Escapees November-December 2023

from the bookshelf

Books for RVers By MARCELLA GAUTHIER #12371

Who Will Accompany You? My Mother-Daughter Journeys Far From Home and Close to the Heart MEG STAFFORD • RIVER GROVE BOOKS 2022 • ISBN: 978-1-63299-490-5 PAPERBACK: $14.90 • KINDLE: $7.99 This book has won many awards in such diverse fi elds as family travel guides, parenting and relationships, biographies, parenting teenagers, body, mind and spirit. This is quite a collection of well-deserved awards! An award-winning memoirist, with a lifelong adventurist spirit, goes with her two grown daughters, Kate and Gale, when they travel to the Himalayas and Colum bia. Meg is a licensed social worker and newspaper columnist and is a specialist in negotiating the terrain of relationships, using this expertise or her trips with her two daughters in distinctly different situations and locations. On the trips Meg enjoyed travel adventures and learned how to deal with and appreciate the skills and talents of two fully functioning young adults. She managed mothering without smothering. It was quite a

Two books in this column illustrate the importance of di ff erent kinds of family rela tionships. The fi rst is a grandpa’s explana tion to his grandchildren about his RVing lifestyle, along with its advantages and ad ventures. The second is an award-winning book about the mother-daughter travels of MegSta ff ord and her two daughters.

Grandpa’s S’Mores Mobile Coloring Book RICHARD DUHAIME #129553 • 2023 WWW.SMORESMOBILE.NET • $9.99 Written by a fellow Escapee, this self-pub lished set of books, the fi rst a story book, the second a nice, well-illus trated coloring book, was written especially for chil

lesson and Meg and her daughters don’t hide their struggles. Both Meg’s mothers’ story and Kate and Gale’s daughters’ stories are illustrative of their relationship experiences. The fi rst trip, with Kate, was to the Himalayas as she researched the spiritual and meditational aspects of Tibetan Buddhist teachings. The second trip, to Columbia, with Gale working as a non-government organization (NGO) volunteer negotiator, she helped the citizens of that nation who were living on the edge of dangerous conditions. There was so much to learn about the cultures of the friendly people and their struggles and victories. These well-crafted, humorous stories are Illustrated with many photos. This is not just an international travelogue

dren. His book explains the advantages of RVing to children, using familiar creatures and situations. For example, he uses a turtle who lives in its mobile shell and can cuddle up to take a nap and Grandpa can do the same in his RV. He explains that covered-wagon settlers, tank soldiers and baby kangaroos can fi nd safety in their covered wagons, tanks and their mother’s kangaroo pouch. Astronauts and submariners travel to their next

destination or explore their current environment all within the safety and comfort of their spaceships and submarines. The same is true for the RV traveler. Delightful, well-drawn illustrations allow children to color their own pictures to share with Grandpa when he travels or visits. Richard travels across the nation to visit his grandchildren and says, “Home is wherever you park it when love ones are near.”

for two remote nations with their distinctive cultures but an adventure through the culture of family relationships. Some of the observations of these three incredible women are self-re fl ecting, stunning prose, well worth considering and re-reading. These heart-warming, emotional writings allow you to be there as though you were a part of their amazing family. It’s truly a memora ble adventure.

30

ESCAPEES Magazine November/December 2023