I’m thrilled to introduce Jane Moore, one of my Treasured Team Featured Readers. Jane is one of the reasons I created the Featured Reader. I wanted to let others get to know my terrific readers. And believe me, after you read Jane’s letter, you will marvel at her story and her! I mean, c’mon, I never knew another “mature” woman who took up pole-dancing (except me, which I did when I turned 70.)
I asked Jane about her unusual email address which refers to “quilting’. She included a P.S. to her letter describing her passion for quilting. She said that I could cut it if it was too long. After reading the P.S. –and had to brush at my tears, I decided I couldn’t cut a word. Read it and prepare to be impressed. I sure am, and am honored that Jane is one of my Featured Readers. What a glorious gift she is!
Dear Taylor:
I don’t know about all of you but I think we live in the most wonderful of times. I am a 62 year old woman. I embrace all the changes that life has to offer and let the changes energize me.
I have seen people much younger than myself grow old and curse the computer age we now live in. I disagree with them! Especially when it comes to our digital libraries now. I’m not saying that I didn’t love the old libraries and their ambiance, but somehow life just got so busy that to find time to sit with a book was rare. But an app on my phone lets me read while I wait in the dentist office, in checkout lines, while hubby is driving! He loves that I read now and I don’t “help him drive” by telling him about speed limits or stop signs coming up. We have been married 30 years and he is truly the wind beneath my wings. He encourages me in all my endeavors. I love him dearly.
I’ve worked as a nurse in the early years and then changed career directions to clerical/computer work as time went on. I have enjoyed working in the health field, as well as being part of the support staff for law enforcement and county government positions in two states. Although I’ve never been lucky enough to know any one person like the characters Taylor Lee writes about, I can say that I have seen the similar qualities scattered throughout the different people in the departments I have worked with. There are good people out there for sure !
I read to keep young and inspired. For the past twenty five years I started taking on a new hobby or interest every year. The children are grown and a thousand miles away so I had the time to really explore different things. One year it was gourmet cooking, the next oil painting, the next piano lessons, aerial yoga, quilt making, etc. And one crazy year after seeing it on the daytime talk shows, I tried Pole Dancing …LOL. If Martha could do it, so could I. I think it was in 2013 or 2014, after reading Taylor Lee’s Grandmaster’s Legacy collection, that I even took up Tae Kwon Do. LOL. In my fifties I earned five belts! It was indeed a workout, but so healthy and I just had to get a taste of martial arts.
I was lucky to come across Taylor Lee’s writing shortly after getting my first kindle. She has been one of my favorite authors ever since. She captures the missing elements so many other authors miss. OMG the full pictures Taylor’s words paint. They catch all of our senses. I love that the characters are smart, strong, and fighting evil. I think they inspire us to be better citizens. I also like that Taylor’s stories often improve my vocabulary and knowledge of famous brands. I often look up the words or items to learn more. But I cannot leave out the tall dark handsome strong men that Taylor writes about. Those men who know what their women want!
I would love you to send my daughter The Grandmaster’s Legacy Collection. My daughter is brave, passionate, talented and fearless. She encourages me when I try things like TKD. I know she would love The Grandmaster’s — if she ever gets time to read it lol. The Grandmaster’s Legacy is one of Taylor’s first and most inspiring sets. I go to The Grandmaster’s Legacy even now. I re-read the stories when I’ve had a year of reading other authors’ works and need to ‘cleanse my pallet’ and refresh. There’s great work out there but also a lot of repetition and some pretty poor attempts that don’t come close to the full bodied work that Taylor Lee does.
Well that’s about it for the About Me of Jane M.
P.S About my Quilting—Thank you for asking. I get excited sharing my joy!
When my dad died I was 23. I had kept a flannel shirt of his and would wear it when I was missing him and needed comfort or strength. Well it got me through some pretty rough times….. but after my life settled down .. after all the stress from a divorce, raising two children, moving, jobs, and all that life throws at you to ‘build character’ … I found the shirt in the bottom dresser drawer one day and realized how worn it had gotten and all the comfort it gave me. I also realized how long it had been since I had even put it on! I was happy and content. My children grown and a wonderful husband who shares my life. So I found myself wondering what to do to preserve the shirt and what it represents when suddenly a Quilting show popped up on the TV. God bless public television. I made a quilt using pieces of the shirt! I started doing that same thing for friends when they were grieving from loved ones passing. For a friends husband, I made three quilted throws from his mothers shirt using her shirt for the cross. Here is one pic. Quilting is about love for sure. You can feel the energy in the quilts lol.
Another quilt that gave comfort to a friend was when I took a photo they treasured of a great day at the lake with a son who had passed away suddenly a few weeks later. Again I saw a show with a technique to try. I realized if you turn a color photo to grayscale…black and white…. and enlarge it .. it becomes just squares of different tones or shades. If you Look at fabric through a red lens, you are seeing tones not colors. Make a photo quilt!
So I tried it. It’s not perfect and you have to stand far away but it worked!
If you stand back you see the photo but on your lap it’s just a quilt of different colored squares. I laugh a bit because when I gave him the quilt, my coworker said the usual thank you, but standing just a few feet away he never saw the picture. He said me to hold onto the quilt till the end of the day. A little sad that he didn’t love it, I took it inside and was holding it up at the end of the hall showing it to someone …when he came around the corner at the far end of the hall. I heard him gasp and say ‘ that’s my son !’ I will remember his cracked voice forever. He loves the quilt.
So for ten years I actually started a Quilting/craft business in my spare time… after a 40 hour workweek. I closed the LLC last year because I just want to quilt for the love of it. Money is not my motivation. Besides I donated more quilts than I ever sold lol. I’ve donated quilts to hospice and for raffles at benefit auctions. One even sold at the Relay for Life auction and is displayed in the Cancer Center of the local hospital. I really love to hand one to a friend in need of a hug, and to let them feel the love when they wrap it around themselves.
Best always.
Jane
Note: All Treasured Team members are eligible to become a Featured Reader. Tell us about yourself and what you love about reading. I will send your favorite Taylor Lee Book or Series to anyone you choose. And because I Treasure you, all Featured Readers will receive a $25 gift certificate!
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