The Travelling Book Rockford Independent

As reported by The “Rockford Independent” Newspaper April 6, 2009

Sent to us by Morgan Thomas

I must start by saying that picking one story to describe my GG is impossible. There are so many things that come to mind when I think of GG. I always remember when all of the family would be eating a late breakfast at her house up on beautiful Torch Lake and she would wake up from her “beauty nap” and come out into the kitchen. Her face would light up when she saw us all. She loved having us all there and sometimes I think that she took those naps so that when she woke up and made her entrance, all eyes would be on her (which of course they were). She always loved the attention, and we loved giving it to her.

Easter was always so much fun at GG’s House. Maybe it was because it didn’t take too long to find the Easter baskets in her - not so large- house. HEHE. I also loved cookie decorating , cooking and the family bonding time. I’ll never forget the time we cleared the furniture out of the living room so we could all do somersaults and head stands!! I couldn’t believe that GG even participated. She was always spunky and energetic. I loved those qualities about my Great Grandmother!

Another thing about GG was the she didn’t have to say much for you to know how she felt! If she was disappointed, you knew it. That was one thing I strived never to do- let down GG. I remember once, when Alicia, my sister, and I were having a petty fight over  my Great Grandmother’s Wood lincoln logs, GG stopped us and pulled me aside. I don’t remember exactly what she said but it wasn’t mean or condescending. It still made me feel horrible. She possessed that gift and I never wanted her to have to use it again!

Ahhhh and who can forget GG’s stories? It’s Hard to forget them since she enjoyed telling them so often. Days as a head pastry chef in Ohio and providing fish dinners for her friends were among her favorites! As much as these stories became a tad monotonous, we welcomed them compared to her Bowel movement stories!!!!

Something that I was so thankful for was the ability to live with GG for a few months when she came to stay with my parents and me after she left her home of over 65 years! They say you don’t know someone until you live with them, and it is very true. I really grew to respect GG even more than I did before, I mean, who else would I wait on hand and foot? Even when her back hurt, she would always be enthusiastic about coming to my choir concerts and volleyball games. She really loved her family, and we really loved her in return. I can’t say enough good about GG, since she was simply and honestly a good person.

It was difficult near the end to see GG so frail, but she was still fighting up until the very end. Of course, I can NEVER forget the last time that I saw GG. Nana, Papa, and I were all in her room at Trillium Hospice Center in Grand Rapids, Michigan. We were in her room singing her favorite hymns. She had been unresponsive all morning and it was about time for me to head back to college. As I was getting ready to leave, I told GG how much I loved her and gave her a kiss. Just then, she opened her eyes and said, “I love you too, honey.You don’t know how much my family means to me.” That was the best gift I could have ever received.

I truly believe that I was given the best Great Grandma there has ever been. I learned so many things from her that I hope to pass on to my kids. GG will never be forgotten, She made sure of that!

March 19th, 2009

RSVP Now & Win!

Below is the information on our first Travelling Book Workshop to be held At Schuler Books & Music.
We would love to have your support and hope to see you all there!
RSVP by March 15th and be entered to win A Travelling Book of your own!!!

If you don’t know the trees you may be lost in the forest,

but if you don’t know the stories you may be lost in life.

—Siberian Elder.

The Travelling Book series is the newest and most unique way to store treasured memories and share them with everyone you love. From Heirloom Binder to Coffee table book, Julia Thomas, owner of a new local West Michigan company, The Travelling Book Company, will show you how to preserve stories of family, friends and even strangers to share with future generations.

Travelling Book workshop with Julia Thomas
Thursday, March 19, 6:30pm
Rockford native Julia Thomas will be in our store to demonstrate her new, exciting take on recording your life stories and memories, The Travelling Book.
Please RSVP at: contactus@thetravellingbookco.com !
Directions to Schuler Books on Fountain Street

]]> http://www.thetravellingbookco.com/stories/travelling-book-workshop/feed/ http://www.thetravellingbookco.com/news/grand-rapids-press-ad/ http://www.thetravellingbookco.com/news/grand-rapids-press-ad/#comments Fri, 13 Feb 2009 03:46:16 +0000 Admin1 http://www.thetravellingbookco.com/?p=350 Thanks To The

Great Northern Trading Company

for showing us some love in the Grand Rapids Press!

