13:36 May 21, 2024 California USA

08:24 May 23, 2024; published 17:08 May 23, 2024

Bonjour Everyone,

I wish you peace and joy.

So much sadness on this planet … a smile brings light to my heart … perhaps if we all smile with our hearts, this planet would smile back.

These books written In English (by the way … Maria Kawah Leung’s illustrated children’s book is in English and Chinese) and these French films inspired courage while I was in France and departing France.

AUTHORS

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Christopher K. Eng -  FINDING ALOHA IN GRIEF: Memoir of an American Pastor, Chaplain, and T’ai-Chi Sifu

https://www.amazon.com/FINDING-ALOHA-GRIEF-American-Chaplain/dp/B0CMMXK36Y

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Edward C. Hartshorn - Ghosts of the Big Sandy River

https://www.amazon.com/Ghosts-Sandy-River-Edward-Hartshorn/dp/1953198007/ref=sr_1_1?crid=2WFQH3L0C519G&dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.P4yaS8mqImgUnEM3bhFDc4KmFh_24mc3b99kwPk2kg_GjHj071QN20LucGBJIEps.WAcgNxL8okHAq-KjZUFPf_6iIhzLxmDNY6a7bXj1lb4&dib_tag=se&keywords=Edward+C.+Hartshorn&qid=1716330340&s=books&sprefix=edward+c.+hartshorn%2Cstripbooks%2C136&sr=1-1

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Geneva Dinwiddie -  Sister Hold My Hand: Together We Stand

https://www.amazon.com/Sister-Hold-My-Hand-Together/dp/0990491536/ref=sr_1_1?crid=2FW8AFNI2ZS0R&dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.9SswpnbgX1AYqHSKWpwYCw.mwlYaHwtXfoheCmuo3F891X-fZyOd952kLfYNE0KF0M&dib_tag=se&keywords=Geneva+Dinwiddie&qid=1716330446&s=books&sprefix=geneva+dinwiddie+%2Cstripbooks%2C151&sr=1-1

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Maria Kawah Leung – Little Heroes of Bay Street: And How They Stay Strong in an Unhappy Home (English and Chinese Edition – Simplified Characters)

https://mariakawah.com/

LITTLE HEROES OF BAY STREET available in 3 formats – hardcover; paperback; e-book

https://www.amazon.com/Little-Heroes-Bay-Street-Simplified-ebook/dp/B08L6224B1/ref=sr_1_1?dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.zDIlOfdDzUkroUm4hqmM3g.sTq-RTuzsN25umBsRZM2-K4PlR7PocBmfDj_pJpGaK0&dib_tag=se&qid=1716329589&refinements=p_27%3AMaria+Kawah+Leung&s=digital-text&sr=1-1&text=Maria+Kawah+Leung

Interview with Dr. Kim McMillon https://youtu.be/p-YMEPfwp2Q

Maria Kawah Leung’s singing  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CB0s2phx3Xg

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Scott James’s latest book -  Trial by Fire: A Devastating Tragedy, 100 Lives Lost, and a 15-year Search for Truth

https://www.scottjameswriter.com/

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 French movies

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Clémentine Chérie (1964) Pierre Doris, Adrienne Servantie, France Anglade | French Comedy; directed by Pierre Chevalier

– a story about how female youth and perceived physical beauty is a convenience in this particular society, and, the invention of a stretchy fabric for bathing suits which turns out to be invisible on photographs and live television. I wonder how many bathing suits will be in the garbage when women realize that while the fabric “shapes and contains” their body, photographs of their body fat and skin compressed and redistributed might be perceived as the opposite of beauty.  A fun and clever script.

Merci beaucoup, Youtube.com channel CultCinemaClassics, pour https://www.youtube.com/watch?app=desktop&v=x8z18_yP_yw

https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0056938/?ref_=fn_tt_tt_1

Writing Credits

Adaptation et dialogues de

Michel Fermaud

Jean-José Richer

Jean Bellus

Pierre Chevalier

The first scene is inside the ornate department store Galeries Lafayette Paris Haussmann. Even though the movie is a black-and-white film, one can see the grandeur of this place.

https://haussmann.galerieslafayette.com/en/culture-and-heritage/ states:

 Here’s my photo (of a section of the stained glass dome of Galeries Lafayette Paris Haussmann) taken on August 30, 2017

image taken by photo historian Teresa Jade LeYung August 30, 2017 - Margie and Anna are in original image; Sasa led Part II of our Paris pilgrimage

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LAST DANCE – widower Germain (François Berléand) finds a way to fulfill an agreement with his beloved wife.

Merci beaucoup, Youtube.com channel ScreenInternational, pour

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 Nouveau Départ (2023) / New Beginnings (2023)

A husband takes action in an attempt to reignite his wife’s passion for him.

https://www.imdb.com/title/tt22397870/fullcredits?ref_=tt_ov_wr_sm

Directed by

Writing Credits

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SECOND TOUR

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Île-de-France

My pal Sabine and I wondered what”Île-de-France” includes.  https://www.britannica.com/place/Ile-de-France-region-France explains …

Île-de-France, région of France encompassing the north-central départements of Val-d’Oise, Seine-et-Marne, Seine-Saint-Denis, Ville-de-Paris, Hauts-de-Seine, Val-de-Marne, Essonne, and Yvelines. Île-de-France is bounded by the régions of Hauts-de-France to the north, Grand Est to the east, Bourgogne-Franche-Comté to the southeast, Centre to the south, and Normandy to the northwest. The capital is Paris. Area 4,637 square miles (12,011 square km). Pop. (1999) 10,952,011; (2014 est.) 12,027,565.

