Happy Christmas one and All!! What a wonderful morning with mild temperatures as we gathered at Season's 52 to discuss "Royal Holiday" by Jasmine Guillory. All the forecasts predicted a cold, blustery and overcast day - so the weather situation was a pleasant contrast to what we were prepared to experience.
Valerie arrived "uber" early to assure the staff was "on point" and ready to impress her guests with stellar service. She also wanted to organize the donations that the members and guests were bringing for the AnnieRuth Foundation.
We began our meeting with our opening prayer, delivered by Bonnie. It was both restorative and spirit filled as she gave thanks for all of our many blessings.
Valerie began our meeting component by asking Ms. Dee Wilcox, Executive Director of The AnnieRuth Foundation, to speak about her non-profit and give us some insight into their mission statement and purpose. We were enlightened and impressed by the services provided by this organization as well as continuing needs that we can assist with.
When we began to delve into the questions, Roz voiced her appreciation of a book that addressed mature relationships and sexual compatibility. This demographic is often forgotten in romance novels and novellas. JayBee mentioned how the book started off really slowly and was consumed (no pun intended) with waaaaay too much eating of the same thing, over and over again. This seems to be a repetitive theme of this author's books - not sure if this is by design, but it is very evident and overpowered the prose at some times. Now, everyone did not agree with this - and several members enjoyed the festiveness of the elaborate explanations of the delectable treats. This is what makes any book club discussion great; the ability to have open dialogue around topics that are not agreed upon.
The writing of notes and cultural differences was discussed at length. Many of us love writing notes to friends and relatives and Dianne even prefers communicating with written words. While this is a "British" tradition, some of us remember when sending postcards after a summer vacation was a ritual that we performed as children. We could hardly wait to receive postcards from "all over" to see where our friends and relatives traveled.
We really analyzed the relationship Vivian and Malcolm had. Were they moving too
fast? Should Vivian have remained in London longer? How did she know she could trust this man? Several of the ladies said that they would have remained in London longer, and someone mentioned that he had to be trustworthy because he was 'vetted" by the Monarchy. Are women too trusting when it comes to relationships? Is this situation reality? Do we as women get too caught up in romanticism? How do we know when to trust a new man in our life...a week, month, year?? Is age a factor in the decision making process? Several of the ladies said that they would have remained in London longer, and someone mentioned that he had to be trustworthy because he was 'vetted" by the Monarchy.
Well, Ted Bundy was vetted by the U.S. Government, had security clearance and even wrote a pamphlet on "Rape Prevention". Bundy was so charismatic that his victims trusted him easily... (sounds of me clearing my throat) "Toodles, Malcolm!"
Valerie asked everyone about some of their Christmas traditions and origins. She mentioned that her nuclear family has embraced some new traditions of their own. They enjoy going to the "Boat Parade" on Thanksgiving night. Jackie talked about her
family traditions prior to the recent transitioning of her parents and her need to
create new ones, and how that looked for her during Thanksgiving. Sharon talked about how her Mother really enjoyed Thanksgiving and that was "her" holiday. I also had to interject how her Daddy, Mr. Herman, bakes the best fruit cakes every Christmas and sells them. Over the 30+ years since I have known Sharon - I sampled her father's cakes many time and I can say that they are the absolute BEST!
As we were completing our discussion, Valerie asked if there were any lessons received while reading the book. Val called on JayBee, who mentioned that she read several, and elaborated on Miles' decision to follow his dreams and his rationale centered around the passing of his father at a young age. This morphed into the discussion of mortality and how that can impact our everyday decisions. Guest, Carol "chimed" in with some personal observations regarding mortality in her professional field..
Lunch was excellent and everyone enjoyed their desserts. We were treated to a "spoken
word" presentation by Ale'ta Turner and she also spoke to us about her novella, "Hold On Love, Lust Is Calling" . Ale'ta did admit that this was her very 1st book club meeting that she attended. How amazing is that!!
The Cherry on top for this meeting was the outpouring of philanthropic support that our members and guests demonstrated on this day. Like I said..."We Shopped, Showed Up and Slayed" this initiative. This was U.S. G.I.R.L.S. and Guest 2.0 for sure.
There were toys for infants, toddlers and teens and toiletries as well as other items for Senior Citizens. When I say it was a "Truck Load" I mean a TRUCK LOAD!! I do not think another item could have fit in the truck. Director, Dee Wilcox (pictured on truck) was overcome with emotion and gratitude, and we were so humbled to assist.
Before Valerie dismissed the meeting, she asked everyone to look in their parting gift bags. Enclosed were Yankee Candle automobile air fresheners. They looked like bracelets and were so NEAT!!
Thank you, Val for our trip across the pond to witness the mature relationship between Vivian and Malcolm evolve into love. It was a royal holiday indeed!! "Happy Christmas"
