WLM Member Monday – Nancy Gould Gomoll

Victoria Twead:  It’s Member Monday! Please give one of your best WLM welcomes to Nancy Gould Gomoll who has agreed to sit in the hot seat and answer all our questions today.

Victoria Twead: Morning Nancy, that is a really beautiful photo, where and when was it taken? Hope you enjoy yourself today.

Sharon Carter Figueiredo: Unfortunately Nancy Gould Gomoll I will be out all day today so will not be able to participate much. But, I am sure you will have a great day with all the WLM friends.

Anne Chapman: Good morning where were you born and where do live now ?

Charlotte Smith: Morning Nancy. Gosh what a lot of interesting things to talk about today. Where were you when the tsunami struck?

Frankie Knight: I want to hear about the arrest – where? when? any fine?

Jennifer Ziton Bendriss: Yeah, me too… public drunkenness? Can’t wait to hear about that one!!!

Julie Haigh: Good morning Nancy-hope you enjoy your Member Monday! Lots of interesting facts about you in the speech bubbles-I look forward to learning more about you.

Janet Hughes: Hi there Nancy, let’s see if the smell of coffee can entice you……

Bambi Flanner: I hope it’s a great Member Monday for you Nancy. I’m off to work in a minute, so I’ll have to pop in and out all day. But why did you get in the Amazon if you knew there were man eating fish?

Julie Haigh: Mmm lovely! Thanks Janet.

Micki Stokoe: Morning, Nancy! Hope you enjoy your turn in the Spotlight! You are really well travelled – was that through holidays or work? I’d love to see the butterflies in Mexico!

Janet Hughes: Scat, is that the feline kind, like a scat diary?

Valerie Robson: Hi Nancy, yes please more about that beautiful photo of you and the little girl… xxx

Becky Corwin-Adams: Good morning, Nancy. I hope the arrest wasn’t because of a beverage you got from the WLM wine cellar.

Frankie Knight: Janet, surely scat = poo?

Julie Haigh: Or jazz improvisatory singing like Cleo Laine?

— So am very unsure what these photos of scat could be!

Janet Hughes: Scat sure does have a lot of meanings, the urban dictionary ones are – Yuck

–Carbohydrates needed, plus more caffeine

Julie Haigh: Yes indeed Janet! urban dictionary lol!

Nancy Gould Gomoll: Good morning to all my fellow WLM friends. So good to see you all joining me this morning. Thanks Janet Hughes for the breakfast. I can use that

— I hope I can keep everyones questions straight and get them answered for you today. I am lousy at typing so bear with me! Victoria Twead, you and Valerie Robson asked about my photo. It was taken during one of my medical mission trips to Kenya. I have been blesses with the opportunity to do medical mission work in various parts of the world and have a special love for East Africa (been there 5x both to vacation and do short term medical work). This was taken a few years ago in a rural village where we were working. We would see several hundred people a day for medical care. It was very rewarding and humbling as these people would often walk for hours to get to us.

Cherry Gregory:  Great to see you in the spotlight, Nancy. You sure have travelled a lot! Did you travel much as a child, or has it only been as an adult?

Rowena Cardwell: Hi Nancy Gould Gomoll, obviously morning in your part of the world. Just wondering, what is your background? You have achieved so much.

Nancy Gould Gomoll: Anne Chapman, you asked where I was born and where do I live. My life is pretty boring next to some of you worldly people who live in such exotic places ! (That is why I read your books … to live vicariously through you!!) I was born in Detroit, Michigan, right in the city My dad worked for the city and at that time city workers had to live in the city. Way back then, it actually was a very nice city, but I wouldn’t go there now For the past 42 years I have lived in East Lansing, Michigan, a lovely college town, home of Michigan State University (where I did my undergraduate work). I love it here as it has culture with the university but is also somewhat rural. While I live in the city, I actually get deer and wild turkeys in my yard all the time.

— Charlotte Smith, I was at home when the tsunami hit. A friend of mine, who I had done medical mission work with in the past, called to se if I would be part of a medical team going to Sri Lanka to help the survivors of the tsunami. He didn’t have to ask twice. I had 3 weeks to get ready for the trip. My youngest daughter, who is a medical practitioner, went with us. The organization we traveled under does medical disaster work around the world (I have traveled with them 2x). We were all seasoned medical people, but we all agreed that this was the most difficult trip emotionally that we had ever been on. It was really life changing and I feel so blessed to have had that opportunity. It was specially nice to be able to share it with my daughter and to watch her endlessly treating patients and giving so much of herself.

— Ha ha ha Frankie Knight, the arrest!!!! That is a great story that I love to tell. No I was not drunk! It happened when I was in grad school and several of us went to a resort town on the 4th of July (a US holiday) to enjoy the day at the beach. It was a rather overcast day and cooler so we went into town for a drink. Everyone else had the same idea so it was quite crowded. We ended up buying a 6 pack and sitting on the back of the car people watching. This was in 1069 during the port-smoking hippy days and a lot of rough motor cyclists were cruising the streets just daring the police to stop them. We grad students were just watching the show when along came a policeman and arrested me (ONLY ME!!!) for “open container of alcoholic beverage on a public street”! As i was the only one of our group whose hand was actually touching my beer at the time, I was the only one arrested (though several hundred other nice young professionals were also arrested the same way!). Yes, I was thrown into jail and the next day faced a $100 fine. The ironic part was that those of us arrested were financially supporting the town by buying drinks while the trouble-seeking motor cyclists were left alone (for fear of REAL trouble). By the way, the law about open container of alcoholic beg on a public street was an unposted village ordinance!!!!!!!! That sucked, but again it does make for a funny story now!

Janet Hughes: Julie Haigh, yours is here

Nancy Gould Gomoll: Janet Hughes, the smell of your coffee is wonderful, specially at this time of the morning. Thanks SOooo much. I may need refills soon!

Janet Hughes: Coming right up….

Nancy Gould Gomoll:  Yummy sweets Janet Hughes. Are those made with rhubarb??

Julie Haigh: Rhubarb crumble

Nancy Gould Gomoll: My scat photo series started as a joke (and continued) about 12 years ago when I was kayaking and backing on a remote island in northern Michigan. There are moose, fox and wolves on the island. As I love to photograph nature, I was taking pictures of the “flora and fauna” of the island, but I had not seen any wolves. I did see the wolf droppings so knew there were in the area. I decided then to take pictures of “where the wolves had been” and started taking the poo pics!!! My friends were laughing at me, but I told them that it is important to be able to recognize different animal droppings so you know if they are in the area (something my dad had taught me on nature walks in the woods). This turned into my scat series and continues into Africa when I took pics of elephant, zebra and giraffe poo! By that time it was a joke with my co-workers and they loved seeing my latest collection of poo pics!!!!!

