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Hi.

Welcome to This Awful/Awesome Life! My name is Frances Joyce. I am the publisher and editor of this magazine. We'll be exploring different topics each month to inform, entertain and inspire you. Meet new authors, sharpen your brain and pick up a few tips on life, love, entertaining and business. Enjoy and please share!

"Love in the Smallest Package" A Poem by Fran Joyce

You came into our world as a tiny kitten

A bushy tailed furball of blacks, browns, and creams.

Paws like snowshoes with padded mittens

A climber instinctively longing for snow, but worshipping sunbeams.

 

You’ve stolen our hearts with every courageous leap

Every time you chased your tail instead of your toy

Your gentle snores and racing feet while you sleep

Sources of wonder and infinite joy.

 

Pale eyes rivaling the golden hue of champagne

Searching for movement of any kind

Never missing a bird, bug, or a tiny drop of rain

Savoring each as a treasured miraculous find.

 

As we measure our time in days now instead of years

The love we’ve shared still grows unfettered by circumstance.

You will always be the kitten who stole our hearts and our tears

Who chased his tail and made sunbeams dance.

 

Q&A with Nature Photographer and Author Doris Dumrauf by Fran Joyce

July 2025 - What's in a Month? by Fran Joyce