A Shout-out to a Handful of ‘Loyals’

You entertained me tonight 🙏 ❤️

I’ve been remiss at reading my loyal followers' stories lately.

‘Useless’ would be a better description. It’s entirely my bad; there’s this thing called work that I moan about often; it’s highly annoying and interferes enormously with my writing life. The trouble is, I need to work; it pays the bills — not Medium — so writing takes a backseat more often than I’d like of late.

Tonight, I spent several hours desperately trying to catch up on some reading — and was it the loveliest night ever.

My homepage on Medium always shows recommended stories first, and I’ll admit to only half-reading a few.

That may sound mean, but given the volume of choice on offer, if a story does not tantalize me by the halfway point, I no longer grin and bear it. My priority is to support writers that give me lots of lovin’.

Don’t get me wrong; I love to click on writers whose work I am unfamiliar with because there are many gems that I have not yet discovered. I found some beauties tonight and am saving their words to highlight at the end of the month when I do my round-up of newbies-to-me /writers I haven’t featured in Sahil Patel’s pub, Reciprocal.

So, don’t beat me up — just yet!

Yes, each month, I showcase different writers who have sparked a fire with their words. But, I read a lot of great pieces every month from my ‘nearest and dearest’ and tonight, I focussed on their writings of late.

I switched to the ‘Following’ tab. I want to share with you some beaut stories written by my loyal followers that touched all my emotions in one way or another.

I beamed with joy reading about Jim Parton’s upcoming daughter’s wedding. You can palpate his pride! Jim is relatively new to Medium and doesn’t write a lot, but it is from the heart when he does. I enjoy his pieces enormously.

Rodrigo S-C is also relatively new to Medium but not to writing; he has been blogging for years, and it’s very apparent that whatever he writes, he manages to capture an audience. When I reached my 1K following, Rod was touching on his 300th. He’s since accumulated another 400 followers, which is a testament to his prowess with the written word.

I laughed at his delightful rant about Spam tonight, and I know all of you will relate to his sentiments in one way or another.

I discovered a photography challenge on the Snapshots Publication that subsequently distracted me as I scrolled through my pics to find a suitable contribution. Thanks, David Montgomery!

Although Raine Lore’s situation was far from funny, her story about having a collapsed lung years ago was hilarious. The descriptives of her Doctors — Wankers 1 and 2 — were the icing on the cake! Having witnessed similar ineptness numerous times in my nursing career, I cringed as much as I laughed.

Raine, you have a gift for making such a horrible situation funny!

My dear friend Karen Schwartz wrote a story about thumbsucking, and oh dear — can I relate? The funny thing is, I had forgotten entirely about this habit that I had.

Karen and I have often written similar stories simultaneously and frequently feed off each other’s words. We have become firm friends because of Medium, and I respect her flair as a personal essayist. Plus, she’s the nicest soul, ever!

Of course, I must mention the fantastic Adrienne Beaumont, who fills my inbox several times a day with her travel and granny stories. I love them — when I get a chance to read them!

Her latest was a perspective on the Aussie passport versus an American one. Did you know only 37% of Americans have a passport? 67% of Canadians and 70% of Kiwis do! What does that mean?

I’ll end my night of Medium entertainment with the modern-day Shakespearean poet we are blessed to have in our midst. Thief manages to taunt me every week with his thought-provoking, head-scratching, mind-boggling combos of verse, images and music. The wonderful thing is that his words are open to all interpretations! (Phew!)❤️

Before I hit the hay, a special shout out to the wonderful David Perlmutter, who continues to somehow get in 50 claps and many highlights within minutes of any of my stories being published. I appreciate your support enormously, David!

Thank you, Medium Loyals! You have kept me well entertained tonight. I appreciate every one of you 🙏