–I have also taken series photos that I call “squatty potties of the world” and “sex on the Serengeti”!! Was going to take a series of disables animals of the Serengeti, but by the time I had seen a bunch of qualifying animals it was too late to begin the series

Janet Hughes: Sounds like a coffee table book Nancy, “Scatty Days and Batty Ways” or something like that

Nancy Gould Gomoll: Oh I like that idea Janet!

Dodie Shea: Good morning Nancy. You have certainly lived an interesting life. You say you photographed the Monarch butterflies. Have you studied their decline in recent years?

Nancy Gould Gomoll: Cherry Gregory, no I did not travel as a child. When I was a teenage my parents and I did drive up to Alaska and back, a beautiful trip that took weeks to complete, though at the time my teenage mind didn’t fully appreciate it! I became a single parent when my children were little, so my time then became working to care for them and saving to get them through college. My travel didn’t really start until I was 50 yrs old. I had always wanted to travel but it was just a dream. Then I realized if I made it a priority I could do it. It started when my youngest daughter wanted me to take her to Florida for her high school senior spring break. I knew that was expensive and I couldn’t afford it, so I found a trip to the Amazon that was cheaper!!! It was life changing for her. from there I took my other children 1:1 on a vacation. The idea was to expose them to other cultures and the stipulation was it had to be to a country that was non-westernized and where they would probably never go on their own. My one dtr and I went to Africa, and my son and I went to Thailand, Myanmar and Viet Nam. When I got into medical mission work that took me to other places, plus I vacationed to other places with my kids.

Cherry Gregory: That impressive, Nancy. I like it that you did all the real travelling after age of 50…there’s hope for me yet! And great that you were motivated by wishing to expose your children to non westernized cultures. Good on you!

Frankie Knight: Thought you said earlier that you hadn’t travelled, Nancy???? Sounds as if you really have been around in your tea half hour!!!!

–From what you say I assume you were medically trained?

–Tell us about swimming with piranhas: most normal folk swim with dolphins….

Nancy Gould Gomoll: Frankie Knight, I never traveled when I was young (other than Alaska), and not really as an adult until later. I certainly never moved places to live and am very much a homebody most of the year!..Yes, I am medically trained. I have my masts degree in Occupational Therapy and worked most of my life in adult rehabilitation in a hospital setting, increasing the functional independence of people with head and spinal cord injuries, brain tumors, strokes, other traumatic injuries… When I go on medical missions, I work in the pharmacy counting pills and dispensing medicines!

–Frankie Knight, swimming with piranhas was just one of those things that I had to do since the opportunity was there! When we were in the Amazon we went fishing for piranha so we knew they were in the water. As it was very hot there, we also swam in the river. At first it was pretty un-nerving, but our guides assured us we would be safe, and we were! Just another of those “must do” opportunities!!!

–There are pink dolphins in the part of the Amazon where we were. That was interesting but we didn’t swim with them!

–Rowena Cardwell, sorry to have taken time to answer you. My background is medical as is that of all my children. I have just really been blessed by the opportunities to travel later in life, and to be able to share in these experiences with my children as adults. Both of my daughters have done mission work with me, and my youngest has gone on several medical disaster relief trips with me – one to Sri Lanka and one to Guatemala after a mud slide wiped out a community. She has also spent 9 weeks in Ethiopia and worked with lepers there.

Steven Whitacre: I’ve seen the butterflies on their way to Mexico, but can’t imagine how beautiful it must have been to see all of them together at once. Do you still have any photos of them?

Nancy Gould Gomoll: I do have photos Steven Whitacre. I have been trying to attach a few on this but do not know how to do that I am on a Mac laptop so would welcome any advice on how to do this. I cannot seem to be able to get to my iPhoto library from this page. It was incredible to see literally millions of Monarchs in one place. The trees were totally covered with them so that you couldn’t see the green of the trees. You could stand and hear them fluttering all around you. An amazing sight. We had to drive and then go by horseback up the mountain to where they were.

— I think I have got it! Will try to download more! This is a terrible pic of nothing!!!!!

Frankie Knight: Have seen that – but just on TV. Must have been incredible standing among them.

Judi Bedford-Keogh: Nancy, I think the arrest was in 1969 not 1069 but I could be wrong.

Frankie Knight: Nancy, you say you brought up your 3 children as a single parent. Are you still on your own? If not, what does your O/H think of you travelling about?

Charlotte Smith: Nancy you have obviously travelled a lot. What’s left on your list of places that you would like to visit and what has been your favourite place so far?

Jacky Donovan: Crikey all that talk about poo made me think I was in the wrong thread! It’s the sort of thing some of my clients ask for and I refuse to offer! I shan’t elaborate further… Loving hearing about your life Nancy Gould Gomoll. Turned out I wasn’t needed in court at all – they cancelled the stupid charge against the people who committed the crime but failed to tell people like me that we didn’t need to show up. One of the frustrations of live in Gran Canaria. But, hey ho, the sun is permanently shining and the sky is always a beautiful blue so life could be worse

Nancy Gould Gomoll: I give up I can’t get another pic to transfer right now. Now sure how the 1st one made it!

— You are right Judi Bedford-Keogh, my arrest was in 1969 not 1069!!! Ha ha ha! You can see I am not good at typing! I figured I had to go to college because I failed my secretarial courses in high school!!!! I was the 1st in my family to go to college, all because my hands were not coordinated!!!!!

— Frankie Knight, I have been a single parent for 28 years now and that has allowed me the freedom to do my thing! Marriage would have been nice and I do envy those in a good marriage, but my life would have never been like this had I been married! When I got divorced (Actually he divorced me as he was having an affair) someone told me to look this as an opportunity to become someone I would never be within my marriage. That has happened. My kids say they can’t imagine me married to their dad now. He actually tried to stop me from taking our youngest to the Amazon when she was 17, and stop her from going to Ethiopia when she was 20, but those life experiences made her who she is today.

Frankie Knight: Like you, been there, done that and would NEVER get involved again! 37 years later…..

Nancy Gould Gomoll: Yea, a butterfly picture from the migration of the Monarchs!!!

Cherry Gregory: Ha, Ha, Nancy, I understand what you mean when you say you were the first in your family to go to college because you couldn’t type! I had to go to college (the 1st in my family too) because I was no good at counting cattle and sheep and so couldn’t work on my family’s farm!

