Sunday, April 22, 2018

Sunshine Comes After Rain



Sunshine Comes After Rain
by
Paul R. Meredith

The following four paragraphs are in the introduction of my new romance novel named above. This is my 24th novel and one that I enjoyed writing so well that I finished it in near record time. I hope you will read this introduction and then be inspired enough to purchase it. 

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The story is a Kindle e-book and is available for just $2.99 at:

 https://kdp.amazon.com/en_US/bookshelf?ref_=TN_bs

Introduction



It was June. The moment she had been awaiting for nearly five years was coming to fruition in just a few more minutes. Jeri was about to become the bride she always wanted to be since she was a little girl. Her dreams were always all about growing up, meeting her handsome prince charming, getting married and having children. Now she was on the doorstep of all those dreams coming true.

            Jeri had not seen her husband-to-be for five days because of his work. Paul’s mother Grace was too ill to come and see her son get married. Since the wedding was to be slightly smaller than Jeri originally wanted to have and due to his hectic work schedule, she agreed to let Paul opt out of holding a rehearsal dinner. His mother could not really afford one anyway. He had also opted out of a bachelor party that his brother offered to host for him. She and her parents would have a small gathering for dinner at a popular restaurant near the church for about twenty of the people in the wedding party the night before the wedding. Paul was scheduled to arrive at the church in plenty of time for the ceremony on Saturday.



Outside the sanctuary door of the large Methodist church, Jeri grew extremely nervous as the time came for her father to walk her slowly down the long aisle and give her hand to Paul Wilson, her first true love and the man of her dreams. She nervously thought about that moment when she and Paul would be announced as a married couple and he would kiss her in front of the moderate-sized crowd of family and close friends. She shed a tear of happiness as that moment seemed imminent.

            There was a screech of tires stopping too quickly outside the front door of the church. Jeri and her father heard a car door slam and then saw a man rushing toward the door of the church. The doors had been locked after all the guests were seated. It was due to church policy concerning the safety of people inside the church during services. Most churches across the country were doing the same thing since the church shooting in Charleston. Then they saw the figure of a man rush past a side window as if he was headed toward the rear of the church, but he would find those doors locked as well.

Thursday, April 19, 2018

The Game of Golf


The Lovely Frustrating Game of Golf



by



Paul R. Meredith



I play the game of golf, perhaps not very well these days, but I do still play. I have played golf for over sixty-five years off and on. At my advanced age, golf is a very taxing game because it takes a lot of energy that I don't seem to have much of these days. In my younger days I always walked the golf course carrying my bag of clubs. Then I started using a hand cart in my middle years. Today I require an electric cart to ride in around the course in order to play the game. That is because my legs are pretty much shot and I don't feel well much of the time. I absolutely don't hit the ball very far these days. Most of the Florida courses require the use of a cart these days in order to speed up play so they can earn more revenue. There are a few courses where walking is permitted, but they are rapidly disappearing from the scene.

            It is true that playing golf is not a cheap sport if one really loves to play the game seriously. The equipment required can actually be quite expensive, although the quality of the equipment can vary quite widely if one wants to do it on the cheap side. Then there are the green fees, the range balls for practice, and almost always the tip for the bag man. Often it is advisable to pay for the services of a golf professional to teach certain aspects of the game if there is a need to do so. There will be some minor costs for the upkeep of equipment, such as new grips for the clubs periodically. And of course there is the cost for new golf balls, especially for the amateur players who tend to hit several stray shots during play. One doesn't always find the ball they hit in the woods, or in the lakes. Compared to other outdoor sports, I suppose golf could be about equal in costs. Hunting and shooting can be quite costly too, as is fox hunting, but ping pong or tennis would be considerably cheaper.

            I justify my expenditures on golf by telling myself I do not smoke or drink, so that allows me to feel good about whatever I do spend on golf. I am not saying I never have a social drink because that would not be true, but my expenses are extremely limited in drinking. I have not smoked a cigarette in more than thirty years. 

