Welcome to the May 2021 issue of This Awful Awesome Life. We hope you enjoyed our April 2021 issue.

May is Mystery Month. We have a feature article on the mystery genre and our May 2021 reading recommendations for adults and children are mystery series by some of our favorite authors. Orlando Bartro examines the work of Wilkie Collins who is considered the creator of English detective fiction.

As more people continue to be vaccinated, the phrases “returning to normal” and “new normal” are being bandied about o social media, but what is normal? Does our definition of normal change with the passing of time or can we really go back? Read our article and decide for yourself.

Mother’s Day is fast approaching, and we haven’t forgotten mom in this issue. The definition of what constitutes a mom and the roles of moms in family life and society are continually changing.  I examine what Mother’s Day means depending on your family dynamic and this month at the movies we are discussing mom roles in some of our favorite films.

May 12 is National Limerick Day. Did you enjoy limericks as a child, or do you prefer the bawdier adult limericks? We share some links to our favorite limericks because we all can use a laugh this year.

We haven’t forgotten Armed Forces Day – May 15 and Memorial Day – May 31.

This month I made Mexican Black Bean Soup and Mexican kale salad and Linda Cahill is back with recipes guaranteed to make any cook-out a success.

Don’t miss our fun quiz on the psychology of color ad be sure to check your answers on the last page of this issue (Next Month in This Awful Awesome Life – June 2021).

Check out our updated Author Page as we welcome Canadian mystery novelist Luke Murphy. Murphy is the author of The Charlene Taylor Mysteries series and The Calvin Watters Mysteries series. In his latest book, Red Zone, Taylor and Watters cross paths and must work together to solve the case. Also, Annette Dashofy recently released Death by Equine. We expect this to be the first book in a new mystery series featuring Veterinarian Jessie Cameron. Have no fear, we also expect more books in the Zoe Chambers Mystery series as well.

Samantha Sayers has been missing since she disappeared on August 1, 2018, after a day of solo hiking at Vesper Peak near Seattle, Washington. Sam was raised in the Erie, Pennsylvania area where her parents Ron and Lisa still live. Her family is exploring all avenues of inquiry to find and bring her home. In the face of such an enormous challenge, they have chosen hope. Please keep sending positive thoughts to Sam and her family. As promised, we will be displaying a yellow ribbon for Sam on the opening page of each issue of This Awful Awesome Life until she is home.

If you are a person of faith, please pray for her safe return to her family. Because we are an online publication, we can update this article with any news. We will also post information on our Facebook page. Thank you!

Please share our link, thisawfulawesomelife.com with your friends and family.

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“May flowers always line your path, and sunshine light your day.” An Irish blessing

Happy Reading,

Fran