Nancy Gould Gomoll:

Nancy Gould Gomoll: Cherry Gregory, my sister was a secretarial whizz! I got out of typing 2 with the ability to type 18 words a minute!!!!! I failed shorthand (doesn’t that date me!!!) completely!!

— Frankie Knight, being single has worked out ok for me! I feel really blessed with the life I have had. I have certainly done more things and been more places than I had ever imagined. My kids have loved traveling with me. It is just too bad now that my girls have families of their own so we do not travel together any more. My son and I are planning a big trip for next year tho – to Croatia, Montenegro, Bosnia & Herzegovina and Slovenia. I will also be going to Israel this fall.

Charlotte Smith: Those butterflies are amazingly beautiful Nancy. Do you have any pets? I’m guessing not as you travel a lot and they are such a tie.

Nancy Gould Gomoll: Actually Charlotte Smith I do have 2 cats. They are easier to leave and have someone look in on daily. Last year I lost one of my beloved cats to congestive heart failure so I recently got a little kitten to keep tho other cat company. NOT the best idea as the kitten it full of mischief and the poor older cat spends his day trying to avoid her

Nancy Gould Gomoll: Glad you didn’t have to spend your day in court Jacky Donovan. Enjoy the lovely weather!!!

Susan Joyce: Nancy Gould Gomoll, good morning from Uruguay! Welcome! Delighted to see you in the tell all seat today. I love the photo of you above and will get back with questions after I look through the Fred.

Charlotte Smith: Pretty kitten Nancy! I hope your older cat makes friends with it soon. I always say that with a kitten in the house you don’t need a TV as they’re so entertaining with their mischievous ways!

Nancy Gould Gomoll: Charlotte Smith, it is hard for me to pick a favorite place I have been to. I have a del heart for East Africa and the people there. I have had to opportunity not only to travel and do short term medical work there, but have had the chance to live in villages with families where I was the only white person. That was amazing and wonderful. I also really loved my trip to China, mainly because we went to places where most westerners never go to. There were just 6 of us traveling with a Chinese national. We were able to go to remote villages up in the mountains of rural central China, one of which we stayed at that was only accessible my foot. We stayed with a Chinese family for several days and is was an unbelievable experience. As far as where I might like to go, I think a week in one of those resort huts built over the water in Bali would be heaven! I have also really wanted to go to the Himalayan Mts. There was a trip that treks from village to village and stays with the people, but i don’t think my body could take that trekking any more

Charlotte Smith: You are so lucky to have seen such a lot of the ‘real’ world Nancy. What fantastic experiences you have had. Do you speak or get by in many languages?

Nancy Gould Gomoll: I learn to say hello, please, thank you and those essential things in each country I am in. That is all. I really am horrible at languages.

— Good morning Susan Joyce! How are things in Uruguay today? I love reading about you and your country. I have been to Guatemala and Peru twice, and Mexico several times, but never to Uruguay. You are one of those people I live vicariously through as you take on a totally different culture and live style!

Charlotte Smith: Me too! Am trying to learn Spanish at the moment and have now been thrown into the deep end as we have just moved to a very rural area where the locals rarely speak an English at all. It is a great way to learn though even though we have embarrassing moments from time to time

Janet Hughes: Write them all down Charlotte Smith, use them in the memoir

Nancy Gould Gomoll: Charlotte Smith, you certainly have had a very interesting life living in Oman too! I just finished your book last week and loved it. Not only were you able to really get into a different culture, but you had the opportunity to to sone great travel to Asian countries while there. That is fantastic! How wonderful that your youngest daughter could experience those things too! Those are things that really shape our lives!

Susan Joyce: Nancy, glad you enjoy reading my posts. Charlotte, I’ve learned that country people do not speak the same language as city folk in any country. I take conversational Spanish classes once a week and often have to ask about a strange word, only to be told it’s not a common word. Only the country folk use it.

Jennifer Herrick-Weatherstone: My husband speaks perfect ‘Andaluz’ which is horrific if we are anywhere else in Spain, very common accent lol

Nancy Gould Gomoll: I can’t imagine being able to speak another language. I really respect people who can, and to think that so many people in other countries speak several languages!!!! I always thought that my lack of language ability was linked to my inability to coordinate both hands! My brain just isn’t wired that way! Can that be true or am I just making excuses!!!!!

Susan Joyce: Nancy, I’d love to hear more about your Sri Lanka adventure. I visited there years ago and found the people and country to be fascinating. Where was your mission located? In Colombo?

Jacky Donovan: I’ve not been to the vast majority of places you’ve been to Nancy Gould Gomoll but I have had the pleasure of trekking in the Himalayas and it was probably the most amazing holiday of my life. I went alone with just a sherpa and porter so we walked at my pace (slow!). The locals are incredibly friendly but it was a real eye opener for me to see how they live on so, so little and yet seem so content. Probably because they aren’t bombarded with all the commercial hype we get in the western world.

–Having said that, the porter travelled for 10 days with us literally only with the clothes he was wearing and a spare pair of socks. But he did have a mobile phone and charger and phone reception was better there than in many places where I live

Nancy Gould Gomoll: Susan, we flew into Colombo but worked in Galle where the tsunami hit the hardest. You may recall seeing pictures of a train that was hit by the waves near Galle and all the passengers died except 1 little boy. They are now making a memorial of that place. When we were there people were all living in the tented communities set up by international relief agencies. We held our medical clinics in different places – the porch of an orphanage that had been hit, a store front that was demolished with walls missing and glass everywhere, a Buddist monastery, an abandoned school, a tent in the middle of a tented community. Many of these people just seemed to need someone to talk to (we had translators from the local community). Many were suffering from the conditions they were living in, sleeping on the hard ground and having little to eat. Many were suffering from the results of water inhalation and had lung issues. The hardest thing for us was to see that these people had NOTHING! That is a concept that we cannot comprehend. They were living in an empty relief tent with the clothes on their back, dependent on relief trucks to bring food each day. Many had last family, all had lost their places of work and all their belongings. they had NOTHING! They had no means to get a job or buy food for their self and family because everything was gone. I cannot imagine that extent of nothingness. When we say we have nothing to eat or nothing to wear, it just means we do not interested at the moment about the current food in our refrig or what is hanging on our closet. But these people had nothing. It was SO heart breaking. We all felt guilty that we had a mattress to sleep on at night (no bedding!) and food to eat. We also know we could leave at the end of 3 weeks! That trip really changed my life, and I am so glad I could share it with my youngest daughter.

Susan Joyce: Jacky, your trip to the Himalayas sounds FAB! It is amazing the internet and phone connections around the world.

Frankie Knight: Agree totally about the Andaluz accent! Totally unique and often even more regionalized than that! Great fun trying to be understood in the ‘Big Cities’!!! LOL! I am truly staggered at the number of places you’ve travelled to Nancy! Gobsmacked even!

