Croatia: the Thrill of Travel

I've just returned from a trip to Croatia and want to savor the experience, so I'll be sharing some of my photos and impressions with you this week. We would like you to click on 'Comments' at the bottom of this post and tell us your travel stories as well.

Croatia is a small country, not even as large as the state of West Virginia. And it is very homogeneous, with close to 90% of its four and one half million people identified as Croatian and Roman Catholic.
Interested in a little history? Although Croatia declared its independence from Yugoslavia in 1991, it took four years of sporadic, but often bitter, fighting before occupying Serb armies left Croatian lands. Under UN supervision, the last Serb-held enclave in eastern Slavonia was returned to Croatia in 1998. In April 2009, Croatia joined NATO and it is now a candidate for eventual EU accession.

It's the kind of country I love to visit, where the scenery, culture and history are so different from what I know and the sights are a wakeup call to the senses. The country's history is traced through its museums, ruins, architecture and sculptures. And its picturesque charm is reflected in the multitude of islands and fishing villages that border the Adriatic Sea.










Do you want to know more about the captivating country of Croatia? Here's what wikipedia.org has to say. And if you're thinking about a trip yourself, you can read one woman's story of adventure in the Newsletter Library of our website, HerMentorCenter.com.

For some excellent support in the plannning stage, JourneyWoman.com is a valuable resource. It publishes an online newsletter, connecting women around the globe. And the site presents women's travel stories and offers information about tours, shopping and restaurants. Travel writer, Rick Steves, is also a great source of insight and tips.

Grandmothers and Spring Break

With my grandsons visiting last week during spring break, we planned some of the usual fun things we like to do together. Their parents took several days away on their own so we got a chance to enjoy the boys alone - shooting baskets at the park, cooking, bowling, playing piano duets, swimming, going on day trips, and, of course, lots of hugging. During one of those day trips in the car - to a rural farm where we all picked strawberries - I also spent some time talking with them about values that are important to me. Afterwards, I wondered why I felt the need to teach them as well as have fun with them.

I realized that I wanted to pass on to them some nuggets of wisdom I had gathered over the years as well as help them develop into good citizens. In a sense, I needed to pass on to them my survival strategies, ethics and social morality. Not so different from the situation in other cultures in which grandmothers are the guardians of traditional values, the possessors of indigenous knowledge and the storytellers of family history.

Research indicates that grandmothers - particularly those in developing countries - help grandchildren survive and thrive into adulthood. This is known as the Grandmother effect. In most societies, grandmothers provide at least some financial aid to their grandchildren as well as helping their children with domestic chores and childcare assistance. The U. S. Census Bureau has been tracking the numbers of grandparents caring for their grandkids - today there are upwards of 1.5 million working grandparents who are also supervising the younger generation.

In recent years, there has been a Granny boom due to the increased life expectancy and quality of life among seniors. With these increased numbers, the role of grandmothers will likely take on even greater importance in the rearing of children in years to come. With everything else changing so rapidly, the stability that a grandmother can provide can be just the anchor a child needs.

Want to pass on to your grandchildren some suggestions for developing courage? Simply join our email list and you can download a copy of our ebook, Courage and Lessons Learned.

As Sandwiched Boomers, you days are often filled with things you have to do for others. Now set aside some time to accomplish something for yourself - it will also enrich the lives of your loved ones. Patrika Vaughn has shared with us her tool for creating family histories - an audio-tape providing a step-by-step guide. On her tapes of "How to Write Your Own Life Story," she outlines some tips:

*Talk with your parents and record their memories on paper, audio cassette or video tape.

*Visit other relatives and get their recollections about life in days past.

*Take photos of living relatives, old homes where they lived, the cemeteries where ancestors are buried. Search old photo albums for snapshots of other relatives.

*Don't rely solely on your memory as your parents and relatives relate their stories of younger years. Write down or put on tape what they tell you.

*Go through any old letters you might have saved from your parents and relatives, as well as those you've written them. These will give you insight into common everyday events that most everyone has forgotten.

*Go to the cemeteries where your ancestors are buried and jot down the dates and names for your family tree."

Once you have completed your family's history, you can publish it to keep your memories alive:

"You may want to collect this history solely as a family record for yourself and your children. Or you might desire to have it printed in booklet form for family and any others who are interested in what your family has done. Nowadays, with desktop publishing programs, you even can publish the family history yourself, without having to take it to a printer.

Family histories are fascinating. Don't let yours be forgotten because someone neglected to write down the tales of yesteryear and record the family tree. If you don't do this now, some day you may say, 'I wish I'd written all that information down for my children and future generations.'"

Our thanks to PatrikaVaughn for bringing this resource to our attention. You can find her audiobook and others, plus online classes and consulting services, on her website: http:www.ACappela.com.