BY PAMELA JO BOWMAN – MESA ARIZONA – This week, in Oregon, I spent time with my sisters and Great Aunt. Aunt Aida came over from Italy when she was eight. She goes back to Italy once each year to visit relatives. I spent my young life nurtured by our extended family. I remember holidays, …

BY PAMELA JO BOWMAN, MESA, ARIZONA – I found this quote and the way I have been living my life lately, I could have written this! As we grow up, we learn that even the one person that wasn’t supposed to ever let us down, probably will. You’ll have your heart broken and you’ll break …

BY PAMELA JO BOWMAN, MESA, ARIZONA – “The path to our destination is not always a straight one. We go down the wrong road, we get lost, we turn back. Maybe it doesn’t matter which road we embark on. Maybe what matters is that we embark.” — Barbara Hall I read a story of a …

BY PAMELA JO BOWMAN – MESA ARIZONA – “The excessive increase of anything causes a reaction in the opposite direction.” — Plato We seem to live in a world of polar opposites. It is either a question or an answer. Hot or cold, happy or sad, mad or glad, manic or depressed, friend or enemy. …

BY PAMELA JO BOWMAN, MESA, USA — Before we even got to Newport Beach we, of course, were planning activities for our three-day, two-night excursion. We talked about the driving and the meals and the organization and the final clean up. We were trying to figure out how to keep the kids occupied so we …

BY PAMELA JO BOWMAN, MESA, ARIZONA – My friends and I took a couple of days off and drove over to Newport Beach. I love the beach. We were having such a lovely time! I was the first on the warm sand and the last to leave it. I built sandcastles and body surfed and …

BY PAMELA JO BOWMAN – MESA ARIZONA – Tonight we celebrated our first son’s birthday. He is now married, in school and working. We went and had a lovely dinner. The most amazing part of the evening? He paid. I think he really is an adult. After dinner we stopped off to visit some friends. …

PAMELA JO BOWMAN, MESA ARIZONA – On Monday evening we get to share our Zambian experience with the public at the Gilbert Arizona Public library. This is fun for us. We get to talk about our experiences with an interested and hopefully captivated audience. Friends who actually pay attention to what goes on at the …

BY PAMELA JO BOWMAN, MESA ARIZONA – Who knew writing would be so hard?! Give me a topic and I can spew about it! We have been researching and writing a new screenplay for two months. After doing all the preliminary work we have spent the last two days with all our notes and steps …

BY PAMELA JO BOWMAN, MESA, ARIZONA – I took my daughter shopping for her 18th birthday gift. The theme was gifts that you will need at college, next year, when you are by yourself, in an apartment, far away from home and you are hungry and cold. So, of course, plates came to mind. I …