February 12th, 2009

Great Northern Trading Company Ad Grand Rapids Press

Great Northern Trading Company 32nd

Anniversary Sale

May 9th, 2009

1-3 P.M.

Great Northern Trading Company

10 Squires Street Square

Rockford, Michigan 49341 Map

John and Julia Thomas, Developers of The Travelling Book Series, will be available for book signing at the Great Northern Trading Company. John & Julia will also be sharing creative writing techniques and tools that will help you create a unique Travelling Book that will be treasured for generations to come

A “Theme Inspiring” Contest will be held compliments of “The Travelling Book Company” & the “Great Northern Trading Company”. Give us an inspiring, unique or funny theme title for us to add to “The Travelling Book Series”. If your theme idea is chosen, you will receive your very own  “Travelling Book Kit” WITH the first printed copy of YOUR theme idea!  Even if your theme isn’t chosen, don’t despair, your entry will be added for our Second Drawing where we will be drawing from all entries received during this event for a SECOND Travelling Book Kit to be given away! Don’t miss out on the fun and come join us!

All entries can be made in person at the “Great Northern Trading Company” or sent to us via email to: contactus@thetravellingbookco.com

Get the creative juices flowing and remember, people’s lives are colorful!  Be creative, think outside the box!

For more information please contact us at: Contactus@thetravellingbookco.com

or call us at:616-302-0251

Travelling Book Workshop

Schuler Books & Music

40 Fountain NW

Grand Rapids, Michigan 49503

March 19th 6:30 P.M.

Map

Blount Private Party!

Travelling Book Workshop

Ada, Michigan

April 25th

6:00 P.M.

]]> http://www.thetravellingbookco.com/news/travelling-book-upcoming-events/feed/ http://www.thetravellingbookco.com/news/news-release-2-4-09/ http://www.thetravellingbookco.com/news/news-release-2-4-09/#comments Wed, 04 Feb 2009 14:09:39 +0000 admin http://www.thetravellingbookco.com/?p=247

For Immediate Release

Contact: Julia Thomas

(616) 302-0251

jthomas@thetravellingbookco.com

GATHER STORIES, HISTORY, AND CONNECT WITH OTHERS WITH YOUR OWN

“TRAVELLING BOOK COMPANY’S” HEIRLOOM & COFFEE TABLE BOOK

ROCKFORD, Michigan, February 3, 2009 –The Travelling Book Company introduces a way to connect with others, one page at a time, and have it published as a soft cover coffee table book.

Introducing The Travelling Book & Kit, the newest way to preserve memories and stories while sharing them with others. The Travelling Book & Kit is meant to be passed around between families, friends and/or perfect strangers, so everyone can share stories, memories and pictures, and then have it published into a perfect-bound coffee table book available for purchase by the book’s contributors.

The Kit includes an heirloom-quality, all-wood (choose from four finishes), genuine leather-bound binder handcrafted in the U.S.A.; a shrink-wrapped theme packet (choose from five separate themes) or create your own) filled with 80 pages for writing and illustrating your stories or family history; and a Travelling Book gift box suited for shipping and gift giving.

Here’s how The Travelling Book works: Once the kit is purchased, the originator (the individual who purchases the Travelling Book & Kit) forwards the binder and theme pages to their friends, family and even strangers who then fill the pages with stories and pictures, based on the provided theme and the originator’s tailored instructions. After the book has been passed around and the pages filled, the last person to contribute to the book sends it back to the originator who then has the option to send the completed original contents to The Travelling Book Company. The Travelling Book Company can copy and publish the contents as a perfect-bound coffee table book. These books are then available for purchase by the book’s originator and its contributors. The original contents are sent back to the originator who can then store them in the wooden binder forever.

“Typically recorded are the date we’re born and the date we die, but it’s the journey in between that defines the purpose of our lives and creates our unique stories,” said Julia Thomas, developer of The Travelling Book Company. “This Travelling Book series helps preserve the stories of people’s lives and experiences to be forever recorded and shared with future generations.”

The Travelling Book Company offers the following five starter themes which can be tailored and built upon, based on instructions provided by the book’s originator:

Our Family’s Urban Legends. Every family has their legends and myths. This theme allows family members to share their recollection of “the story.”

