and change them knowing that making that change would cause other changes and might prevent me from having the many joys I've also experienced in my life.
(Donna Holmberg 1:25am April 28, 2010)
Now that I am retired, there are many things that would have made things easier for me. But I love my family so, i would not want to lose them--so i guess it's do it all the same.
(Barbara Studer 1:31am April 28, 2010)
Thank you for your post, Marie. Judging by all the comments, you've provoked a lot of thought.
It's easy for me to look back and see a great many choices I made that I now regret. But---and it's a big but---I made these choices because it was my karma to do so. All that happened couldn't have happened any other way.
All I can change is what's ahead. And I'm working on it right now. That's the best I can do. That's the best anyone can do.
Keep up the good work!
(Mary Anne Landers 2:27am April 29, 2010)
Registered users may leave comments.
Log in or register now!
| 
© 2003-2024 off-the-edge.net
all rights reserved Privacy Policy