Kathleen Smith's Blog, page 7

Living in a Weird Movie

The other day I told my husband I feel like I am living in a weird movie where one day the entire world woke up and started wearing face masks everywhere they went. Didn’t matter if it was to the store for some groceries or maybe to a home store to buy supplies so they can fix their house or getting gas for their cars. And some people were wearing their masks alone in their car driving!

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And then I realized OH, wait that’s not a weird movie. That’s really happening! What! My husband thought I was funny when I told him all this, but he understood what I meant. I gotta be honest I find it rather disturbing seeing so many people wearing masks everywhere I go. Yes, I get it people want to be safe and they don’t want to get the virus. However, when I see one person driving in their car, alone and they are wearing a mask, I can’t help but wonder if they realize they don’t need to keep themselves safe from their own germs.

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I too have a face mask. I have tried to wear it a couple of times, but I have to say that I find I have trouble breathing with it on. It bothers my asthma. So when I go places I don’t wear it. Yes, I know the horror of me not wearing my mask (gasp). And yes sometimes I get looks from people. I do wish instead of assuming I’m not wearing my mask out of protest or something that they would ask nicely so I could tell them about my medical condition.

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I look forward to the day when things will calm down and people will stop wearing their face masks. I don’t know how close or far into the future that is, but I sure do hope it will be soon. Sarcastically I told my husband this was going to last for another year. He thinks people will stop wearing their masks in six months maybe less. I say the sooner the better.

Kathleen Smith is an indie Author, blogger and she has her own podcast Kathleen’s Korner. You can read or listen about her life in Brooklyn and Upstate NY . You can also either read or listen to her personal story of how she and her husband kept their marriage together through 3 miscarriages in Miscarriages My Story 

Summer Memories

With Summer slowly approaching us (at least in Upstate NY it’s a very slow approach) I thought it would be nice to write a blog about my summer memories. It certainly is a much nicer topic than the virus or the news or anything like that. And I have lots of great memories of my summers growing up and I think they all involve my mom in one way or another.

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When I was growing up I loved visiting my dad’s family for Memorial Day, the 4th of July, my birthday, Labor Day, and whatever else may have fallen between those days. We would all gather together in the backyard and play different games. We would eat BBQ for lunch and dinner. I can remember the BBQ grill that my great aunts had would always take forever to heat up the charcoal. I also remember my favorite dish to eat was potatoes with green beans. There was always so much laughter going on between my grandparents, my great aunts, and uncles, my parents, and me. Those were some fun days!

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On my mom’s side, we had a family BBQ that was always on a Saturday. I can’t remember if it was in July or August, but I do know one Saturday in those two months was always set aside for the McCann family BBQ. I loved that BBQ! It was always held at my aunt and uncle’s house in Lynbrook on Long Island. They had an in-ground pool, lots of food for lunch and supper, a volleyball net to play volleyball, and my mom always brought Dunkin Donuts. It was the one day a year I got to see all my aunts, uncles, cousins, and close friends of the McCann’s. I always looked forward to that one particular Saturday during the summer months.

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I do have other summer memories, but I think I would like to end this blog with what is probably my most favorite summer memory. This memory is of me and my mom. I can remember on those hot summer days when my mom and I went on errands, we would do a lot of walking. We would go from store to store buying what was needed and do some browsing at the same time. When all the errands were done, and we were heading back home, my mom would buy us each an Italian ice. On a rare occasion, I would ask for lemon ice, but for the most part, I would get chocolate ice. Usually, I would also get a small, but everyone once in a while my mom would let me get a medium. I sure do miss that Italian ice! Not as much as I miss my mom, but I think you get the point.

Kathleen Smith is an indie author, blogger and she has her own podcast Kathleen’s Korner. You can read or listen about her life in Brooklyn and Upstate NY . You can also either read or listen to her personal story of how she and her husband kept their marriage together through 3 miscarriages in Miscarriages My Story 

Still a City Girl

I can remember when I was growing up I never liked getting mud on my shoes, not that there was that much mud in Brooklyn to begin with, nonetheless I didn’t like it then and I quickly found out the other day I still don’t like mud on my shoes. I am still a city girl.

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How do I know this? Simple. The other day my husband and I went to an Arboretum in our area. He’s been wanting to go to it for about six or seven years now, but for some reason we’ve never done. Well we finally did. We walked along one of the paths there and looked at different trees. I found this to be quite boring, but I liked the walk so I went with it. When we got to a big open field we saw the beautiful country fields.

