About

What is “Personal Journeys with Gramma” about?

It’s about creating, sustaining, and celebrating relationships.  My credentials:  My name is Susan Harris.  I have a long successful marriage and an extended family.  You won’t find much more diverse families than the one into which I was born (a Hollywood producer friend of mine says my family would make a good sitcom) and the one that evolved around my husband and me, but they’re filled with love, humor, and a sense of connection that’s expressed in many ways.  My friends fit perfectly into the colorful patchwork of personalities, races, religions/philosophies, and backgrounds I call family.  I refer to my friends as family, too, because I love them and sometimes they stand in for relatives.  Relationships are built with communication, and my training and experience teaching communication classes in high schools, community college, universities, and in a correctional setting have given me insights I’m happy to share if I think they might be useful to you.  I’ve chaired a huge professional organization and glued together a family that was sorely broken and bleeding. My first novel DEATH LOST DOMINION (about unconditional love) is available on Amazon.com.

• Life stories:  My son once told me he loved holiday dinners because they gave him a chance to hear again the wonderful tales that underlie any family.  Our stories bring us together as human beings.  They remind us of our frailties, our strengths, our sorrows, our laughter, and our love.  They tie us to our animal friends, our environment, and our history.  They’re reality series in print.   I hope mine enrich and inform your own stories or at least provide some entertainment or food for thought.
• Musings:  We see our world most clearly when we can compare our views with the views of others.  I may include opinions from other people from time to time.  Agreement is optional.
• Dear Gramma:  Go ahead, ask.  Who knows what questions or comments will stimulate new topics?  We share this space, you and I—straight talk.  I’m not always right, but I’m always honest.
• Gramma Loves to Talk with Grandkids:  I also have a special space for conversations with grandkids.  Their accidental profundity always impresses me.  I hope I can meet their expectations.  I may be filling in for some pretty astounding grandmas.
• Travels:  This section began as a subsection of “Life Stories,” but I have more than stories to share.  I have information for and by mavericks who don’t always like to be herded to tourist destinations by traditional means of transportation.  Travel reminds us that we are a part of a global community and we have a responsibility to look around to see how we fit in.
• Guest Perspectives:  We learn best when we listen, so I reserved this space for guests who have particular experiences or perspectives to share.  Between myself and my daughter, Meghan Harris Russell, we will determine which submissions will be posted and when.  We reserve the right to edit as we deem necessary.  Be sure to tell us if you want your name or website included in the post, or they will be omitted.
• Contact Gramma:  I have included an online form you can use to contact Gramma (me) privately.  You can ask a question for me to answer online or something more private.  You can submit ideas or a rough draft for a guest perspective or make a confidential comment.  You can suggest subjects you would like to see covered.  There are no age restrictions on who can ask a question, but questions that, in my opinion, wander beyond good taste or appropriate content will not be answered on the blogazine.  If you ask something fairly personal, please indicate if you wouldn’t mind having the exchange posted if your personal information is deleted, or if you would prefer all of it remain private.

Thank you for visiting my website/blog/magazine.  I look forward to our time together and appreciate your conversation and perspective.

Susan Harris, Gramma