We hope you enjoyed the May 2021 issue of This Awful Awesome Life – many thanks to our guest contributors who share their unique talents with us each month and help put the awesome in our magazine.

This month we are welcoming guest contributor Lilly Kauffman who shares what we hope will be the first of many essays and poems with us. Be sure to check out her byline for more information.

I’m now fully vaccinated, and I was able to have lunch on a restaurant patio with four of my best friends who are also fully vaccinated. Please, get the vaccine and get on with your life. Let us all get back to our lives.

I’ve heard many people who refuse to be vaccinated claim they don’t want to be Guinea pigs for big Pharma. I’ve heard all the excuses, but the scientific reality is that unless we reach a level of herd immunity through vaccinations, the virus and variants of the virus will continue to make us sick or kill us. Doctors are reporting incidents of blood clots, heart conditions, and respiratory ailments in post-COVID patients. Yes, most people survived the virus and for many it felt no worse than the flu, but weeks and months later many survivors are coming to grips with life threatening consequences. Do you feel lucky? Would you rather take a chance you will survive the virus with no long-term health effects instead of trusting the science behind the vaccines?

Summer is coming soon. What do you associate with summer? Will you work in your garden, take a fabulous vacation, or relax at home? Don’t miss our summer themed articles and summer reading recommendations. Also in this issue, we have a quiz about the months of the year.

Why do we buy do much stuff and does the stuff we replace with new stuff always get a new home and a second life when we donate it or sell it to a resale shop? The truth might surprise and upset you.

Happy Father’s Day to all you dads out there and to everyone who fills the dad role in the life of a child or adult child. June is Pride Month and we want to recognize Juneteenth and Flag Day.

I’m planning some home renovations this year and I’m sharing some tips for home updates that won’t break the bank while you save up for the biggies.

Orlando Bartro is back, and Linda Cahill has more delicious recipes to share courtesy of Pampered Chef. This month in “The Twelve Months of Soup,” I made Italian Wedding Soup paired with Chicken Avocado Wraps. I cheated on my pescatarian/plant-based diet for these two recipes, but wow, they are delicious!

Speaking of weddings, I reviewed Accidentally Married, by Victorine Lieske.

Check out our updated Author Page. This month we have a new offering from Alaska Wilderness Mystery Writer Robin Barefield. Watch this exciting video about Alaskan Wildlife, https://vimeo.com/522506903 and check out Robin’s non-fiction book, Kodiak Island Wildlife with photos by Mike Munsey.

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.

Be sure to subscribe to our free mailing list and each new issue of This Awful Awesome Life will be delivered directly to your inbox with a personal note from me. We won’t share your name or email address. Like us on Facebook for the latest from This Awful Awesome Life!

Happy Reading,

Fran