My BOOKS
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Spanish Influenza: Nineteen Days in 1919
In the winter of 1919, the entire town of Mendota, Illinois was stricken by the third wave of the Spanish Flu. German baker Henry Zapf, forty-nine, was working sixteen-hour shifts a day to support his family.
Hilda, his daughter, was nineteen at the time, and as the eldest daughter she was given the immense responsibility of holding down the fort at home. At the time, Hilda had eight siblings, seven of whom (along with her mother), were all in bed, coughing, sneezing, filling bedpans, wearing nightgowns drenched with sweat, delirious with high fevers, and unable to walk without assistance.
The amount of work needed to be done each day to provide quality care must have been overwhelming. Hilda was forced to switch from her role as her mother’s cooking and cleaning assistant to becoming a 24/7 caregiver. With the help of a hired nurse, Miss Schueller, and Hilda’s beloved live-in Aunt Lizzie (Elizabeth Langlitz Kratsch), the entire family survived the deadliest pandemic of the twentieth century.
Chrystallina: The Pond of Awakening
A Wisconsin farmer with a pond on his property is surprised to find an entire population of extra-terrestrials, time -travelers, and angels inhabiting his property which is known throughout the universe as a powerful prayer portal. Unbeknownst to Farmer John, his sunrise morning ritual of praying to God from the center of his pond ends up attracting life-forms from other dimensions to his Wisconsin farm.
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The Lady With The Purple Hat
In 2013, Denise D'Angelo Jones became her mother's 24/7 dementia care-partner. Her mother, Shirley experienced hallucinations, sundowning and confusion but also had some very clear moments of insight and sharing. This book is a direct account of how to navigate through the world of dementia by creating lasting, loving memories. The title is taken from an experience that happened at 2 AM where Shirley awakened, shuffled into the kitchen where Denise was at her computer writing - to tell her about the lady with the purple hat who was sitting on her bed.