One Hundred Things My Mother Taught Me A Million Times – Chapter 38

#38 - "You are not Ansel Adams, so always put people in your pictures.”
(Here's a photo that you could write a book from! Family members - 1950's)
When my first husband (of many) and I went on our 2-week honeymoon in 1966 to Colorado, Wyoming, Utah, Nevada, Arizona and New Mexico, we took lots of pictures of the many beautiful landscapes, but I only remember one, of me standing close to the edge of the grand canyon. It was the only photo we took that had a person in it. When I saw all those photos, none of which did the scenery anything close to justice, I flashed on what mom taught me a million times. “You’re not Ansel Adams SueAnn,” she’d say. “Put some people in the picture. Otherwise it just won’t be interesting.” Gaud, she was right again! Click on Read More below for the full story...

The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks by Rebecca Skloot

With a great husband, three loving children, five amazing grandchildren, great friends, and a plethora of books to read, I feel like I lead a charmed life (knock on wood). I am inspired to say this at the beginning of my review of The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks because this is one of those books that fills your heart to bursting and makes you feel happy to be alive.

I’m not sure how a book about a poor black woman whose cancerous cell samples are taken without her consent shortly before she dies of cervical cancer in 1951, can inspire such happiness! Nor how I can feel so elated to read about how that woman's cells are eventually grown in massive vats, leading to a cure for polio, breakthroughs in gene mapping and a multi-billion dollar industry. But I will try to explain. Click on Read More below...