Roads Travelled and Journeys Taken – Memorable Vacations and Favorite Places to Travel. With this theme, ask contributors to share stories of their unforgettable and memorable escapes. Photos, maps, menus and other memorabilia can be added.

A Tale Like No Other – Begin a Story and Ask Others to Add to It. Have you ever sat around the campfire, asking each person to orally add a line or paragraph to story? Now you can put it in writing and illustrate it, too. Contributors are encouraged to add to a story with words, original artwork, photographs and other memorabilia to illustrate an original tall tale. The idea is to pass the book around as far as possible (even around the globe) and end up with a unique, never-before-written tale or adventure.

Of “Relative” Importance – A Collection of Family Memories. Ask friends and family to add their favorite photos, stories, old letters and mementos to create a book of your unique family history. This is a wonderful theme to honor lost loved ones and to preserve their memories.

Celebrating Food, Family, Wine & Friends – A Collection of Recipes, Traditions & Memories Gathered Around the Table. You’re only limited by your imagination in what you collect for this theme. Suggestions include adding favorite family recipes, traditions, conversations, photos, etc.

“Each theme is meant to stir the contributors’ imaginations,” explained Thomas. “The more adventurous you get – both with your themes and to whom you send the book – the more original and interesting your book becomes. Our goal is to connect people and help them get back to the basics with good stories and to preserve the memorable moments of our lives. There’s no limit to what you can do with these books, and anyone at any age can easily contribute.”

The Travelling Book & Kit also make great gifts and can be presented as wedding or baby gifts, teacher gifts, workplace gifts and more. Present them empty to be filled by the recipient’s choosing, or as a finished heirloom.

About The Travelling Book & Kit

The Travelling Book & Kit is handcrafted in the U.S.A. Each kit includes an heirloom, leather-bound wood binder. Wood finishes are hand-stained and hand-sanded and come in choice of cherry, pecan, espresso and ginger finishes. The binder also includes a string and button envelope to hold extra pictures, mementos and memorabilia. (Retail $69.95) The themed packet contains instructions, a loose-leaf paper packet of 80 pages (60 lined for writing and 20 blank for illustrations and photographs) (Retail $19.95). Entire Book & Kit retails for $89.90 Extra pages to add to a theme, can be purchased at $11.95 per 40 page packet or $14.95 per 80 page packet. Each heirloom binder and theme is packaged in a Travelling Book box which can be used to ship the finished contents back to The Travelling Book Company or to present the binder as a gift. Contents can be copied and published as a perfect bound coffee table book (soft cover retails for $49.95). Contributors to the book can purchase copies of the coffee table book at the Travelling Book Web site.

The Travelling Book is available at Schuler Books & Music, 40 Fountain Street NW, Grand Rapids, Mich.; Schuler Books & Music, 3165 Alpine Ave. Walker, Mich. and “Great Northern Trading Company” 10 Squires Street - Rockford, Mich. & The Travelling Book Company’s Web site,

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High-resolution product photo available at http://www.thetravellingbookco.com/images/product.jpg

Have Your Theme Personalized for Your Travelling Book!

“Our Gifts From Kursk, Russia” Reflections of our Children’s Lives

This theme was ordered by a family that adopted two children from Kursk, Russia. They traveled with a group of other Parents who were also adopting children. In their Travelling Book, the parents are collectively telling the exciting stories of their trips, the way they felt the first time they saw their children, the struggles of adoption, Russia’s culture, & how the children have blessed their lives. What a great book of memories this will be for the children to always treasure!

“Memoirs of the Life of Irene Lundy”

This theme is being passed around to relatives, family and friends who are collectively sharing the stories of the
life of their grandmother/mother, Irene, who passed away in ‘08. They are finding out that many people have stories about parts of Irene’s life that they themselves didn’t know about. They are collecting stories from people that knew Irene even before her children were born. They are enjoying documenting a history of Irene they never knew existed!

“The “Redneck” Group of Travellers”

This theme was created By a group of people who get together once a year and take a “Redneck” trip. Their trips are always a week long with approximately 15 couples. I hear the stories are hilariously funny and they are now documenting each years trip until their Travelling Book is full. Everyone is excited about ordering a coffee table book so they can ALL have a copy of their stories to revisit and chuckle about!