Charlotte Smith: Yes I get a lot of baffled looks when I come out with my ‘clean’ Spanish. Oh well……

Nancy Gould Gomoll: Thank you Frankie Knight. I have been blessed beyond my wildest dreams. Many of these trips have been very difficult but so rewarding. They were vacation for me, but you can hardly call them vacations as we worked very long hours and our living conditions were interesting to say the least. I have some great stories of places I have stayed in!!!! one of my favorites is in rural Kenya at a lodge we were staying at. On the outside it looked nice, but at closer look the condition was “lacking”! We did have toilets, but most of the toilets lacked a seat and flushing mechanism. My daughter looked at the toilet in her room and it had neither of these, plus it had been used but not flushed multiple times, and there was a trail of red ants circling the bathroom and up to the toilet rim. I exhausted that I had both a seat and flusher on my toilet!!!! then I used it and flushed, and was horrified when a bunch of frogs dropped into the gown and started swirling around!!!!! After that I could not look at the gown when I flushed. Now I really laugh at the thought of it!

Charlotte Smith: Nancy my daughter used to be extremely travel phobic but Oman cured her of that. Now she has become a total wanderlust and is always happiest when she’s planning her next trip. She’s just finished at uni and is off to New Zealand in a couple of weeks. She had also spent time in Africa and the Far East, I can hardly believe it’s the same child!

Nancy Gould Gomoll: I smiled when reading your book and hearing of where ;your daughter was going. I remember you talking of her going to Zambia was it, and to the Maldives and places. Amazing. I hope she realizes how fortunate she has been. We were on a long layover in Dubai for my daughters 21st b’day. I wish we could have gotten out of the airport. One of the ladies in our group bought her a box of dates and told her “every girl should have a date on her 21st b’day”!!!!

Charlotte Smith: Oh she does appreciate it Nancy and I suspect she may well end up working somewhere exotic. She has a map that she can fill in when she’s visited places and I don’t think she’ll be satisfied until the whole lot has been filled in

— She loved Zambia and particularly enjoyed working with the children in a local school.

Nancy Gould Gomoll: On my 1st trip to Africa, there was an 84 year old grandmother with us and she said her husband never liked to travel, but after he died when she was 60 she started traveling. in those 24 years she had been to 96 countries. Her goal was to reach 100 countries! I would love to be like her!!!! Unfortunately, I spend my time repeating countries, and I skip the ones that are westernized and close together where I could get several in 1 trip!

–Working with children is so much fun, Charlotte Smith. We had lots of child contact in Sri Lanka and worked at a school in a slum in Nairobi. Well, I guess we interact with kids in lots of the places I have been to. In China we visited a school, and then in the mountain village we stayed in we were housed with the school principal and his family. That gave us lots of kid contact! The 6 of us pooled our $ together and bought a keyboard for the rural Chinese school so the kids could have music. They were thrilled.

Charlotte Smith: That’s amazing Nancy and I’m glad she got the opportunity to satisfy her travel urges. I would love to visit more places but I worry so much about my pets when I’m away that I tend to put off traveling these days.

Nancy Gould Gomoll: I hope I am keeping up with all your questions! I am not a speedy typist so fear I am falling behind. also I sometimes miss comments and catch them when I scroll back. If I don’t answer you. please rattle my cage again!!!!!

Frankie Knight: Yes, me too Charlotte! I find it hard to cope with the cold shoulder or tail turning when I return….

Charlotte Smith: My daughter was so impressed by the children in Zambia. Most of them were dirt poor but were immaculately turned out – sparkling white shirts and tidy hair and so happy. She won’t forget them that’s for sure.

Frankie Knight: Nancy I was like that a few Mondays ago when I was in the Spotlight!

Charlotte Smith: You’re doing brilliantly Nancy! Are you having fun?

Nancy Gould Gomoll: Yes, this is fun. I was so worried that my life would bore everyone and that none would want to chat! Thanks for your time and interest in my little life here.

Frankie Knight: Told you yesterday it would be OK and we’d winkle it all out of you…..

Susan Joyce: Nancy, been looking on line for a photo of that train that was hit by the tsunami. Finally found one. I remember hearing about it and the miracle of the lone survivor. Can you share more about the story?

Nancy Gould Gomoll: It is hard to go away when you have pets. I was always a dog person but when my last dog died I said that was it. I couldn’t go anywhere when I had a dog, and my kids were not near by that time to care for my dog. Then my kids talked me into a cat, because they couldn’t see me living alone!!!! I didn’t really care for cats, but once I saw little kittens there was no way I couldn’t have one. I got 2 brothers, and they became such great friends to me! I love cats now!!!! This little kitten I have now sure is a challenge though Her cuteness is her only saving grace! Oh, she does snuggle, but only when she isn’t tearing up the place! I have had to move house plants that she digs in and cover furniture that she claws up! I can’t wait until she gets older and settles down. she is only 3 mos old now.

Susan Joyce: Nancy, love your gown and frogs story! Fun images!

Nancy Gould Gomoll: Susan Joyce, The train was full and going from Colombo to Galle when the tsunami hit. It came in 2 waves and people really got caught in the second wave as they thought the worst was over. As I recall it, the train people tried to seek safety by climbing to the top of the train. They all died except a little boy of about 7 yrs who miraculously survived clinging on to the train. When we were there, there were plans to save a section of twisted track and one train car as a memorial to those who died.

Frankie Knight: Nancy, don’t hold your breath – they don’t all ‘settle down’. My Katykat is nearly 10 and still causes trouble. As I am sat typing now she is sat between me and my laptop. I’ve thrown her off twice but she comes back as she truly believes this is her place.. No wonder I have so many spelling mistakes.

Nancy Gould Gomoll: Oh my Frankie Knight, I had better dig in for the long haul with this little kitty! She also thinks she should be on my keyboard as I type. My one male cats always had each other so I thing they weren’t as much of a bother for me. This little girl is just seeking fun but the older cat is not into her foolishness any more. She is a sweetie. When she gets to be 5 mos I can have her declawed (sorry all you animal lovers who are against that!!!) and that will help immensely. she is a strict house cat and at least then she will not be able to ruin my furniture and clothes! Saturday I got all dressed to go to a wedding and she thought she should jump and climb my leg!!!! NOT FUNNY!!!!

Susan Joyce: Nancy, thanks for telling more about the tsunami! Can you please tell us about your white water disaster.

Charlotte Smith: Oh please don’t declaw her Nancy!

