Friends

The Hard Days

/ Pam Goode / 6 Comments


Have you ever had a really good day turn into a really, really bad day in an instant? I’m not talking about Alexander his Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day. We all have those. Not fun, but they pass, and sometimes with cake involved.

I’m thinking about the pain of those we love. Those who mean the world to us, who take care of us from birth to death, from first glance to last, those who explain how the world works and tell you daily how much you mean to them, those who cherish your every glance, every grin, every messy floor, even when you’re sulky.

Sulky is hard, and harder some days than others. But the hardest is loss.

We all have to deal with it from time to time, but it never gets easier, does it? The only thing that makes us feel better is memory, and memory can fill your soul again and again and again.

So fill me up, Buttercup. We need to spread some extra love today.

Somebody needs us.

What else are we here for?

Photo by Pam Goode

Say Yes

/ Pam Goode / 3 Comments


Life is a funny thing. You can spend the bulk of your days with good friends for 10 years, and then directions and responsibilities change and Oh How You Miss Them! There are memories, of course — laughter, working together on heady projects, communal exhaustion, (and more laughter).

And then there’s this:

You travel 3,587 miles (unless you’re directed, oddly, through London, and then it’s a bit more), and end up spending 33 days in heaven — first with one of your best girls and then with two more.

Who says magic is an illusion?

Unplanned joy is one of the greatest gifts in our lives, and somehow … somehow, the wheels turn quite on their own and and we find our true directions without even looking.

Bliss is everywhere, but you have to be watching for it, and then you have to say Yes.

Always say Yes.


Inspired by a month-long artist residency graciously provided by Olive Stack Gallery, Listowel, Ireland

Book Release Coming Right Up!

/ Pam Goode / 1 Comment

It seems easy enough, right? Many claim to have penned this truth: “Writing is easy. Just open a vein and bleed” — and no doubt we’ve all felt it, whether during middle school exams or penning a verse to a would-be lover.

But the truth is, writing is sometimes hard and sometimes easy, but editing and publishing can extinguish god’s own holy spark in the best of us. Not that I’ve ever been particularly holy.

Regardless, I believe I’ve just pulled myself through the last hoop atop the last hill (and yes I CAN hear you laughing in the background) and have pushed the appropriate buttons to make the July 24 release date.

Can you hear my wild self-applause????

Touch of Fire by Pam Goode, available as e-book or paperback July 24, available for e-book pre-order July 10, aka, NOW.

Pre-Order Link here. Let’s roll!

Bowling Lady Watering Can

Good Neighbors

/ Pam Goode / 10 Comments

Chalk Drawings

Good Neighbors:

Put your newspaper on the porch if it looks like rain.

Don’t let their dogs sit on your flowers.

Offer to run to the store when you have the flu AND small children.

Use the back door.

Sit on the porch with you and watch the world go by after a long day.

Smile and wave when you’ve invited three friends and six toddlers and a couple of dogs to set up kiddie pools and hoses on the “beach” you’ve made in your shared driveway.

Leave fresh fruit or veggies or flowers by your door sometimes without even a note, because a gift is a gift and they’re not in it for the recognition.

Leave sweet hellos and chalk drawings “just because.”

Walk your dog when it’s raining because they’re walking theirs anyway and they’re already wet.

Don’t look at you with the sad pity face when they hear you have cancer or have lost a job, but walk right over with a bottle of prosecco and a funny movie and say “Get on the couch, we’re gonna laugh for a while.”

Thank you for planting and pruning and weeding and making the neighborhood all homey and happy, and order a pine straw delivery as a thank you.

Notice when they haven’t seen you in a few days and knock on the door to make sure you’re okay.

Don’t call the police when you really need to blast out Earth, Wind and Fire and DANCE for just one song.

Love it when your kids knock on their door and ask for a popsicle.

Will laugh and claim they were awake anyway when your alarm accidentally goes off at 3 AM two nights in a row.

Share cuttings of Aunt Myrtle’s heirloom perennials.

Always wave. Because nothing beats acknowledging the existence and validity and humanity of those we live among, and we all very simply need that.