12/20/2022 0 Comments Hear Me! Hear Me! My Latest Interview![]() This is my latest interview. Bri Allison, Director of Communications at The Power of the Patient Project, asked interesting and in-depth questions about brain injury and being a caregiver. I answered! I hope even a teeny bit of what I say can help you. You Are Not Alone! Click to hear the interview. Please share with the world. donna o'donnell figurski
Author of Prisoners Without Bars: A Caregiver's Tale
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![]() Vocabulary is in the Air by Figurski KIDDLES (Reposted from Figurski Wiki March 22, 2011) Our language is made up of many words. Some convey the most simple message. The dog ran down the street. Certainly that sentence gives the reader a specific picture, but not a colorful one. It leaves a lot to the imagination of the reader who is expected to fill in the missing parts. The sentence borders on boring. By playing with words, children are experimenting with ways to make their language more vivid. They use words to create movies in their heads. This will surely result in more fascinating writing that will jump off the page. In order to accomplish that task, children need to choose more picturesque words. Look at this sentence. The brown dog galloped down the crooked street. It’s more vivid and easily allows a clearer image to be conjured. I asked my class to play with words. I gave them a set of stimulus words (in bold) and asked to think of more visual words. Look at their work below. ran — dashed, raced, rushed, sprinted, zoomed, galloped, bolted picked — plucked, snatched, yanked, grabbed jumped — leapt, hopped, skipped flew — glided yelled — screamed, scolded, yelped, screeched, hollered, shouted, snapped, barked For HomeFun, they will work on the following words. walked --shook -- said -- laughed -- cried -- washed -- jumped -- chirped -- If you enjoy my blog, please pass it on to all your friends and they to theirs. If you hate my blog, go ahead and send it to your enemies. I won’t mind. (Clip Art compliments of Bing.) 8/29/2022 0 Comments The Tipping Point Going out to dinner, lunch, or even breakfast is fun. Well, at least the ordering and the dining are fun. I don’t even mind paying the bill. After all, I must pay for my desires, but the fun stops at the tipping point.
(republished from Donna O'Donnell Figurski's Blog)
7/19/2022 1 Comment Cricket Celebrations
5/6/2022 0 Comments Talking with Some Amazing Women of PEO–Philanthropic Educational Organization in Sun City WestIt was my honor this week to meet some pretty inspiring women. I had a wonderful talk/Power Point presentation for 19 women on Wednesday, May, 4, 2022. (PEO–Philanthropic Educational Organization)
These women are inspiring. Their mission is to provide scholarship grants for young women to help them to reach their educational goals. Here's a photo of a few of these amazing ladies. (That's me in the middle with the black shirt.) Notice the MeTime Stones slide in the back. The women each chose a MeTime Stone to help to remind them to take care of themselves too. a cuppa! a bubble bath! a walk in the park! read a chapter WHATEVER! RECHARGE! REBOOT! REFRESH 4/30/2022 0 Comments Stroke Survivor & Podcaster, Bill Gasiamis Interviews Me About Brain Injury, Caregiving, and my book, "Prisoners Without Bars: A Caregiver's Tale"Bill Gasiamis, a stroke survivor and the podcast host of A Stroke Caregiver's Journey talked about what it means to be a caregiver. He shared his story with me and I shared mine with him. We talked about being overly stressed and overly busy through the lenses of a caregiver and a survivor. We discussed recovery after brain injury and the complications and joys it brings. We spoke about taking a new fork in the road and accepting a new normal. But most importantly, we agreed that laughter is crucial to a more calm recovery––in fact, it may be the key to happiness after brain injury. So, Folks, start laughing like there's no tomorrow. GiGgLE! ChOrTLe! sNiCkER! TeE-hEe! HoOT & HOwL ... With LAUGHTER! PS. You'll LOVE Bill's Down Under Australian accent. Check out Recovery After Stroke by Bill Gasiamis. John Daly, author of action/thriller books and Boutique of Quality Books/WriteLife consultant, interviewed me about my book, Prisoners Without Bars: A Caregiver's Tale. I told John that Prisoners will make readers Laugh! Cry! and G-A-S-P!. How do I know? Because I laughed, cried, and gasped! during the many years it took me to write the story. So when you read my book, Prisoners Without Bars: A Caregiver's Tale, and you Laugh! Cry! or G-A-S-P!, please let me know. You can leave a comment below or send an email to me at [email protected]. Of course, when you read my book, please write an honest review. My book and I will each appreciate your efforts. CLICK Here! Prisoners Amazon US Paperback, eBook, Audiobook Prisoners (print) Barnes and Noble Paperback, eBook Prisoners (print) IndieBound Prisoners (eBook) Kobo A review is a book's best friend. "Prisoners Without Bars: A Caregiver's Tale" will make readers Laugh! Cry! and G-A-S-P! Did you know that a book review doesn't have to be long? You aren't in school anymore. The teacher is not assigning a review of the class chosen book. He/She is not requiring that you write a 1,000 word essay on the book. Here are a few samples from reviews of my book, "Prisoners Without Bars: A Caregiver's Tale." (Many are only partials. You can go to Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Kobo, or Goodreads to read more than a 100 reviews. "Prisoners Without Bars: A Caregiver's Tale" Oh, and while you are there, please leave your review, so that other readers can read yours. A Kindle Customer wrote: I enjoyed this book because the author was very honest in describing her journey taking care of her husband who had a brain bleed and her life was never the same or his. An Amazon Customer wrote: I loved this book. almost couldn't put it down. the love and dedication of the wife is incredible. I have to give her kudos. much like caring for a person with dementia - not easy. highly recommended. Rinda wrote: What a story! I was hooked from the preface. jlgwriter wrote: This is a deeply moving story about a family's experience with traumatic brain injury. I found the story powerful and compelling, Bob Millsap wrote: I recommend this book for anyone that is a caregiver or is close to somebody that is. Barnes and Noble Reviewer wrote: Donna writes a very compelling story of her (and her husband David's) 13 years of pain, suffereing, and frustatrations dealing with TBI. A Rutgers School of Medicine Professor wrote: The book details the events that occurred when an articulate, vibrant microbiologist at Columbia University suddenly suffers a traumatic brain injury. Goodreads Reviewer, Kiersten wrote: Phenomenal story of love, determination and an acceptance of a new life. Goodreads Reviewer, Connie G. wrote: Very moving account of how life can change overnight, and the struggles to get the proper care. Kobo Reviewer wrote: An amazing story of Love and Hope I could not believe the faith and strength of the author. THIS SPOT is FOR YOU! Go Ahead. WRITE A REVIEW! 4/3/2022 0 Comments Fragly Can't Croak!Fragly Can't Croak
by Donna O'Donnell Figurski “Croook!” I want to croak like other frogs? thought Fragly. But “Croook!” was all Fragly could say. “I’ll never be a normal frog,” she thought. While the frogs played in the pond, in reeds, under leaves, Fragly sat alone on her lily pad. No one noticed her. While the frogs croaked, beeped, and trilled, Fragly sat alone on her lily pad. No one noticed her. Fragly’s eyes bulged, her tongue thwipped. She waved her front limbs frantically. The log moved closer. But the frogs played on. They never noticed Fragly … or the log. When Fragly bulged her eyes and “Croooked! When she thwipped her tongue and “Croooked! And frantically waved her limbs and “Croooked! The frogs saw the moving log getting closer and closer. They began to Croook too … … until the log swam right out of their bog. Hooray for Fragly! No one ever ignored Fragly again. |
AuthorI am the author of Prisoners without Bars: A Caregiver's Tale. It's the true story of how my husband almost left me--three times. Archives
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