Nancy Gould Gomoll: Susan Joyce, here is another funny frog story. First a little background. My 1st trip to Tanzania was like a total dream to me as I never imagined I would ever go to Africa. My daughter and I went on a 17 day safari. I felt so blessed that I made arrangements for our young guide to come to the US the following year and we showed him around many things here. Anyway, then the next year we returned to Tanzania and spent 3 weeks living with him and lived the African life and see parts of the country that westerners would generally not see. Well, at his house (unfinished with no electricity or running water) he had a young Maasi who cared for his goats and did some chores, like heat water outdoors if we wanted to wash up. Showering there was to stand in a large drain in the bathroom and pour water over yourself. One day John and I wanted to go into town and my daughter said she was sick of the dust and dirt and would stay back and “shower” in the drain. After we left, she asked the young Maasi (about 20 yrs old) to heat water for her. He brought her a bucket and she got all ready to step into the drain area when she saw a big frog sitting in the drain! She quickly wrapped a towel around herself and ran outdoors screaming to the Maasi to get that frog out of there!!!!!! When we got home and she told us about it, we laughed and laughed at the image of a white girl wrapped in a towel screaming outdoors and a Maasi wondering what this crazy woman was all about!!!!!! he did remove the frog and she did get cleaned up. She never did see the humor in the story!!!!!

Becky Corwin-Adams: Nancy, you don’t live that far from me. I live in Dayton, OH and used to live in NW OH. My son lived in Lansing for awhile. He worked at the airport there. He also went to college (GMI) in Flint.

Nancy Gould Gomoll: Oh Charlotte Smith, I knew you would say that If she were an outdoor cat that would be different, but she never will be an outdoor cat. I know that is hard for you to imagine living where you do, but it just isn’t feasible to let cats run around where I live and the neighbors would hate it!

Frankie Knight: Me too Nancy! I winced when I read that!

Susan Joyce: Nancy, another fun frog story. Thanks!

Charlotte Smith: I know and I have had this discussion with other friends in the States but it is so extreme and painful. Vets in Europe won’t even do it nowadays. Before you do it can you try buying her some things with texture? – doormats are excellent as are any kind of large basket. If you do do it please don’t tell me

Nancy Gould Gomoll: Susan Joyce, the white-water rafting event happened when we were taking our African guide around the US to experience different things. WE were out in West Virginia and had been told that the river was gentle and didn’t have bigger that Class 3 rapids. WRONG!!!!! It had Class 5 rapids and I got thrown out on one of them. I was swirling around in the water and knew we were suppose to swim out of the swirl if we got thrown out, but there was no way I could do that, and I kept getting sucked under. I was scared to death and having trouble getting my breath. My boat had been pushed downriver and the guide couldn’t get back. My daughter and John were watching the whole thing and in a panic. My daughter said to this day she still has occasional nightmares of seeing me and thinking I would drown. anyway, by some miracle another boat was able to throw me a line and I got it. After I got back in the boat I was SO frightened that John, our African friend would get thrown out too. He didn’t know how to swim and I know he would drown for sure, and how would I ever tell his parents that! Afterwards when rafting company showed videos of the trip that people could buy, I asked why there was no video of my experience. They said because they thought they were going to lose me and didn’t want that on the tape!!! Needless to say, I will never white-water raft again and have told my kids never to do it either. When I got home, one of my co-workers tole me that one of her friends’ fiancé had just drowned on that same river while rafting. The companies never tell you these stories!!!!

–Sorry to you too Frankie Knight. I hope you all don’t instantly hate me for declawing my cat

–Becky Corwin-Adams, we are close! I think there are even 2 or 3 others in the group who are from Michigan. I saw of one from the Detroit suburb area the other day. I have been in East Lansing since 1972, and before that I went to Michigan State Univ from 1965-1969 for my undergrad work. I love it here.

Frankie Knight: Fortunately the practice is now banned in UK!

Nancy Gould Gomoll: Oh Frankie Knight, now I feel like a real barbarian!!!!!!! Trimming this little one’s claws has not been fun. The vet said it is a 2 person job, but I have tried it myself. She hates it, but those little needles ripping up my sofa are not good!

Charlotte Smith: Not in my nature to hate Nancy but I still wish you’d think twice and try the doormats and baskets

Susan Joyce: Nancy, I thought the practice was also banned in the States. Our cats love to claw on a small log we keep in our living room just for them, and actually prefer it to furniture.

Nancy Gould Gomoll: I have scratching posts for her, but she prefers furniture. Now that the weather is good I want to open my windows and sliding door, but she has tried to climb my screens and has already ripped holes in them! It never stops what she doesn’t do. I can’t even hang towels in the bathroom because she jumps at them and snags them as she pulls them off the towel racks

Charlotte Smith: What about these little plastic cat nail covers?

Nancy Gould Gomoll: Ah, you wrote about those cat nail covers in your book Charlotte Smith. I had never heard of them before. Certainly something to look into! Thanks!

Janet Hughes: You can’t be serious Charlotte my cat would have those off in a flash !!

Nancy Gould Gomoll: My cat that died last year use to bite his toe nails, as did my dog a long time ago. That was most helpful!

Charlotte Smith: Shut up Janet!!!!

Judi Bedford-Keogh: Please don’t do it; it is cruel and you don’t sound like a cruel person. It makes a cat feel insecure and vulnerable. Please let her out from time to time even if you have to build a run.

Charlotte Smith: Pancho is unique

Nancy Gould Gomoll: Here is a beautiful little girl in Sri Lanka

Charlotte Smith: Beautiful child

Nancy Gould Gomoll: We shared the area for our pharmacy meds with the scared cows at a Buddhist monastery in Sri Lanka.

Nancy Gould Gomoll: My daughter and some of our other medical providers taking a break to do the hokey pokey with the little kids in Sri Lanka.

Susan Joyce: Fun photos! One of the things I loved about Sri Lanka was the animals roaming the streets and everywhere. Did you see lots of elephants?

Nancy Gould Gomoll: Not in Sri Lanka Susan Joyce. We were based in coastal ruins so really not much animal life.

Susan Joyce: Nancy, you’ve had some amazing adventures. Do you plan on writing about them in a memoir?

–When I was in Trincomalle Sri Lanka, elephants were everywhere. Many were work animals.

Nancy Gould Gomoll: A “street” between houses in the rural mountains in China where we lived for a week with a family. These houses were built over 800 years ago and were built into the mountains to camouflage them from the invading Huns. They are accessible only by foot.

Charlotte Smith: Sounds like there’s a book there to me Nancy

Susan Joyce: Wow! Great photo!

