Guess who this is? Yes, it's me at age of 16, wearing my dancing clothes and shoes! Dancing was my life back in the good old, nifty fifties! Dancing helped me forget that just a couple of years before, I had been living in a refugee camp, as a DP girl of World War II.
I had forgotten about this picture, and the story that it accompanied. But both live on, on the web, where they fist appeared in 1998!
A few days ago I received an email from Richard Loller of Story House, which said---
-"Renie,We are featuring your story on our home page this week.Best wishes,Richard-- *******************************************************************************************THE PRESERVATION FOUNDATION, INC.Richard Loller, Publisher A Nonprofit Corporation Preserving the extraordinary works of “ordinary" people.preserve@storyhouse.orghttp://www.storyhouse.org/615 269-2433800 228-8517We are a 501c3 corporation. Donations are tax exempt."----
Wow, Really? I had no idea that Story House was still there. So I clicked back, and yes, there it was, along with the picture I had sent to go with the story, since I didn't have a picture of myself from the refugee camp.
It was 1998 when I had gotten my first computer, and I wanted to be a writer. And I found out about a contest Story House.org was having for writers, and wrote "A Refugee Camp Princess," just for that contest. It was my first ever attempt at such a contest, so imagine my surprise when my story won first prize in non-fiction, and I received a $100 dollar check for it! I was delighted that my story won, for it gave me the much needed boost to keep writing.
A little later, I rewrote the story and titled it "Discovering the Joy of Giving." And it went on to be published over a half a dozen times, including in Chicken Soup for the Sister's Soul 2, Chicken Soup for the Child's Soul, (yes, Chicken Soup reprinted it) Whispers from Heaven Magazine, Chocolate for Women anthology series, and just recently in Pure Inspiration Magazine. So the story has made the rounds, and did quite well, for which I am so grateful.
Before I make this much too long, I will put the link here to the old story, just in case any of you would care to take the time to read it. And if you do, I hope you enjoy it:
In a follow up email, Richard also said:---
"Renie,
Yes, it's still there. That's the purpose of our web site. To Preserve such stories for future generations. I don't doubt it will be there when Chicken Soup and all the rest have long been out of print. For it's a great one.
Good luck.
Good luck.
Best wishes,
Richard"----
Well, and thank you, Richard for your kind words and for featuring my old story, and for knowing that it will live on, on the web!
And thank you all for visiting and reading, and putting up with my reminiscing.
Have a wonderful rest of the week.
Blessings from the Woods!
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