https://www.kathyyoakrees.com/home daily 1.0 2021-03-17 https://static1.squarespace.com/static/5f0f63881765cb4a4ee3bb6e/t/5f177309b3c089376464bc7b/1595440361552/Headshot.jpg Home - A little About me There are many things I love and value in this world: faith, family, travel, writing, and reading are on the short list. When I retired from over forty years in corporate management, I asked myself what I was going to do with the rest of my life. I landed on writing. I started with a book about my father’s youth, “THE BOY IN THE WAGON,” now available on Amazon in paperback/eBook/free on Kindle Unlimited. I then moved on to working on other writing projects and blogs which focus on my love of travel, family, gardening, and on my faith. I am excited to see where this takes me. Hopefully you’ll come along for the ride. https://static1.squarespace.com/static/5f0f63881765cb4a4ee3bb6e/t/5f26dcc28724ae08d59a6e46/1596382419925/TheBoyInTheWagon-FrontCover.eBook%5B82%5D.jpg Home - An Amazon #1 New release and bestseller THE BOY IN THE WAGON: A true story of a boy’s triumphant journey into manhood. When you read this book you’ll come away with an understanding of how the inner strength and determinate will of even a child can help to not just survive, but to thrive, no matter what challenges we are confronted with. It will give insight into why John ultimately grew to be a man loved by his family and admired by many. https://www.kathyyoakrees.com/new-page daily 0.75 2020-09-12 https://static1.squarespace.com/static/5f0f63881765cb4a4ee3bb6e/t/5f32ec631f564a06dba841da/1597172857216/computer+station.jpg Contact - Contact me… I would like to connect with you. follow: www.amazon.com/author/kathyyoakrees Or, fill out the form below: https://www.kathyyoakrees.com/books daily 0.75 2020-09-05 https://static1.squarespace.com/static/5f0f63881765cb4a4ee3bb6e/t/5f3c3a1d5e44c63b601f899e/1597782572141/Book-with-iphone-Promo.jpg Books - “Inspirational” “moving” “riveting story” John Yoak was born in 1928 to a large, poor, coal miner’s family just one year before America’s Great Depression hit. He spent most of his childhood living in a coal patch town not far from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, one of America’s largest industrialized cities at the time. Despite his family’s poverty, John was a happy, healthy, active boy until tragedy struck when he was only six-years-old. While walking to school one morning during one of Western Pennsylvania‘s worst winters on record, John was run over by a loaded coal truck. An accident he should not have survived. After spending a year and a half in the hospital and enduring multiple procedures, surgeries, and set-backs, he was sent home without further therapy and a final prognosis that “he would never walk again.“ But can the quiet, determined will of a child prove them wrong? He had no thoughts of proving anything. When he returned home, he was an eight-year-old boy who simply longed to be out running around with his friends and siblings like every other kid. His story inspires us to believe it is possible not only to survive but to thrive, no matter what we are confronted with in this life. https://static1.squarespace.com/static/5f0f63881765cb4a4ee3bb6e/t/5f29fe796cfce11e0e7894f5/1597177045495/stone-steps-3764506_1280.jpg Books - Working on it: Come away to the garden A practical guide to planting a personal retreat garden, from start to finish, and how that process correlates to the way God works in our lives. https://www.kathyyoakrees.com/about-the-author daily 0.75 2021-10-31 https://static1.squarespace.com/static/5f0f63881765cb4a4ee3bb6e/t/5f173d37e6901378e79db060/1595358813806/IMG_1378%5B45%5D.jpg About Being photobombed by Charlie https://www.kathyyoakrees.com/blog daily 0.75 2020-10-23 https://static1.squarespace.com/static/5f0f63881765cb4a4ee3bb6e/t/5f19db3987b9244509d3668a/1597177159434/ Blog - Travel and write I have always loved to travel. After retiring from a forty-year career in management, I discovered that I also loved to write. For me, the best of both worlds is to combine my writing and my travel bug. When I began writing the story of my father’s youth, a ninety-day road trip took my husband and I, along with our dog, Charlie, from our home in Southern California to the Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania area. I spent twelve days visiting family, talking about past experiences, and driving through the neighborhoods my dad would have spent his childhood growing up in. I could see him in my mind’s eye: running around with his friends, swimming and boating in the Allegheny River, working in the steel mills from the age of only thirteen. Those steels mills are gone, some replaced by housing complexes. Still, I’m thankful not much else changed, and I could envision his surroundings more clearly as I continued my writing. At the end of the twelve days in the Pittsburgh area, we continued our three-month adventure. Watch for one of my future writing projects, “Circling America in 90 days." We have a beautiful, diverse world, and it’s important to get out there to experience it. https://static1.squarespace.com/static/5f0f63881765cb4a4ee3bb6e/t/5f1cb292a5b1ab2f721b1efb/1597177170751/Charlie%5B64%5D.jpg Blog - Charlie Often while writing, my attention is drawn to Charlie, sprawled out on his dog-bed, not a care in the world. He seems to sense me looking at him. His large dog eyes, characterized by his Cavalier King Charles Spaniel breed, open directed back at me. I know he’s hoping I’m going to remove my laptop and invite him up. He gets to his feet, walks over and sits staring up at me. How can I resist? I set my laptop aside and pat my legs. “Come on.” He settles in for as long of a nap as I allow. I breath deep while moving my hand over his back. My head clears. Eventually Charlie is sent back to his comfy bed, and I get back at it. https://static1.squarespace.com/static/5f0f63881765cb4a4ee3bb6e/t/5f321446bec49413e0a78db7/1597177180220/old-450742_1280.jpg Blog - When we’re gone, our stories go with us It’s common for the younger generation to not yet be interested in the lives of those that preceded them. My baby-boomer generation is at an age to be much more curious about the lives of our parents and grandparents—as many of them are now gone. But once gone, there’s often no one left to tell their story, no one left to answer our questions. I realized this to be true when I knew my parents were approaching their final years. I took advantage of every opportunity to ask questions, listened to the stories of their youth, and wrote them for my children and grandchildren. Don’t be left with regrets after it’s too late to sit with them to have those conversations. https://static1.squarespace.com/static/5f0f63881765cb4a4ee3bb6e/t/5f57d6a8f190e00f87c1d911/1603474837297/Book-with-iphone-Promo.jpg Blog - You are capable of more than you think Whether young or old, we can sometimes be surprised by what we are capable of. If you’re young, it may be something that you imagine yourself doing at some point in your life. If further in years, it may be what you’ve always done and done well. I spent over forty years in corporate management, which by all accounts, I was successful at, and after retirement continued to consult in. I also began writing. I had already made a commitment to my father that I would write the memoir of his youth. But I never thought I would become an actual author. I self-published that first book on Amazon, “The Boy in The Wagon: They Said I Would Never Walk Again.” Surprisingly, it was a bestseller in three book categories, and a #1 New Release in two. I am so grateful but even before that happened I had already realized how much I enjoyed writing and had a list of potential writing ideas to pursue. My father always told me not to let anyone set my limits, test them, push through to see if they are real, and he lived that out. I am so thankful I had someone like him in my life to implant that thought and principle into my mind. That said, I encourage everyone: whatever you do, enjoy it, do it well and to the best of your abilities. Surround yourself with people who will encourage you to pursue the best God has for you and do the same for others. https://www.kathyyoakrees.com/new-page-1 daily 0.75 2020-08-11