In the Orchard a Film, new independent film on Amazon (IMDb)

In the Orchard

In the Orchard (★ ★ ★ ★+): Winner for Best Feature Film at the 2018 Sonoma International Film Festival, the 2018 Culver City FF and the 2019 Beaufort Int FF. A grief stricken woman befriends a Marine veteran with PTSD, and their relationship leads them towards potentially tragic consequences. Available on Amazon Prime. 

I love blogging. It has offered me some amazing unexpected experiences. Connecting with film makers Dana White and her husband, Christ Knoblock, was one of those rare things that doesn't happen in my world everyday. I don't remember where we connected. Dana may have gone through blogs and emailed me or I may have seen her on a crowd sourced website. Getting to know Hollywood film people as we would in say our simple eastern Oregon way was just fun. That was several years ago.

At that time Dana and Chris were working on a film Dana wrote. It was called The Red Suitcase. I donated to their efforts so I was very interested. (I still wear the pearl bracelet with a small red suitcase attached that I received as a gift.)

The Red Suitcase was a story based loosely on Dana's mother's life. I watched as they updated me often. It was so fascinating to see the process they went through in order to get funding. The Red Suitcase remains unfinished. 

Now Chris and Dana have a new independent film called In the Orchard for sale or rent on Amazon Prime. I was so excited when I saw that I could share such a beautiful movie with people. Oh, I forgot to mention, I did get to see the movie before they had even shown it at film festivals. That was wonderful. 

In the Orchard gives the viewer a story about a veteran with PTSD and a woman that had suffered a great loss and perhaps suffered from PTSD too. Issues of trust and emotional connection, denial and reality hit just the right cord. The chance meeting and the subsequent connection they formed led them down a path that was very dangerous.

I might add that the directing by Knoblock and the cinematograph just blew me away. The simplicity of the story coupled with the complication of life lived with grief and shock was extraordinary. 

You can rent the film for $3.99 and then view it at your leisure. I am going to do that. I will be talking about it with friends and people in the grocery store. (Yes I do that kind of thing!)

I was told by Dana that The Red Suitcase is next on their list of endeavors. I want to see that story from beginning to end in the worst way.

So I am asking you to take a chance and support an independent film maker. You will not regret it!

b+

Circle of Life: Hospice, Babies, and Graduation

Baby Shay...the beginning of a circle!

The tag "it's the journey" is attached to many stories on my blogs.  Growing older creates many challenges for my husband and I.  I am sure you have all had these experiences. So some days are joyous and some days bring grief.  The days that are remarkable are the ones that bring both and we are able to embrace the joy and put the grief in perspective.

When a death and a new beginning come at the exact same moment you take time to ponder the circle of life that surrounds us all.  In our particular case a dear friend and my daughter's mother-in-law, age 84, passed away at the very time that our granddaughter was receiving her graduation diploma.  I was holding the graduate's baby sister and we were cheering and stomping our feet in celebration of life both at it's beginnings and at it's end.  It was tearful yet joyous all at the same time.

Life is good...in it's own way.  Be well.

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• What is Hospice?
• Hospice of Oregon

Label:  It's The Journey...musings on my life! from It Crossed My Mind Blog by b

A Day in the Life of a Senior: Death

To live in hearts we leave behind

Is not to die.

~Thomas Campbell, "Hallowed Ground"

I just want you to know that not all of our days are wonderful.  But then isn't that true all of our lives? It is not whether or not something bad happens.  It is how we live with the bad.

Grieving
My dear friend Phyllis's youngest son was killed in a snowmobile accident yesterday.  He was 44 years old and the youngest of 6 children.  I don't even know what to do about this but give her all my love.  She is very deeply religious and it is carrying her through for the time.  The loss will come later I suppose.

My only thought was, of all the people on the face of this earth that are ready to die, a great many live within earshot of my park model.  It seems so unfair.   What I pray for her is that she be given the strength to accept what she cannot change.

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