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We then went to a big tree that my husband wanted to see, again I wasn’t impressed. After this is when I found out about the mud. As we were walking back to our car there was a rather long muddy trail that we needed to walk through to get back to our car. We did try to go around it, but that wasn’t very easy. So we got back into the muddy path and I told my husband I didn’t like the mud one little bit. I told him, “yep I am still a city girl” at least when it comes to certain things and mud happens to be one of them. What can I tell you, you can take the girl out of the city, but you can’t take the city out of the girl.

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Okay, I know this wasn’t one of my better blogs, but when you consider the fact that I can’t go anywhere right now, then I need to blog about whatever I can. Hopefully next weeks will be more amusing.

Kathleen Smith is an indie Author, blogger and she has her own podcast Kathleen’s Korner. You can read or listen about her life in Brooklyn and Upstate NY . You can also either read or listen to her personal story of how she and her husband kept their marriage together through 3 miscarriages in Miscarriages My Story 

Our First Date

Nowadays it seems like the only thing I hear about is the “virus”. Doesn’t matter if it’s the news, the radio or somewhere on social media, everything is about that virus. I don’t want this blog to be about that so I started looking through a book my daughter gave me which asked the question “where was your first date with dad”? So I thought why not blog about my first date with my husband. Who knows maybe someone will find it interesting and maybe a slight bit amusing.

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So when my husband and I were dating or courting as he likes to say, we actually had a long distance relationship (shocking isn’t it!). I lived in Brooklyn and he lived in Upstate New York. We only got to see each other twice a month, which is better than nothing as far as I was concerned. ANYWAY, for our first date I took the greyhound bus out of Manhattan to Albany, New York. It was probably about a 3 or 4 hour bus ride. I can remember sitting in the very first seat with a nice older gentlemen and we chatted part of the way to Albany. When the bus arrived my husband, boyfriend then, was waiting for me with a single red rose and asked me if I would be interested in going to the New York State Museum. It sounded like fun so I figured why not.

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It wasn’t that far of a drive from the bus stop and it was an interesting place. That museum was filled with different things from local animals to maps about Upstate. There is an area of the museum dedicated to the Native American Indians who once lived in the area. There are different types of fire trucks to see and loads of other stuff. After the 9/11 attack in New York City the museum dedicated an entire area to the fire fighters and all the hero’s who helped that day. There are fragments from one of the fire trucks and other things to see. It is a rather emotional part of that museum to say the least.

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I had no idea that our first date to the New York State Museum would lead to a love of going to different museums around the world. Okay, we haven’t gone to a bunch all around the world, but we have gone to some in Ireland, England, France, and Italy and would love to go to more. I can also tell you that we liked the NY State museum enough that, we tend to go back to it often and have taken our kids there many times. So the New York State Museum in Albany was our first date. Tell me what was your first date? I would love to hear from you.

Kathleen Smith is an indie Author, blogger and she has her own podcast Kathleen’s Korner. You can read or listen about her life in Brooklyn and Upstate NY . You can also either read or listen to her personal story of how she and her husband kept their marriage together through 3 miscarriages in Miscarriages My Story 

Enough is Enough

I would love to share with you all about some grand adventure I went on with my husband. I would love to tell you how great it was, how long it took, where it was and all that good stuff. Alas I have nothing like that for today’s post. Bummer I know. Instead all I have to share with you is my feeling towards this virus and staying at home and I say “enough is enough”.

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If you’ve never read any of my posts before please be forewarned I can be a very blunt person. I tell it like it is. Some people like that about me some don’t, but hey you can’t win everybody. And I can honestly say I am SO over this virus! Like everyone else I am staying home for the most part. I only go to the store when I need something. I can also safely say that this is all getting to me emotionally. Well it’s getting to me physically too, you know I sometimes get paranoid that I’m going to get this virus, but who isn’t getting paranoid about that. And I’m terrified to cough in public even though I know it isn’t the virus, it’s because of my asthma. Anyway, as I said this is getting to me emotionally. I haven’t seen my daughter and her family in a month and it’s got me to the point where I will cry at the drop of a hat. Yes, I know there are other families out there in similar situations, so you know how I feel. Especially you grandma’s and nana’s.

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I can tell you I’m tired of listening to the news media. I don’t trust them at all. I’ve watched news conferences with President Trump and Governor Cuomo for that matter and I don’t like or trust the news media especially when they are at a press conference with the President. I think the only person I’m okay with listen to right now is Rush Limbaugh and even that I can’t handle at times anymore. Everything is Coronavirus this or Coronavirus that. I’m on overload with all the information that is being given to us and it’s difficult to know the truth from the lies.