Nancy Gould Gomoll: Residents of the village we stayed in. They still live the traditional Chinese country life. Their pigs and chickens live with them and the pork is smoked right in their living quarters and hung by the rafters. Crops are fertilized with human waste that is collected in buckets and carried to the terraced fields.

Nancy Gould Gomoll: No Susan Joyce, I am not a writer so have no plans to write a memoir. I have taken extensive notes to go with my photographs and have put them into albums. I use to take them to work after each trip and share them with co-workers. It was like National Geographic for them. Now I am trying to get all my pre-digital pictures (which is many of my trips) onto my computer and then I want to put each trip into a hard covered book form. It would just be for my own pleasure, and for my kids/grandkids!

–I thought this was a sweet “family” photo from Tanzania! They are vervet monkeys and the father was grooming the mother as she nursed her young.

Charlotte Smith: Adorable. I loved my trip to Tanzania – the animals were incredible

Susan Joyce: Nancy, a blog would be a wonderful place to share your photos and notes. They are amazing photos!

Nancy Gould Gomoll: This is from my “sex on the Serengeti” series!!!! A female lion will have sex every 10 minutes for the 4 days she is in heat. She will only get pregnant 1 out of every 5 times she is in heat. Wow men…can you keep up with that or are you just thinking you are glad you are not a lion????

Charlotte Smith: Shhhh Nancy – don’t want any funny ideas from my husband!

Nancy Gould Gomoll: I have a friend who does a very extensive blog after each trip. I am not computer literate enough to know how to do that. She really gets into the floral and bird life and researches lots of things in making her blog. it is wonderful to read!

Victoria Twead: Tsk, tsk! Well, I might have known it! I pop in just to see how things are going, and the Fred has turned to saucy matters. *sighs* (glad I’m not a lion)

Charlotte Smith: You need a Tech PA like me Nancy

Steven Whitacre: Nancy Gould Gomoll – it’s not the frequency that scares me, but the 20% chance of pregnancy!!

Nancy Gould Gomoll: I don’t know Charlotte Smith. Me being single I thought at the time I might like to come back as a lioness in my next life!!!!

Charlotte Smith: Just thinking the same thing Beaky – give me chocolate any day!

–Wine o’clock and it all starts to get smutty

Susan Joyce: LOL!

Nancy Gould Gomoll: It is still early in the day for me here!

Charlotte Smith: Get the brandy out Susan Joyce

Nancy Gould Gomoll: Where is Frankie Knight when we need a good comment??

Charlotte Smith: She’s having her supper Nancy

Nancy Gould Gomoll: Steven Whitacre, you have been quiet for quite some time! Good to hear from you again.

Becky Corwin-Adams: I would not have the energy to be a lion. That is way too much activity for me!!!

Steven Whitacre: I have to work sometimes

Becky Corwin-Adams: Work? Being an author doesn’t pay your bills, Steven?

Susan Joyce: Brandy coming up.

Steven Whitacre: hahahahahahahahaha…. not yet.. with what I make off my book, I can get an extra cup of coffee most days…

Susan Joyce: Wine for the wine lovers!

Susan Joyce: Brandy for Charlotte! Any more requests?

Steven Whitacre: I’ve got my beer, thanks!

Nancy Gould Gomoll: Oh wow Susan Joyce, I will take a glass. I just took a quick minute to refortify myself with a bit of chocolate!

Charlotte Smith: Thank you Susan – salud my friends!

Nancy Gould Gomoll: Where do you get that beer Steven Whitacre? Looks like a brand I should like to get for my son!!!!

Susan Joyce: Brandy and chocolate? Perfect together.

Steven Whitacre: Nancy – I think BevMo carries it.. sometimes find it at safeway too.

Nancy Gould Gomoll: In what country Steven???

Susan Joyce: Nancy, Steven lives in the NW of the States. If I remember correctly.

Nancy Gould Gomoll: Hmmm, So maybe I can find that beer! Thanks Susan Joyce

Susan Joyce: Nancy, I’m curious about the origin of your family name.

Nancy Gould Gomoll: Sorry I was busy and couldn’t answer you right away Susan Joyce. My 4 year old grandson face timed me to tell me he has gone 2 nights without wetting his bed!!!! maybe the end of wearing pull-ups to bed! Anyway, Gomoll is my ex-husbands name and I believe it is Prussian! His family came over from that area several generations ago. My maiden name, Gould, I was told is English. That side of my family has also been here in the US for many generations And the family tree I do not believe has been traced back to Europe. I low more about my mother’s side of the family that were French Canadian and German.

Colette Ann Verdun: what was so appealing about swimming with piranhas?

Nancy Gould Gomoll: Colette Ann Verdun I think it was just to be able to say you have done it! Besides we were really hot and needed to cool off!!!!

Susan Joyce: Nancy, thanks for explaining your name.

Nancy Gould Gomoll: Susan, when were you in Sri Lanka? Was it a vacation?

Susan Joyce: Nancy, 1975. On our way to join a yacht crew to sail across the Indian Ocean. In monsoon season. A very scary chapter in my life. But Sri Lanka, before setting sail, was a wonderful few weeks.

Nancy Gould Gomoll: That does sound like a gutsy sail Susan Joyce. Glad you made it across safely! Were you married then or was this a fun singles thing?

–This sure has been a fun day. I hope more of you will fire some questions at me, though I have probably answered a lot of them by now. I am glad I figured out how to add pictures for you and I hope you enjoyed them. I always love seeing pics of where people are or have been. It is evening for all you Europeans but maybe some of the US people will join in on this as they get home from work!

Susan Joyce: Nancy, I was married. It was a bizarre event in my life. One I thought would be a fun adventure which turned into one disaster after another. One day I will write about it.

–Nancy, you’ve been great today sharing your fun adventures with WLM. Thanks for your time and for sharing your FAB photos! Time for me to walk a dog here, but I’ll check back later.

Nancy Gould Gomoll: Well I am just glad you survived! How did you end up in Uruguay Susan Joyce? I think you have told us before but I cannot remember.

–Thanks for the kind words Susan Joyce and for following this fred. I have really enjoyed chatting with you and all the others.

Susan Joyce: Nancy, yes it’s been fun and I’m impressed with all the places you’ve traveled.

–Nancy, Uruguay because life got dangerous for us in Mexico and we decided we wanted a more tranquio life.

Charlotte Smith: Well done Nancy – very entertaining Now go find that kitty a log

Nancy Gould Gomoll: Yes I guess so Charlotte Smith! And thanks for your kind words and for not giving up on me with my little kitty

Dodie Shea: Have to go back and catch on all the posts. Just got home with my husband from the auto dealership. New addition to our family – red pickup. It looks like you’ve been having a great time Nancy. Knew you would have a lot interesting things to say today!

