Smorgasbord Book Promotions – New Book on the Shelves/Review – #Memoir #Life #Growth Grow Damn It!: The Feeding and Nurturing of Life by Cheryl Oreglia

I am delighted to share the news about Cheryl Oreglia’s new release and to share an advance review that I wrote in celebration of this wonderful book.

About the book

Grow Damn It! is a captivating work by Cheryl Oreglia, who uses uncommon honesty and arresting humor to draw you into her cantankerous life, forty-year marriage, and revolving empty nest. She claims the space between past and future is where our potential is created or destroyed.

If you don’t like where your life is going, dig deeper, and write a new story. By weeding out the things that clutter her life, she invites you into a refreshing space with some of her most popular posts from her beloved blog Living in the Gap.

She surrounds herself with a gaggle of intriguing friends, along with a large and rambunctious family who challenge both her and the reader to live fully in an ever-changing world. Her provocative writing dares us to confront our lives not only with optimism, but courage, and uproarious laughter. Oreglia uses her experience to explore what matters most in life… the degree to which we love and are loved.

My review for the book February 25th 2023

There is a line towards the end of this beautifully written and fascinating reflection on life that mirrored many of my own thoughts.

“Authenticity is everything! You have to wake up every day and look in the mirror, and you want to be proud of the person who’s looking back at you. And you can only do that if you’re honest with yourself, compassionate, and focused.”

Cheryl Oreglia applies that authenticity as she explores her life with its love, loss and glorious moments with focus, honesty, wry humour and compassionate grace. Completely relatable for those of us who are also celebrating several decades of living and loving, but a must read for the younger generation. The chapters provide a hope filled guide to what is to come, which is an invaluable resource.

It is easy to become engaged in the life of the author and her extended family. Life during the pandemic becomes a tad chaotic as family, including toddlers move in for the duration. Finding peaceful moments to write become precious, but there is so much to be enjoyed as grown children and grandchildren infiltrate every corner of the house and the day.

The tandem bike riding adventures are hilarious and I was there in spirit even if I was unable to assist with the pedalling uphill, but how I welcomed the downhill freewheeling at the end of the effort.

Into every life there comes a time when control is no longer in our hands and we must accept the loss of those we love. The memories we have made together keep them in our hearts forever. It helps if you have a special place to go with these memories, and we are invited to the family’s lake house often during the book, to sit in the early mornings on the porch where we can enjoy the serenity to reflect and find peace.

I loved reading this collection of essays and I have many favourite moments, but perhaps the most thought provoking, is where the author explores what it is we as humans really want from life, but are perhaps afraid to ask for.

She shares her list of what she really wants. Including moments she would like to revisit, people she would love to have had more time with, fireworks, birdfeeders, movies, lack of clutter, chocolate, a literary agent and healthy wit.

I firmly believe Cheryl Oreglia has that one nailed already.

Beautifully written with a flowing and engaging tempo, I have no hesitation in highly recommending this wonderful collection of essays on life. I will be dipping into it many times to treasure the wisdom and humour.

Head over to buy the book: Amazon US – And: Amazon UK

About Cheryl Oreglia

Born and bred in the San Francisco Bay Area, Cheryl Oreglia hosts a lifestyle blog called Living in the Gap, which appears weekly as she corrals the time to write and reflect on the mundane. Oreglia says, “I do have a life outside of my head, and it squeezes between me and my keyboard like a frightened child. What can you do? On the surface, my life is common, I’m married with children, even grandchildren, a retired educator who lives for weekends at the lake, but just below the surface is a unique voice, one that I hope will resonate with you.” Grow Damn It, is a customized, over-the-hill, gritty, compassionate view of life. Oreglia says, “we’re not going to bloom where we are planted, we’re going to break the damn pot.”

Connect with Cheryl –  Amazon US – Amazon UK –  – Blog: Cheryl Oreglia – Twitter: @CherylOreglia – Facebook: Chery Oreglia

 

Thanks very much for dropping in today and it would be great if you could share the news about Cheryl’s new book.. thanks Sally.