Author Archives: Terri Schlichenmeyer OW Contributor

Everyone you meet has an effect on your life.
Somehow, in some way, others change you: a stranger’s smile lifts your mood. Kindness makes you happy. An injustice spurs you to action, making you someone else’s change. Clearly, as in the new memoir “Truth Doesn’t Have a Side” by Dr. Bennet Omalu (with Mark Tabb), a chance meeting could alter your path.

He almost got your nose.
Or your cheek. Awkward, for sure, but on the second try, it finally happened. Then again. And again, each one sweeter than the last. As long as you live, you’ll never forget your very first romantic kiss or the person who gave it to you – even if, as in the novel, “The Diplomat’s Daughter” by Karin Tanabe, there’s a war outside the window.

You didn’t do it.
Whatever it was, it wasn’t your fault. You didn’t do it – you weren’t even around when it happened. You don’t know who to blame. Maybe it was your dog, your mom, or maybe, as in the new book by Dorothea Taylor, illustrated by Charly Palmer, “There’s a Dragon in My Closet.”

This morning, you woke up to a big day. Like most days, you’ll eat breakfast and get ready to leave the house. Every hour is then packed with fun and excitement before you go to sleep in a comfortable bed tonight. Do kids like you live like that in other countries? In “This is How We Do It” by Matt Lamothe, you’ll see.

Nothing’s set in stone.
Few things are. Lucky for you, there’s usually a chance to change your mind or have a do-over. You can often get another go at something because few things are that firmly decided. As in the new book “Sin of a Woman” by Kimberla Lawson Roby, you can sometimes have a second chance.
More and more every day, Porsha Harrington got on Pastor Raven Jones Black’s last nerve.

When you were twenty, you wanted only to impress.
If people looked at you, wasn’t that good? You wanted to be seen, watched, adored by those you saw as desirable. But what, exactly, did you want people to notice? Was it your hair, your body or, as in “Surpassing Certainty” by Janet Mock, was the whole you on display?

You can do it.
Yes, you can. You just need to take a deep breath and then blow it out. Find the courage inside yourself. Think of something else and do it. Don’t be scared. As you’ll see in “Jabari Jumps” by Gaia Cornwall, good things come to those who get brave and take the leap.

It was a sure thing.
A can’t-miss, a safe bet that you couldn’t possibly fail – or could you? Isn’t there always a danger of losing in a gamble, or at least not winning? What kind of odds would make you take a risky bet?

You can pretend all you want.
Hide your head in the sand and say it ain’t so. Cover your ears and yell “LaLaLaLaLa” until everyone thinks you’re five years old. You can deny, deny, deny, but listen up: some things are factual, so read “I Can’t Make This Up: Life Lessons” by Kevin Hart, and you may learn something.
When Kevin Hart was born, his parents might’ve said “oops.”