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And then there is the wearing of masks. I see lots and lots of people wearing them. The people I don’t see wearing them though are government officials. I have yet to see one Governor with a face mask as they enter a press conference to give updates. What’s up with that?

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I get the fact that there are people in this country that are worse off than I am. Like the fact that it’s tornado season in the some parts of the USA, which means that on top of this virus there are people who can and will lose their homes because of these natural disasters. That becomes one bad thing on top of another. I think I’m not the only one who is tired of all this and think enough is enough. I say let the malls, small businesses and restaurants open back up. Let people go back to work. Let us American’s get out of our homes, let us see our loved ones, family and friends. Let’s see how it goes. Let us try to get back to a little normality.

Kathleen Smith is an indie Author, blogger and she has her own podcast Kathleen’s Korner. You can read or listen about her life in Brooklyn and Upstate NY . You can also either read or listen to her personal story of how she and her husband kept their marriage together through 3 miscarriages in Miscarriages My Story 

Castles in Cardiff

As promised in my last blog I am sharing about the castles and castle ruins my husband and I visited while in Wales England. To be completely honest with you we only went to one castle in Cardiff (that’s all there is there). All the ruins were about an hours drive from Cardiff. They were all in Wales, but only one in Cardiff. I would have titled this blog “Castles in Wales”, but in all honesty Castles in Cardiff sounds better.

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With all that said, I can tell you that the Castle in Cardiff was nice. It wasn’t as big as I hoped, but it was nice none the less. We did have to pay to get in and we got to walk around the house where people would have lived. The rooms in that place were actually nice to look at. We also walked through the interior of the castle walls that were used as air raid shelters during World War II. It did rain that day, all day, but I think it was worth it.

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The first ruin my husband took me to was Nunney Castle in Somerset, England which is also where my great grandma Lucy Lane was from. That alone had me excited. It was cool to see that this ruin had almost all of its walls up and some windows. No floors obviously, but to see it that much in tact was cool for me to see. I have gotten to the point now where I can tell where the fireplaces would have been. As well as stairs. So now I look for all of that.

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The next castle ruin we drove to was Grosmont Castle. This castle had me impressed. All the outside walls were still standing. You could tell where the rooms and fireplaces were. There were some steps we could walk up to look down at the caste which had me wowed. And to top it all off the very top of one of the fireplaces was completely in tact. Now that is hard to come by! We liked this castle ruin so much that we got there when it was day light and nobody else was around so we sat together for awhile, holding each other on what would have been some steps. We sat there holding each other, listening to the wind and birds until it started to get dark. Grosmont Castle I think is now one of my favorite castle ruins. A place where my husband and I were able to make some fond memories with each other.

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We had to walk quite the distance on part of a golf course to get to Pennard Castle. I have to say there wasn’t much there. Just two or three walls and they weren’t even all there, but the view of the beach was cool to see.

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The last ruin we drove to was St Quentin’s Castle which really wasn’t worth driving to. There were basically some rocks and the gate keepers place, which some how was completely in tact. I am so thankful to my husband for driving me to all these castle ruins. I know there were some that we either couldn’t get to or we got to them, but they were chained up so people couldn’t go in them. Apparently they are considered dangerous for people to walk around. All I know is it was fun getting to see and walk around as many castle ruins as my husband could find.

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You know every time I get to walk through those castles I wonder about the families who use to live in them. I wonder what they were like. I wonder if they had any idea that people like me would want to wonder through them in awe and try to imagine what these places would have looked like way back when. I do know if I could change the inside of my house to look like a ruin, I would probably do it in a second. My husband on the other hand says no to that. Oh well, getting to visit them is better than nothing.

Kathleen Smith is an indie Author, blogger and she has her own podcast Kathleen’s Korner. You can read or listen about her life in Brooklyn and Upstate NY . You can also either read or listen to her personal story of how she and her husband kept their marriage together through 3 miscarriages in Miscarriages My Story 

Visiting England in the Midst of Chaos

Yes, You read the title of this blog correctly. My husband and I indeed took a vacation to England for a week. Technically our vacation started in Wales, but that is for another blog. You can call us crazy if you would like, but this vacation was planned and paid for before this “virus” showed its ugly face in the States. And since our flight wasn’t cancelled we saw no reason to postpone our vacation.