“Words of Wisdom for Happily Ever After” Mr. & Mrs. Afleck May 23rd, 2009

This Theme was ordered for a wedding gift. The Travelling Book will be passed around during the reception for everyone to contribute their advice, wisdom and tips on how to have a successful marriage. The book will be presented to the couple after they return from their honeymoon.

Give us your Theme Ideas! Email us: Contactus@thetravellingbookco.com

Preserve your stories of Life’s Journeys

BC was told he didn’t have to be drafted - The company he was working for considered him valuable in his ability to work on Bomber Planes. BC “wanted to do his part” though. When he enlisted he was under the assumption that his orders would be for him to serve as an “Aero Core Engineer”. When his papers arrived he was listed as a “Basic”. A “Basic” was a guy that could do anything- including fighting on the front lines. BC soon found out he would be a “Forward Observer”. The guy with the radio and the number one target of the enemy. This realization came to him during one of his first battles. The Officer in charge of his group was telling them what they had to do.. “You peek through the brush and you see a bunch of Germans on the other side, a million of them. Don’t get too excited, just find the guy with the radio and shoot him first”. It was then that BC realized, the enemy was instructing their troops to do the same and HE was the guy with the radio. Although BC should have been killed a number of times, it was not where God had timed his ending.

During one particular time he and a group of soldiers were holding the enemy back until the last vehicles could drive away when an enemy rocket landed just feet from the group. BC went tumbling down a bank and fell into a river. It was freezing cold and blizzard like conditions. He heard one of his fellow men yelling, “I’ve been hit, I’ve been hit. As BC sat in the freezing water he thought for sure he would die. “The only thing that went through my mind at that very moment was if I died in the water, my body would float downstream and get caught in the brush. Nobody will even find me until spring.”

At one time BC was running along the front line and looked over his shoulder at another forward observer. The other forward observer raised his hand to acknowledge BC and was shot dead. BC immediately looked away and continued to advance forward.” Most Forward Observers didn’t last for more than an hour of their tour. Why I was never killed - I don’t know….”

During another incident: BC and his guys were so close to a German camp that they could hear the German’s singing Christmas carols. As they advanced they could hear one of the Germans loading his “Blurp” machine gun. (”Blurp” is the sound BC described as a machine gun would spit out artillery). There was a row of guys including himself on the front line. He heard the “Blurp, blurp, blurp, blurp” of the gun and saw every one of the guys to his left fall. Just as the next shot should have been his, he realized the ammo had run out and he could hear the German Reloading his clip. When the German started to fire again, he must have moved the gun just inches past BC as every man running now to his right fell as they were shot. “When do you start praying,” BC reflects, “You can pray all you want to, God doesn’t turn the shell around, it comes right where it is aimed. Praying isn’t gonna make the shell turn around..” During that particular incident, BC prayed that the enemy would lift up their artillery to save him. Then he realized that he was basically praying that he would be saved but the guys behind him would be killed and in that instant he was ashamed and thought God was ashamed of him as well. He thought to himself, “The guys behind me don’t want to die any more than I do”. “Forgive me God!” BC continued, “God doesn’t turn the shell around; he gets YOU out of the way.”

BC had tears rolling down his face as he said quietly, “They just wanted to be remembered. The guys that died didn’t want to be forgotten - they just wanted to be remembered.”

BC talked of seeing body parts in Trees, a head splattered on the ground with no body attached. He said you went numb. The first time he saw a pair of hands and feet in a foxhole, he looked and saw a stump of a body in a tree. He wanted to throw up but he knew he couldn’t. He didn’t have time to feel.  “It was Hell”, says BC. “I got to the point where I didn’t even ask the guy in my foxhole his name because I knew we would die”.

As our time together was nearing its end, I quietly asked BC why he thought we had to have wars in our world?

As his cheek was still wet with tear, he looked sadly into my eyes and replied, “Because we still have Hitlers”.

Born with a golden halo? I guess that’s for you to decide but I know that my answer is a resounding “Yes!”

Thanks to BC for sharing his stories and although I know he has many more, I felt blessed to have had my 2 hours with him. Those two hours gave me an opportunity to peer inside the heart of a soldier. A soldier that is now 94 years old and still has nightmares every night from his tour during WW11 over 65 years ago. How a man can survive after such horrific images and indescribable pain is unfathomable to me still…

God Bless the men and women who have fought to allow me the Freedom to be “Free”.