Charlotte Smith: Thank you for listening Nancy

Nancy Gould Gomoll: Hi Dodie Shea. What fun buying a new truck!!! I bet your husband is excited! I am just hanging out here so feel free to comment or ask about anything!

Frankie Knight: Susan, where’s my brandy?????

–I said earlier that I was staggered by the number of countries you’d visited Nancy but that was before a few more were added!!! If you’ve logged each trip, with photos then you have a ready made book….

Cherry Gregory: I’m also very impressed by the amount of travelling you’ve done, Nancy. And mostly aged 50 onwards. Did you want to travel before?

Susan Joyce: Frankie and Cherry, I’ll get you brandies before I walk my dog.

Cherry Gregory: Oh thank you, Susan…that’s just what I need (it’s half-past eight in the evening here, so an ideal time too.)

Susan Joyce: Here’s to U2, Cherry & Frankie!

Susan Joyce: Nancy, anything for you before I head out?

Cherry Gregory: A nice glass of brandy…irons out all the creases of the day!

Susan Joyce: Just in case …

Nancy Gould Gomoll: I just ran out to get my mail after a brief rain shower and the mosquitos darn near carried me away!!! I am grateful for the rain as last night I had to water my flowers and the mosquitos tried to eat me alive!

Frankie Knight: Thanks Susan! That will hit the spot!!

Nancy Gould Gomoll: Frankie Knight I easily take over 1000 pictures when I go on a big trip and each trip fill a number of albums. The hard part now, besides getting them all transferred to my computer, is to weed out the pictures (which were already weeded out) and come up with what I will save to a hardbound book. i would like just one book per trip but don’t know if I can do it!

Frankie Knight: I live so high up that I am above the mozzie line and so am not bothered by them!!

–Sounds like a project Nancy!

Nancy Gould Gomoll: Cherry Gregory, I guess I never really thought about travel, especially overseas, because none in my family had ever done that. I came from a simple blue-collared family and we really didn’t leave Michigan except for the 1 trip to Alaska. After my divorce, I didn’t think about travel because I had to work and save $ for my kids to go to college. As I worked with my patients in the hospital, some would talk about all the traveling they had done, and it got me thinking and wishing I could do something like that. Then, when my daughter wanted me to take her to Florida and I knew what that would cost (and by then I already had 2 kids in college), I looked into an alternative I was amazed to learn that I could take her to the Amazon in Peru cheaper than to Florida!!! That is when it started! Africa is expensive to go to, but my trip to China was really cheap (spent a total of $42 for all my meals for 3 weeks!!!), and Thailand, Myanmar and VietNam were also reasonable. Certainly cheaper than my friends who go to Hawaii or other places!! Of course the way I travel is not in luxury. I eat at local places and go to underdeveloped countries. I prefer it that way as I want to become part of the culture and not just see a big city and stay at a big westernized hotel.

Frankie Knight: Yes, that’s the way I used to travel and why I moved to a mountain region away from the Costas here in Spain. No other Brits in my village….

Nancy Gould Gomoll: My photo book project will be a big one Frankie Knight and take several years i am thinking. Lucky you to live in a mosquito-free area. I am in the city but have several lakes and lots of trees surrounding me. There is a lake within 200 yards of my house and trees right up to my windows! The mosquitos are horrendous!!! I do love the feel of being in the woods without leaving the city, and I can’t see my neighbors even though they are right there!

Frankie Knight: Off now to take the evening’s meds – back soon…..

Charlotte Smith: Take them all Frankie!

Cherry Gregory: I know a few of my daughter’s friends (all in early twenties) who have travelled around the area of Vietnam, Thailand etc and said it was a wonderful experience and (once you’ve flown out there) very cheap to live. All credit to you to do it post 50. As I said earlier in the thread, there’s hope for me yet!

Nancy Gould Gomoll: Absolutely Cherry Gregory. My problem now is to find someone to travel with. I am too old for the rigors of the mission work I have done, and my kids are not as available as they once were. It is hard for me to find someone who wants to do this, and I am not gutsy enough to join a group by myself! I would like to know at least one other person! I do find that South American and Asian travel, depending on where you go, is cheaper that going places in the US!

Charlotte Smith: You should go with Cherry Gregory, Nancy

Julia Merrick: Wow Nancy Gould Gomoll, what a life. Sorry I’m SO late with my question, and apologies if you’ve already been asked, but have you done a book?, would love to read it if you have.

Frankie Knight: It’s been a long day for you Nancy – are you tired yet?

–I know I am, so off to my cot now!!! Thank you Nancy for such an entertaining day!!! Night, night all XXX

Janet Hughes:

Julia Merrick: Sleep well, and thank you.

Nancy Gould Gomoll: No books now or in the future Julia Merrick. Sorry Writing is not my talent though I have lots of funny stories from places I have gone to. I lived for a week with a family in a village in Kenya, and I was the only white person. In fact, they had never really been around a white person. I had gotten hooked up with this family by Kenyan friends of my daughter’s who know I was going to be in the country and wanted me to have the “African experience”. There are lots of stories out of that time. It was a time I really treasure!!!!

–It is still early here, Frankie Knight, but I really appreciate your visiting and comments. Thanks so much for adding to my wonderful day. Have a restful night

Charlotte Smith: Well done Nancy – It’s been great chatting to you

Nancy Gould Gomoll: Thanks Charlotte Smith for your kindness and encouragement. I really enjoyed chatting with you and the others. It has also been nice just sitting around the house in my hospital scrub pants and a tee shirt all day!!!!! Good excuse to be lazy!

Victoria Twead: You’ve been brilliant, Nancy, I told you that you were a VERY interesting lady! Thanks so much for sitting in the tell-all seat. We’ll leave this fred pinned up until tomorrow so that all time zones catch it. Tomorrow, perhaps you could choose two winners and let me know?

Nancy Gould Gomoll: Thanks Victoria Twead It sure has been a fun day! I will send you 2 names tomorrow though it will be very difficult to narrow it down to 2 Hope your day has been a good one in Spain!

Victoria Twead: It has! Lots of sunshine, thanks Nancy.

Jacky Donovan: Loved reading all the chat Nancy Gould Gomoll. I’ve been gone most of the day as the rubbish hospitals here in Gran Canaria suddenly decided a friend of mine was fit enough to come home here – even tho he can’t walk / is hallucinating occasionally / and, well, I won’t go into all the bodily function stuff… Suddenly the NHS in the UK sounds like a perfect dream to be honest and Spain a very backward country. You sound as if you’ve seen it all in 3rd world countries tho so, by comparison, he has probably been lucky to have been diagnosed and operated on! I look forward to seeing a lot more of your photos

Cherry Gregory: Thanks, Nancy, for your very interesting thread. I’m going to bed now, so I wish you goodnight.