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I would have to say for the most part we had a good vacation. A little weird maybe, but good. The first four days of it were spent in Wales which was fun, but like I said that is for another blog.

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On Friday, March, 20th we dropped off our car rental and were picked up by a black cab from the Black Cab Heritage Tours company and Barry, our driver, took us to a couple of places. The first place he took us to was a field with some cool looking metal chairs. From a distance they look like normal chairs. When you get up close you can see the cool designs on all of them. This is a monument in a place known as Runnymede. This is where the Magna Carta was signed. And not too far from this is a rather large memorial to President John F. Kennedy. It was a gift from the people of England to him. I had no idea this existed, so to see it was cool.

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After this Barry took us to Windsor Castle and got our preordered tickets for us so we could take a tour of Windsor. We were very lucky to get this tour as that day was the last day of tours for a couple of months. I would like to add that this was a surprise for me from my husband. He knows how much I LOVE touring castles. OH, and the queen was home! No, we didn’t get to meet her. We were so close and yet so far away. Anyway the tour was great. We practically had the place to ourselves and we took our time wondering through each room and looking at everything.

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After the tour Barry left my husband and I so we could get some lunch at a burger place (GBK our favorite choice for burgers outside the US). When we were done he took us on a little tour of the town of Windsor. To be honest with you I had no idea that Windsor was a little town outside of London. I knew about the Castle, but had no idea there was a town and a cute little town at that. Most of the stores were closed due to the shut down, but we did get some souvenirs and there was a candy store named Hardy’s that was open. We bought some candy and had a nice chat with the girl who works there.

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We did some walking around London after Barry dropped us off and I can tell you it felt a bit eerie. Normally that city is busy with people walking around, shops and restaurants open and people by water fountains singing. That was not the case that Friday night. It didn’t take long to find out that the two places we had reservations at closed due to the virus. So our last day there was Saturday and we walked all around London. There really wasn’t anything else to do.

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We ended our vacation early and flew back home Sunday morning. Since we didn’t get to see and do what we wanted to do there, we figured this gives us a reason to go back to London again when everything with the virus is done and over with. Like I said before this was a strange vacation, but it was also some much needed husband and wife together time that we needed. Wait to you read about the castles in Wales in next weeks blog!

Kathleen Smith is an indie Author, blogger and she has her own podcast Kathleen’s Korner. You can read or listen about her life in Brooklyn and Upstate NY . You can also either read or listen to her personal story of how she and her husband kept their marriage together through 3 miscarriages in Miscarriages My Story 

Hold Me

Up until Thursday morning, while my husband was holding me, I had no idea what Monday’s blog was going to be about. I even told him while he was holding me that I had no clue what to write about. I was a bit stressed about it if I’m going to be honest. And then I thought about all the times he holds me and how that makes me feel. I thought why not make that my post.

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There are so many different reasons why he holds me. Some good some sad. I can remember the times when he held me when we were going through our miscarriages. My husband held me while I cried and did his best to assure me that everything would be okay. It eventually was, but at the time, his holding me was the best and sometimes the only comfort I had. Then there was the time when my mom died. I remember my husband holding me tight in his arms while I cried, missing my mom something terrible. That pain was awful, but my husband was there ready to hold me and comfort me.

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Then there are the times we are sitting on the couch watching TV. I love it when he holds me while we watch TV. I know it’s not all that big of a deal, but at the same time it is. When I’m stressed about something or nervous he’s right there ready to hold me. When I’m ready to break down or I’m exhausted he’s there holding me. There is something very comforting about my husbands arms and having them around me.

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His arms make me feel loved. They make me feel safe. They remind me that I am his and he is mine. Being held by my husband, I think is pretty safe to say, my favorite place to be. It means I am with the man I love, being loved, being kept safe. And hearing whispers in my ear from his voice saying “I love you.”

Kathleen Smith is an indie Author, blogger and she has her own podcast Kathleen’s Korner. You can read or listen about her life in Brooklyn and Upstate NY . You can also either read or listen to her personal story of how she and her husband kept their marriage together through 3 miscarriages in Miscarriages My Story 

How Did I Get Here?

Often I take a look at my surroundings and think “How did I get here?” I look at my husband of 25 years, I see my kids, almost all of them grown up, I look at my grandson and I look at my dream home. I take a good look at it all and I think how did I get here. Just the other day I was talking with my husband about this. I told him there are so many times I take a good look at everything I/we have and I wonder how did I of all people get here.

