The Grace of Ordinary Days

by: Kay Saunders and Bernie Saunders

Published by: Center for Living Art Inc.

Reviewed by Connie Anderson

In midlife, the mother, Kay and son, Bernie, 50-ish, found a way to pass a gift on to all of us. Kay started writing poetry and Bernie became a professional photographer; a major career shift for him, but a dream come true.

When the book became a reality, Kay was in her 80s. Her poetry, about life's transitions for her and her children, are powerful, passionate, pithy...and oh so reflective. You know she has hit your emotional button when you find yourself nodding or saying, hmmmmm. She writes beautifully of forgiveness, hope, dreams and reality.

So many of the poems touched my heart. One of my favorites is about waiting for her son to come home--after he had been out way past curfew. As a writer and editor, my favorite is "In My House of Words," where she describes what nouns, verbs and other parts of speech do. Kay tells us that after midnight they tightly join hands and make lovely lonely sounds in the dark. What an image of the value and power of words!

Bernie's amazing photographs of flowers are close, close-ups. You hardly realize--until you dwell on the photo, that it is the fold of a rose, the curled-up dying iris, or the center of an orchid.

This merging of words and photographs gives the reader "nothing ordinary," in The Grace of Ordinary Days-- the author's invitation to celebrate life's journey. Kay died before Bernie could have the book published. He found the closeness he and his father shared while working together to birth Kay's legacy a gift beyond words.

Armchair Interviews says this is a wonderful gift for your or someone who loves the beauty of the written word--and the phenomena of God's flowers.