Find out how to create your own Travelling Book

More excerpts from the Travelling Book Company’s -Travelling Book - Coming Soon!

Excerpt from The Travelling Book Company’s – Travelling Book… January 2009

As I sat in his room scanning the many books, memorabilia and pictures in what looked like total chaos to me but was in perfect order for BC – I listened intently as he reflected on some interesting and incredible stories of his life. I was entranced with BC after only a few short minutes. BC had a charming, quiet power about him, His 94 year old frame was now frail but only because age was not to be defied. Gazing around the room scanning pictures laying on the floor, I realized at one time, BC was a lien, tall, handsome young man and although he wouldn’t have known it at the time of his youth, he had many years ahead of him.  He began sharing stories of the time he encountered a Mama Grizzly at Yellowstone National Park in the 40’s on his way back from a nighttime visit to the latrine; How he learned to become an expert as an airplane mechanic; and the time he worked for Willow Run Airport in Ypsilanti just before he was shipped off to become a forward observer in WWII.  I only had two hours to visit with BC but at the end of my time with BC sharing moments of his incredible life’s journey,  I had to wonder if  this man wasn’t born with a golden halo around his head….. You’ll see why.

Memoirs of “BC”

– a 94 year old man born and raised in Michigan, as retold by J. Thomas

BC was born in 1914 in Grand Rapids, Michigan. Fact of the matter - he was born on the exact same night that his father’s - brother’s daughter was born. 2 Brothers living only blocks from one another had a reason to celebrate together. BC was born on a cold West Michigan evening and the timing of his and his cousin’s arrival was announced as “remarkable” by the Herald News. He had a copy of the paper announcing his birth at one time, but he thinks it blew out of his car one windy day. He does remember however, that on the back of the Herald it read,  “Stopped Germans just outside of Paris” (WW1)

Living a life of hard work and dedication in all that he did, BC had moved to California as a young married man and attended the Anderson Aircraft School. BC stuck with his learning even though many companies would come in and offer the guys attending the school jobs which they most often took in lieu of sticking with the program. Once BC completed his courses, his life changed dramatically. He knew a lot about aircraft and especially understood the electrical systems which many other guys didn’t understand. Lockheed took a liking to BC and put him in the experimental department of their company.  He loved California and working for Lockheed but one day he came home and and when he saw his wife, he “thought she had pinkeye”. Her eyes were red and swollen, but in reality she had been crying. She said although California was a beautiful place and there was so much to do - she was lonely. Although she knew BC was working hard for Lockheed, he was always on call and gone way too much.

Shortly after his wife expressed her loneliness, BC decided to come back to Michigan to visit Willow Run in Ypsilanti. BC wanted to check out their operation. When He got there, the superintendent asked him if he could take BC on a motorcycle tour of the plant. After asking BC a few questions about what his work was, they offered him a job on the spot. BC reflects, “I really wasn’t looking for a job but I took it. “I ended up with a high position and would sign superintendents names on documents with their permission. Half the time, they didn’t know what I was signing but they trusted me”.  BC had 17 chasers that did all of his grunt work. In the early 1940s while BC was working at Willow Run, Charles Lindbergh was asked to come to Willow Run to help build Bomber planes. During that time, Charles Lindbergh and BC got acquainted.

BC reflected on a dark time for Lindbergh. Lindbergh was going to prove that a pilot could fly a plane without being able to see out the cockpit window. He believed that Pilots could fly on coordinates alone. When Lindbergh’s pilot took off in the plane with paper over the windows, the coordinates were radioed to him. When they told the pilot to level out the plane, the plane banked and crashed and the pilot was killed. “I felt so sorry for him”, recalls BC. It was a terrible tragedy. When I asked BC what he thought of Lindbergh, he replied ‘“I actually thought Lindbergh was kind of a rough guy”. Then as his lips curled up in a smile he continued, “But his wife got along with him so he must not have been too bad!” “It wasn’t too long after that, I was drafted into the military in where I was told I would be an “aero core officer” – turned out I was a “Basic”, a guy that could be called to do anything”. He would soon realize his title would be as a “Forward Observer”.  A “Forward Observer” was the Guy with the radio. The number one target during any battle.

I sat on the edge of my chair looking up from my computer and looked into BC’s eyes.

Even though it has been over 60 years since BC came back from war, he started to cry.

(To Be Continued)