Lisa Batten Kunkleman, a former guidance counselor turned writer, has published Just Because I Used to Could…Life Stories and Beyond, a collection of wise, witty and heartfelt stories.
“If Erma Bombeck had grown up in a small hometown like Whiteville, in eastern North Carolina, moved to a farm in Charlotte, been a middle school guidance counselor, raised a daughter and a set of triplets with her husband, she might have written a book very similar,” says Kathy Thorson Gruhn, author of Drug Tested for Being Happy. “While reading, I felt as if I were rocking on my front porch with Lisa by my side telling me her tales.”
Included in the collection are award-winning essays Rest In Peace, a story about a toad funeral with a surprise ending and I Cry at Everything, which is not only accurate, but also humorous and self-explanatory. Among the 48 tales, topics include:
• Large families: parenting triplets plus one more
• Chewing ugly smoothies, growing muffin tops and making the most of mammograms
• Motherhood, empty nest and pet overload
• Hot flashes, turkey necks and midlife living
• Hurricanes, gators and mayflies, oh my
• The good old days of tanning and carefree living
• Mom’s wisdom, memory hacks, and senior moments
• Realization that just because I used to could, doesn’t mean I should
A lifelong journal-keeper, history-lover, and amateur genealogist, Lisa says she feels compelled to write life stories. Her non-fiction work, a mix of serious and humorous tales, has been published in a variety of magazines and newspapers, and shared on NPR.