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All I can think is, it’s all thanks to God. I mean, I’ve always believed in Him. Since I was born into a Roman Catholic family it’s kind of a given. And at a very early age in my life I decided to have a more personal relationship with Him. I know that sounds crazy, you’re probably thinking “What does a 9 year old know about God?” I knew enough to know I want to really believe in Him for myself and not just because my parents told me so.

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However it wasn’t until I was about 18 or 19 that I knew I had to make a decision as a Christian. I knew I needed to either follow the world and do whatever or follow Jesus and let him guide and direct my life. I chose to follow Jesus no matter how rough things got or how good things were. I do believe if not for that one moment, sitting on my bed, by myself, giving my entire life to Christ no matter what, that I most likely would not be where I am today. I have no idea where I would be, but I know I wouldn’t be where I am.

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That one prayer. That one I give my entire life to you no matter what, brought me to this point that I am at in my life. I do know this and at the same time I still think “how did I get here”. The Lord as been seriously gracious and merciful and plentiful to me, as much as he as taken away and in all that I kept and keep trusting in Him. He has given me a wonderful husband of 25 years like I said above. He has give me 3 children as well as taken 3 children before I even got to see and hold them. He has given me my dream home. He has allowed me to travel with my family to places I’ve always wanted to. He has allowed me to see and do stuff I never thought I would and OH what an adventure it’s been.

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With all this I still ask “How did I get here?” It’s like I know the answer and yet I am still in awe. Sometimes I don’t think I deserve any of it. Other times, most times, I am beyond thankful and know how truly blessed I am. So, how did I get here? Well I guess it’s like my husband is always telling me, “there but by the grace of God go I.” I’ve come a long way since that day in my bedroom praying to God. Has it all been worth it? You bet it has!

Kathleen Smith is an indie Author, blogger and she has her own podcast Kathleen’s Korner. You can read or listen about her life in Brooklyn and Upstate NY . You can also either read or listen to her personal story of how she and her husband kept their marriage together through 3 miscarriages in Miscarriages My Story 

How Did I Get Here

Often I take a look at my surroundings and think “How did I get here?” I look at my husband of 25 years, I see my kids, almost all of them grown up, I look at my grandson and I look at my dream home. I take a good look at it all and I think how did I get here. Just the other day I was talking with my husband about this. I told him there are so many times I take a good look at everything I/we have and I wonder how did I of all people get here.

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All I can think is, it’s all thanks to God. I mean, I’ve always believed in Him. Since I was born into a Roman Catholic family it’s kind of a given. And at a very early age in my life I decided to have a more personal relationship with Him. I know that sounds crazy, you’re probably thinking “What does a 9 year old know about God?” I knew enough to know I want to really believe in Him for myself and not just because my parents told me so.

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However it wasn’t until I was about 18 or 19 that I knew I had to make a decision as a Christian. I knew I needed to either follow the world and do whatever or follow Jesus and let him guide and direct my life. I chose to follow Jesus no matter how rough things got or how good things were. I do believe if not for that one moment, sitting on my bed, by myself, giving my entire life to Christ no matter what, that I most likely would not be where I am today. I have no idea where I would be, but I know I wouldn’t be where I am.

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That one prayer. That one I give my entire life to you no matter what, brought me to this point that I am at in my life. I do know this and at the same time I still think “how did I get here”. The Lord as been seriously gracious and merciful and plentiful to me, as much as he as taken away and in all that I kept and keep trusting in Him. He has given me a wonderful husband of 25 years like I said above. He has give me 3 children as well as taken 3 children before I even got to see and hold them. He has given me my dream home. He has allowed me to travel with my family to places I’ve always wanted to. He has allowed me to see and do stuff I never thought I would and OH what an adventure it’s been.

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With all this I still ask “How did I get here?” It’s like I know the answer and yet I am still in awe. Sometimes I don’t think I deserve any of it. Other times, most times, I am beyond thankful and know how truly blessed I am. So, how did I get here? Well I guess it’s like my husband is always telling me, “there but by the grace of God go I.” I’ve come a long way since that day in my bedroom praying to God. Has it all been worth it? You bet it has!

Kathleen Smith is an indie Author, blogger and she has her own podcast Kathleen’s Korner. You can read or listen about her life in Brooklyn and Upstate NY . You can also either read or listen to her personal story of how she and her husband kept their marriage together through 3 miscarriages in Miscarriages My Story