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Thank you for reading my blog post “Books Written In English and French Films that Inspired Courage while I was In France and Departing France”.

I wish you peace in every way.

Sincerely,

Teresa Jade LeYung

Love Made Of Heart ®

Reading Victoria Sweet, M.D.’s new book SLOW MEDICINE The Way to Healing https://www.victoriasweet.com/ and watching/listening to Carole King (“A Conversation with Carole King” – Veteran journalist Mike Barnicle talks to Ms. King about her memoir A NATURAL  WOMAN at John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum on April 12, 2012) https://www.jfklibrary.org/events-and-awards/forums/2012-04-12-a-conversation-with-carole-king motivated my completing Part 2 of Author Teresa Jade LeYung’s New Monologue “What The Man In 17-B Wanted”

In my blog post http://lovemadeofheart.com/blog/blog-post-3-of-3-papa-makes-decision-while-in-nursing-home-again-by-teresa-jade-leyung/  my father was coping with his circumstances – as a reluctant resident at a nursing home.

This is what happened in November and December 2018.

Remember that piece of paper that I needed to fill out for the nursing home staff? The one about naming a mortuary.  Every resident must fill out that form http://lovemadeofheart.com/blog/author-teresa-jade-leyungs-new-monologue-what-the-man-in-17-b-wanted-part-1/

Well, there is another form to deal with – “Notice to Terminate Lease” -  the agreement between my father and the apartment building property management – that a tenant must give up his lease after six months of absence and vacate his apartment.

I waited for a “good” day to show this second document to my father.  Only his signature would be accepted by the property manager.  That day, Papa appeared to be cheerful, the sun was shining. I said to him: “Papa, remember you went to the hospital in July? You’re safe here with nurses and CNAs who care about you. Your Social Security money is paying for you to be here. There is no money to pay for your apartment too. Also, the lease says that you have to give up the apartment by end of December. I will help you. Don’t worry. I’ll take care of everything. You just have to sign this paper.  Okay?”

He signed.  I don’t know what happened after I said “Goodnight” to him. He probably cried when no one was watching.

What I didn’t have the heart to tell him was that every object which represented his life had to go away – to a storage unit , to a recycling center, or to the dump. If not for my brother’s first wife and four other precious friends, I wouldn’t have been strong enough to take on this job.

What irony for a writer – I (narrator) wanted to give my father (protagonist) what he wanted (to be able to return to the place he called “home”) but he was a fall risk and could no longer live alone.  Because he was relying on me to be his advocate, and,  because he didn’t get what he wanted most, he probably viewed me as an obstacle as well.

Like the son in the movie Garbo Speaks (written by Larry Grusin), I was the daughter who was worn out chasing after something that seemed impossible to obtain.

Back to that first piece of paper that I needed to fill out for the nursing home staff.

I need to do the right thing when Papa dies. Mrs. Chu, the oldest resident at the nursing home, is 107! My father is only 85. He has a long way to go.

Does my father want to be buried or cremated? He won’t talk about illness, certainly not about funeral.  I cannot read his mind.

Thanks to Dr. Amy Grace Lam who said to me “Teresa, you will get your answer not by asking your father but by finding the right person to ask your father.”

The right person would be someone who speaks fluent Cantonese and is the archetype to ask such a question.

On the day when all three Cantonese-speaking team members (nurse, social worker, chaplain) showed up at the nursing home to meet my father and me, Amy Grace Lam’s words replayed in my head.

I showed Chaplain Yuen the piece of paper  and told him: “I want to honor my father’s body and need to know what he wants.”

I did not need to explain any further; the chaplain nodded, and took the paper from my hand.

While he was chatting with my father, I stepped aside to talk to the nurse and social worker.

Fifteen minutes later, I hear Chaplain Yuen telling my father that he would visit again.  As though a director was in the room and we were all rehearsing a scene, a CNA comes into the room to distract my father. The chaplain says to me: “Your father wants burial, not cremation.”  The social worker tells me that she’ll get me a list of mortuaries which will include those catering to families of Chinese heritage.

I got what I wanted – the answer to my question. What more can a daughter ask for.

photo by Teresa Jade LeYung 2018 November 20

I wish you, dear Reader, excellent health.

For other posts in my blog, please go to: https://lovemadeofheart.com/blog

If you’re looking for my blog posts pertaining to our Beautiful Brains and Neuroplasticity… https://lovemadeofheart.com/blog  look at right side of screen, you’ll see the category “Beautiful Brains Neuroplasticity”.  Please click on that category to get those posts.

Sincerely,

Teresa Jade LeYung

Teresa Jade LeYung - photo by Sharon Leong 2019 May 10

As a story theme consultant, award-winning writer, and platform-building coach for pre-published and published authors, Writing Coach TERESA JADE LEYUNG empowers her clients to identify their core themes in their manuscripts and career mapping.
http://lovemadeofheart.com/blog

TERESA JADE LEYUNG (formerly Teresa LeYung-Ryan) is the author of:

Love Made Of Heart

Build Your Writer’s Platform & Fanbase In 22 Days: Attract Agents, Editors, Publishers, Readers, and Media Attention NOW

Talking to My Dead Mom monologues