Jacky Donovan: I think you should still consider the Himalayas Nancy Gould Gomoll if it’s somewhere you’ve always wondered about. It’s definitely more expensive – from what you say – than China / Thailand etc etc. But, once you start walking and realise that everything you see – from lodges to food to water etc – has been lugged up and down mountainsides mainly by people (yaks do it some of the time but mainly people) you start to see how absolutely incredible the infrastructure is there. Mind boggling.

–And when you see huge villages that have been created by a zillion hrs work of man’s time – wow, amazing! Everything you eat and drink suddenly takes on significance and you so appreciate the corner shop when you get home ( as I am sure you have done on other travels too). I have contact details for a superb sherpa if anyone ever fancies trekking without a group. I’d def do it again that way rather than with a group. And cost effective too.

Nancy Gould Gomoll: Jacky Donovan, your trip to the Himalayas sounds wonderful. It is so fascinating to me to visit places like that that are so different from my life. It gives me a real respect for people and actually makes me angry with all the materialism and waste that we have. And, to see the beauty of the mountains would be so wonderful. You were lucky to have experienced that. I don’t think my body could take that much climbing tho now I do better on flatter ground. Even then my left hip lets me know that a am not a spring chicken any more!

–Sorry to hear what your friend’s experienced in medical care Jacky Donovan. That happens here too. As a rehab therapist it really angers me. Doctors sometimes (too often sometimes) think that once their surgery is done the patient can go home. It doesn’t matter that they can’t walk or go to the bathroom by themselves and they have no equipment or training to increase their independence. We had a young girl with a spinal cord injury who was going to be discharged from a local hospital with no rehab, and we heard of it and admitted her. It is inhumane that that should happen. One of the sad things here is also that the insurance companies don’t want to pay for our special services. Here we are trained to help people but we are not being given the chance. my daughter is trained to teach premature infants how to swallow but the hospital she works at now won’t utilize her because the insurance won’t pay for it. So these babies go home and then return with failure to thrive! Ok, sorry to go off on my rampage! But know that medical care is getting worse all over unfortunately all because of $ !

–Cherry Gregory good night to you and thanks for joining us today! I hope you get out and travel. Maybe we can take off somewhere some time!

Susan Joyce: Nice day! Thanks Nancy! Good night!

Nancy Gould Gomoll: A BIG thank you to all of you who have taken the time to chat with me today. You have been so warm and friendly and made me feel welcomed. For those of you who could not join us…you stink!!! Oh no, I didn’t really say that! I love you all If you get a chance to read any of this fred and have any questions or comments, please feel free to ask me at any time. For those who might want to see more of my travel pics, I do have some posted in albums on my fb site. I really love this group and it has been a HUGE honor to be your Monday Member today.

–Have a great night Susan Joyce and thanks for spending part of your day with me! I loved it!

Susan Joyce: xo

Catherine Lockwood: I missed it. I don’t get much time to post here nowadays because of family problems but you are a true brick who has achieved some awesome things with your life. You should be proud. Just my tuppence xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Nancy Gould Gomoll: Thank you Catherine Lockwood. Those are such kind words. I am sorry you are having family problems. I certainly know how that can be as I have been through my share of those, and I want you to know i will pray for you to have peace. I struggled as a single parent for so long and it was hard as it wasn’t how I had dreamed my life would be. Now I can look back and realize how very blessed I have been, even with the rough times. I thank God every day for that.

Nancy McBride: Ditto, Catherine Lockwood. You are NOT alone. Big hugs…

Micki Stokoe: I’m sorry I missed the chat, but have thoroughly enjoyed reading back through all the comments. You’ve done so much & visited so many places! Thank you for sharing some of your experiences!

June Collins: You live your life fully – the only way!

Mina De Caro: What an amazing life!

the following day …

Linda Kovic-Skow: Wow Nancy Gould Gomoll, I finally got a chance to read through your thread. What an incredible life you’ve led. It’s so cool that you shared your experiences with your children. I’ve always wanted to “pay it forward,” so you are a true inspiration. Have you ever worked with Hefer International (or some such group) where they give people animals as a way to make an income stream? I’m just curious.

Julie Haigh: Sorry I wasn’t in most of the time while your amazing Monday member was going on but I did keep dipping in and looking at comments and what a fascinating read it was-excellent photos too-I would love to see all this in book form.

Victoria Twead: Susan Joyce and Cherry Gregory, you have been chosen by Nancy as WiNNERS! I know she had a hard job picking just two names. Please let me know which books you’d like.

Julie Haigh: Well done, so pleased Susan Joyce and Cherry Gregory !

Nancy Gould Gomoll: Linda Kovic-Skow, it was so wonderful being able to share some of my experiences with my children, especially having that 1:1 time. It really helped form each of them into the person they are now and was very life changing for them. I am familiar with Heifer International but have not worked with them personally. I have supported an organization called Women for Women which is wonderful. It is international and helps women in underdeveloped countries learn skills to become self sufficient. I believe they also are involved in promoting education for girls and working to prevent sex trafficing. They also support places like the fistula hospitals for women in Africa. A really great organization! I also financially support a young girl in Kenya through World Vision. I was really blessed to be able to meet her and her family and spend a day with them during one of my trips there.

Charlotte Smith: Well done Susan and Cherry

Cherry Gregory: Wow! Thank you, Nancy, for choosing me as a winner and congrats to Susan too. Victoria Twead , I’d love to have Three Months of Chaos by Alex Mitchell.

Susan Joyce: Cherry, congratulations! You’re a winner too. Special thanks to Nancy Gould Gomoll for picking me. I choose My Father’s Prostitute by Steven Whitacre! Thanks again Nancy for sharing your adventures with us.

Frankie Knight: Congrats to Cherry and Susan!!! Really enjoyed chatting to everyone!

Victoria Twead: Prizes sent, Cherry Gregory and Susan Joyce. Tabatha Stirling and Steven Whitacre will be very pleased you picked their books.

Susan Joyce: Many thanks, Victoria!

Cherry Gregory: Thanks, Victoria!

Nancy Gould Gomoll: So glad I could pick Susan Joyce and Cherry Gregory to win books. I would have loved to pick more people as I really enjoyed chatting with all of you. Thanks again everyone for joining me on Monday! Love you guys!

Tabatha Stirling: Thank you, Cherry. It’s a bit sad

Micki Stokoe: Well done Susan & Cherry!