“If I had a wish that I could wish for you
I’d make a wish for sunshine all the while”

I am listening to ‘Sunshine on my shoulders” by John Denver and thinking about the book I have recently read, which has had a great impact on my own life. Heather Summerhayes Cariou wrote to me last year and lost no time in sending over her book, based on her real life, for a review. I am out of excuses for delaying reading and reviewing the book but I know that the loss was entirely mine.

Steady as a rock, families help each other live and love life, despite all odds. The Summerhayes are an excellent example of how ordinary people behave extraordinarily when faced with challenges. Taking care of a young child suffering from ‘Cystic Fibrosis’ (which the little child pronouces ‘Sixtyfive Roses; hence the title) while keeping the family together, diligently doing everything possible to delay and even conquer death, is easier to read, write and say than doing it actually. Each member of the family has their own shortcomings and strengths but they end up bringing their best sides out. Donna Summerhayes, the mother, is one person who has inspired me tremendously. The lady does not know what ‘giving up’ means and single-handedly ties her family together. You will stop whining the next time you open your mouth to complain about ‘how I manage the house and the baby and my work’ once you read the book. What the lady of house can do for it is clearly visible in this real life story.

Read the detailed review at DotComWomen: Book Review: Sixty Five Roses - A Sister’s Memoir by Heather Summerhayes Cariou

And don’t forget to buy your copy today! Whether you are parents or relatives of a special need child OR Not (I am not), you will identify and learn with this fabulous memoir written by a sister.

It was a pleasant surprise to see Victoria magazine on the magazine stands. It is a dainty old magazine and anyone with a flair for all things charming, feminine and old-fashioned will easily fall in love with it.

As for myself, I shared a strange relationship with this magazine. I loved this magazine and still, somehow found it lacking in something. But I also could not stop gazing at each beautifully laid out page for hours. And the new magazine - well, the photos are still great but maybe a little less than the original magazine. But the ’something lacking’ has been reduced considerably! There is lots more in terms of real content and more tips and ideas as opposed to just breathtaking ‘finds’ and ‘purchases’ to ogle at.

They have come back since Christmas 2007 with bi-monthly issues. The Christmas issue has a Christmas tree on the cover making the magazine look very festive. The second issue is a beautiful arrangement of pretty things in white and looks devoted to the beauty of winter season. I am yet to browse through but it looks very promising and as I always think of it - Charming.

My love for times and eras gone by and everything beautiful, in general, makes me pickup so many books just for their covers. ‘The Road to Yesterday’ is one such book that has a pretty cover illustration but it wasn’t just the cover that made me pick it up. The name Lucy Maud Montgomery means a lot to me. It means getting lost in those charming old-world villages which are surrounded by beautiful scenery and delightful people. Something always seems to be going on in such places and takes you far away from your existing world. I consider such ‘mental breaks’ very necessary for the mind to relax. I had these expectations in mind when buying ‘The Road to Yesterday’, a quick glance at the back cover seemed to confirm it and now that I have read the book, I am so glad I did.

The book comprises of several short stories that you may, if you wish to, read separately. But the fact that they are all related to each other in more than one ways, makes it advisable to read them all together as you would read a complete novel. The stories are all set in a small village - Glen St. Mary’s - in Canada and all stories have repeated mentions of the same places and people. The Blythes who are a respectable couple are mentioned in every story and you will find references to names of persons, places and events from the other stories in every story. These ’stories’ are really incidents and events that happen to different households of the same neighborhood which is what makes them seem seamless from the first page of the book to the last. I was reading the reviews of some other readers and was surprised to find that they found the continuous reference to the Blythes and other common references ‘annoying’. I will have to disagree with them here and speak out my own opinion for you. It was this particular style of the author’s writing that made me love the book. It is this common thread that weaves the stories together and you never seem to go out of the beautiful world created within the charming village and it’s lively people.

The stories or rather incidents that happen to different people or households living in the same village are almost all very dear to my heart and have something for everyone in them. Romantics will find a lot of romance and beautiful scenery described, homemakers will find a lot of details  on gardening and cooking and families will find so much to do with parenting. The innocent kids, unmarried ‘old maids’, young hearts, old men content or discontent with their lives, married couples devoted to each other and gossipy housekeepers all make this village bustling with activity and one you would never want to step out. There is so much to laugh at and so much to cry for.

The book starts with a poem ‘Canadian Twilight’ which sets a beautiful canvas for the rest of the imagery. The stories ‘An Afternoon with Mr. Jenkins’, ‘The Cheated Child’ and ‘The Twins Pretend’ bring out the innocence and playfulness of children and will be loved by parents or anyone who had had anything to do with kids. ‘Penelope Struts Her Theories’ will bring a good laugh for all moms reading the book and most of them will identify with her. I know I did! ‘The Pot and the Kettle’, ‘Fancy’s Fool’ and ‘The Road to Yesterday’ are feel-good young romance stories that are always liked. ‘Fool’s Errand’, ‘A Dream Come True’, ‘The Reconciliation’ and ‘Retribution’ are a lovely read for middle ages and have a lot of freshness in them. I cried at one point reading ‘A Commonplace Woman’ and would have wished the story to be included somewhere in the middle instead of at the end of the book. I would love to have closed the book smiling like I did after so many stories contained within.

‘Brother Beware’ is an amusing story and if you think hard, you might be able to identify with it if you are a woman. You will know what I mean when you read it yourself. I had a broad smile playing over my lips as I read it to the end. I was thinking of my own courtship period with my DH when we were in college. I was trying hard not to laugh when I thought of the look on his face when I told him that I had known for the past one year that he loved me and was going to propose to me. He had been even more bewildered to find out that I had the same feelings for him all along. He admitted later that he had felt like a fool then. Well, all women are like that I know that men secretly love the way women ‘ill-use’ them and ‘make fools out of them’. That is the very beginning of love, isn’t it?