Hello everyone, and welcome to my new website!
You will see it has a contemporary look and is also more user friendly.
Happy Thanksgiving and welcome to my first blog post I am writing in 18 months.
As this is Thanksgiving, it seems appropriate to speak to some of the gifts I am thankful for. I am thankful for many things, the first of which is the launch of Amazing Grace, which is my second book, and the sequel to Amelia’s Prayer. I am excited to share this with you over the next few months.
It is impossible to write a blog without addressing the COVID-19 virus. Many of us are struggling and going through very challenging times in our history. Understanding, wearing a mask, social distancing, and washing my hands as I follow simple instructions not only keep myself safe but also those I cherish and the people I love.
Thanksgiving this year will look very different for most of us smaller family gatherings, and we may not see some of the family members. I intend to make the best of the season. I hope to enjoy the splendour of October, my personal favourite season.
I love walking through the local woods and seeing the glories of the trees as they show off the many different shades of autumn, some with delicious local apples, sweet and juicy! The light this time of the year is warm and beautiful. The evening light is magical, and the October harvest moons are magnificent. October will bring us two full moons, October 1st being a harvest moon, and October 31st, a blue moon. Make sure you see it as it occurs only every fifty years!
I wish you all a Thanksgiving we can remember as simple, joyful and most importantly, safe.
Blessings to everyone, and keep smiling.
I would like to share particularly special memories with you today as we approach this remembrance day on November 11th. 888,246 lives were lost and many more wounded.
In the summer of 2014, Gary and I visited England when, at the same time, the world was preparing to recognize and acknowledge the 100th anniversary of the beginning of World War One.
Towards the end of our visit, Gary and I had the pleasure of spending Father’s Day weekend with my younger brother, Paul, and his family.
We shared food, wine, music, memories, and stories about our Fathers. We discussed our Dads and Granddads in terms of their courage and the sacrifices they made time after time before, during, and after WWI and WWII.
Eventually, our conversations and thoughts moved to the Weeping Window display at the Tower of London. This display consisted of 888,246 ceramic poppies, each one meticulously handmade. Each and every precious petal was made with respect, reflecting the memory of our fallen fathers, sons, brothers, uncles, cousins, loved ones and all others who served. We think of the blood that was shed, the souls that were lost, and the boys that never came home.
The weeping window display was designed to commemorate the centennial of WW1. Each poppy was sold individually online. The funds raised were donated to the various charities supporting World War 1 and 2 veterans and the poppies were sold within hours of their being put up for sale.
This image evokes within me overwhelming sorrow, yet I find it to be inspiring.
Towards the end of our Father’s Day celebration, my brother presented me with one of the ceramic poppies from the Tower of London display!
This gift is so profound, it reaches into my soul and touches me!
Four years later, in 2018, the world is preparing to acknowledge and recognize the Centennial of the end of World War I. I have the honour of being invited to the Guelph Indigo bookstore to recognize the Centennial. I will be displaying my poppy from the weeping window display. I also hope to run a slideshow displaying pictures of a weeping window tour around Great Britain in 2014 along with my book, Amelia’s Prayer.*
Guelph is a particularly special location, as the author of the poem Flanders Fields, John McCrae, was from there.
It is my belief that when others look upon my poppy, they too will experience that same feeling. Therefore, this gift will continue to reach out and touch many for generations to come.
I pay homage to those who sacrificed all, that we may have the freedom to choose, the ability to laugh and cry, live, love and grow, and learn to live together in peace.
In Flanders Fields, the poppies blow
Between the crosses, row on row.
That mark our place, and in the sky.
The larks still bravely singing, fly.
Scares heard amid the guns below.
John McCrae (1872-1918)
*This blog was written in November 2018. Upcoming book events mentioned have since passed.
I am often asked, as I travel around promoting Amelia’s Prayer, to discuss who and/or what events inspired me to write Amelia’s Prayer.
Many things inspire me as a writer. I am fascinated with words, stories, and people. Some of my greatest sources of inspiration are singers and songwriters. Some intrigue me with their ability to tell a heartfelt story through music, all in the space of three or so minutes. In some cases, the music and lyrics are so moving that it can bring me to tears.
Other sources of inspiration have come and gone, however, I would like to share with you one person in particular that has always been a tremendous source of inspiration to me throughout the years.
Sir Michael Terry Wogan first caught my attention in 1968.
I used to listen to him on my little transistor radio, while under my blankets in bed late at night. I was 14 years old, and was supposed to be asleep.
I heard him on BBC, with his lyrical, singsong voice, and his brilliant humor. I did not really understand it, yet, something about him completely captured me. I was hooked!
I followed him through his 1970s BBC Radio. It was called “Afternoons with Wogan’‘. Who remembers “fight the flab” and “blindfold the goldfish”?
“Blindfold the goldfish, gag the cat, and give the Bab a biscuit” was his opening line!
Millions of women across the United Kingdom panted and stretched to his humorous exercise instructions for 10 minutes. It came on before the kids came home from school, and believe me, it had a lot more laughter than exercise!
When I emigrated to Canada in 1980, I was often asked, “What do you miss the most about England?” My answer always was, “Family and Friends, the North Sea, and Terry Wogan!”
Sadly, earlier this year on January 31 2016, Terry passed away.
The tears that fell from the English, and Irish, came in such a deluge. I could hear them in Canada.
What a sad day!
As for myself, I wept!
This week, to give thanks to Terry’s life, a Thanksgiving Memorial Service was celebrated at Westminster Abbey in London, England.
Family, friends, fans and numerous stars, came to honor him and pay tribute. Of course, they also came to bid him farewell. Well deserved!
Singer-songwriter Katie Melua sang “The closest thing to Crazy”. This was one of Terry’s favourite songs. Terry championed Katie through his radio show.
Peter Gabriel performed, “That’ll Do”. This is the song Terry chose for his favourite Desert Island discs in 2012.
As I listen to my podcast through my earphones under my blankets in my bed 50 years later, the sound of Terry’s giggles echoing throughout the Abbey of Westminster were indeed bittersweet.
As Joanna Lumley proclaimed in a poem specially composed by her for this sad occasion…….
“Oh, lucky cherubim and seraphim,
With breakfast hymns forever linked by him!”
As a closing to this blog, I leave you with my own gentle words…
How lucky can the heavens be, as they still, to listen and rejoice!
In the morning, when they awake, to hear his Master’s voice!
So long, farewell, goodbye, Sir Terry.
Sadly this is the end.
One more whisper towards the sky!
Thank you for being my friend!
– Christiane Banks