Richard E Kelly

Yesterday, I had the pleasure of meeting with a long-time Tucson book club called “Books with Rose Mary.” Rose Mary Blaha had only a few days ago read “Growing Up In Mama’s Club” and wanted her group of passionate readers to know about my story. She gave my book a five-star review on Amazon.com, saying she could not put the book down.

Our meeting started promptly at 4:00 pm at Applebees near the Tucson Mall. Rose Mary introduced me to the group, telling me that I should tell a bit of my story. It took only a few minutes, before it was non-stop questions and interesting observations. Liz Leggett wanted to know how my negative experience with religion as a child had impacted my view of religion today and asked how she could get a copy of the book. Mary Letts was curious about why the Club believes only 144,000 will go to heaven. Jan Graunke grew up in Grand Island, Nebraska, which ironically was the city my sister, Mary Lyn, was living in when she was murdered. Sophie Katz and Betty Griffis shared their thoughts about organized religion and both purchased copies of my book. Prudy Cain mentioned that alot of people claim to be agnostics but on their death bed, most of them are praying to a Higher Power. She also commented that she was looking forward to reading my book.

All in all, it was fun to be the center of attention for an afternoon and I look forward to getting feedback on my book from the ladies in “Books with Rose Mary.”

One of the most asked questions by readers of “Mama’s Club” is about my wife, Helen. Yes, that seventeen-year-old young lady that you see on this post who would become my wife on April 11, 1964. And that question is: Did she leave the Club shortly after you were married? The answer is “no.” It wouldn’t be until 1986 before she could break the stranglehold of the Club’s cult-like beliefs and practices. But our challenges for the next twenty-two years will be the fodder for my sequel, “Ghosts From Mama’s Club.” In the meantime, Helen and I will be celebrating our forty-fourth wedding anniversary next month. Ironically, my sister, Mary Lyn, was murdered on April 11, ten years ago.

I started this blog with good intentions. I wouldn’t let two or three days pass without making a contribution. But then, my wife, Helen, and I left west Michigan on October 17, migrating south and west for the winter.

The first leg of our semi-annual migration took us 1,275 miles to Houston, Texas, where our son, Keith, lives. This is always a treat because we not only enjoy visiting with him,  we get to spend time with his wife Amy and our eleven-year-old granddaughters, (and twins) Hannah and Katrina. Some of the highlights of our visit with them were hearing the twins sing with a group from their middle school, watching climbers scale the Matterhorn at an IMAX theatre showing, a tour of the traveling 125,000-year-old Lucy exhibit and her Ethiopian birthplace, and being treated to one of the best movies that I have seen in awhile, Michael Clayton.

The last leg of our journey took us 1,100 miles to our Tucson home. And as we neared our high desert home in the Catalina Mountains, we were most grateful for books on tape. We had listened to and thoroughly enjoyed two unabridged books, His Excellency: George Washington, by Joseph Ellis and Wild Swans, by Jung Chang. Both books were well written and narrated stories about how a single man can and did make a significant difference to the history of his country, the USA and China. One was very good and the other was a disaster.

When we arrived back in Tucson there was much that needed to be done to make our house a home. And we had only a week to prepare for houseguests. Visiting with us for five days would be someone I hadn’t seen in almost fifty years. John Hoyle and I were only kids when we last spent quality time together. Ironically, my parents were instrumental into bringing his parents into ”the truth.” Oops. There I go again. I mean the Club. That happened in February of 1952 and we last played together in the fall of 1958. John made contact with me via the Internet in July when he heard about my book, Growing Up In Mama’s Club.

To make a long story short, we had a delightful time with John, his wife Sharon, and their adorable, less than a year old Maltese puppy, Lilly. While they were here, we explored nearby Sabino Canyon, drove to the top of 9,200-feet Mount Lemmon, and just talked and talked and laughed and reminisced.

Now it’s back to writing full time. And I’ve made a decision (gulp!) to dramatically improve the third printing of Mama’s Club, which I expect to have ready by January 2008. What changes do I plan to make? I will report that in subsequent blogs.