            So why do I still play this game of hitting and chasing that little white ball that many say is a silly waste of time? Well, the answer is fairly simple to me. First of all, I play because I love the camaraderie of being with the kind of friends I choose for myself, but there are also other reasons. It is said that golf is a game for gentlemen. That is very true; you will never find golfers fighting over the game, such as you might witness in a game of basketball or football. I have always found that golf is a game that defines the character of a man or a woman. Most people who play the game of golf are upstanding members of their community, people who often attend church and who offer help to others less fortunate. You will rarely find people playing golf who are outcast members of society.
            Golf is a game where the player calls penalties on himself or herself, not rely on a judge, jury, referee, or someone else to do it for them. I find that people who play golf are not cheaters. Yes, rarely a player will mistakenly lose track of a shot, especially when we grow older and our minds aren't as sharp as when we were younger, but it is not that common. Even then, a simple reminder from a playing partner will quickly correct the mistake.
            Golf is a very safe game to play. It would be extremely rare to read of a robbery on the golf course, or of a personal attack like a rape or mugging, let alone a murder. People who do those things are generally not golfers. You rarely if ever hear that someone playing golf has broken his leg, or his arm. And a caveat is that golf is a peaceful, quiet game that is played in a beautiful setting out in nature. Compare all this to playing a game like football or basketball where settings and attitudes are generally much different, where noise levels are through the roof..


By and large, golfers are an honorable group of individuals who never create chaos, but choose to conduct their lives in harmony with others. You may have noticed on television how the pros always shake hands at the conclusion of a golf match, not with just each other, but also with their caddies and the caddies of the opposition. This happens whether a player wins or loses. It is a great sign of true sportsmanship. I know of no other sport where this takes place quite like it does in golf. I think that may be why they call golf a game for gentlemen--and also for gentlewomen. Early in the history of the game of golf, it was truly a gentleman's sport, but it has morphed into an amazing sport for both genders because it can be equally played well by man or woman.

I simply love this game of golf.

Tuesday, April 10, 2018

New Story Coming Soon

New Medical Romance novel coming soon to Amazon Kindle.

Write it down: SUNSHINE COMES AFTER RAIN.

Watch for it!

Wednesday, January 24, 2018

The End of Hope

This story is about the life of my beautiful wife Sandra Lee Meredith. She died June 11, 2017, but her legacy lives on through me, through all her children whether biological or through marriage, and all the grandchildren of the union with her husband Paul (me).

I wrote this story because I did not want her to be forgotten after I am gone. I am nearing 83 now, so my time here is measured. I want all our children and grandchildren to know what a terrific human being Sandra Lee was for her entire life. Not only was she a good woman, but a wonderful Christian woman to boot.

This story is quite different from any of my previous twenty-one stories, primarily because it is a true story, even though it begins with a fictional opening. And yes, there are a few places where details are not completely accurate due to lack of memory or other causes, but in overall content, it is a good accounting of much of Sandra's life. But of course it is only the shell of her life because there are way too many intimate details that are no longer available to me. I also fictionalized names and places to protect those who could be offended if they were named.

Sandra's life was remarkable for a lot of reasons, none more important than the medical hurdles she faced during the run of her entire life from early childhood right up to the very end. One of her most frustrating battles was with the multiple sclerosis she suffered from mid-life forward, along with the terrible migraine headaches she suffered from the age of nine. She suffered from three distinct primary cancers, plus she had over forty known surgeries including a life-saving one at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota. But rather than focus on the medical negatives of her life, please read the story to see the positive affect she had on all who were fortunate enough to know the real her, the Sandra Lee Meredith I knew and loved for thirty years until her death. This is that story:

THE END OF HOPE, a new Meredith medical romance story that will keep you in the story to the very end. It is at Amazon Kindle:

https://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_noss?url=search-alias%3Daps&field-keywords=paul%20r.%20meredith


This is my wife Sandra
Sandra Lee Meredith
June 5, 1943 - June 11, 2017

Please keep in mind that above all else, this a real romance story that actually happened between two very real people, and it never even began until both were in their middle ages.