Finding the One: Short Stories

By Mrs. Linnie Delmar

Reading this book will inspire you, entertain you, but will never bore you because of her sincere efforts to please you. Linnies Southern humor and her unique style of writing youll feel like youve known her for years like you would an ole friend. The exciting adventures continue to follow her where ever she goes. Her safe bubble of life, as she calls it, has not been broken yet. Some of her stories havent always had happy endings in her last book DIVORCED ON THE REDNECK RIVIERA. But in this book, the happy endings and beginnings are happening every day not only to Linnie but to people who have reached out telling their story in their own words of how they met THE ONE!

• Language: English
• Publisher: AuthorHouse
• Release date: Nov 7, 2016
• ISBN: 9781524648459

Mrs. Linnie Delmar

Ms. Linnie Delmar from Fairhope, Alabama is an author, artist, and Licensed Massage Therapist (LMT). She started her business Delatorre Day Spa in 1986 and was Fairhope’s first Licensed Massage Therapist. To this day, she continues to work out of her home in Fairhope, Alabama. She has taken one side of her home and made it into her Day Spa which she has decorated like a mini Five Star Resort. Within the Spa area there is original art and fine French décor to enhance the relaxation atmosphere. Linnie continues to love her job of pampering stressed out people daily. Her dedication and exceptional talent that separate her from all the others have taken her all over the world. Her God given talent of massage therapy has given her the opportunity to work on some very interesting people including A-list actors. She continues to work on site with over 10 motion picture production companies. Such actors as Gene Hackman, Steven Seagal, and Ashley Judd are among the many A-List actors that have experienced her unique massage technique that she has a US Patent/Trademark on. The singing groups such as the Backstreet Boys, the group Alabama, B.B. King, and Merle Haggard have all been rubbed the right way by Ms. Linnie’s famous hands! She told their stories in her first book “Divorced on the Redneck Riviera”. But it’s the stories of real people like you that will touch your heart. That’s the stories you will love and connect with. Reading this book will inspire you, entertain you, but will never bore you because of her heart felt efforts to please you. Linnie’s southern humor and her unique style of writing you’ll feel like you’ve known her for years, like you would an ole friend. This is the continuing story of Linnie’s life after turning sixty and being divorced on the Redneck Riviera. The exciting adventures continue to follow her where ever she goes. The safe bubble of life, as she calls it, has not been broken yet. Some of her stories haven’t always had happy endings as in her last book “Divorced on the Redneck Riviera” but in this book the happy endings and beginnings are happening everyday not only to Linnie but to people who have reached out telling their story in their own words of how they met “The One!”

Book preview

CHAPTER 1

Life After Being Divorced On The Redneck Riviera

The tempest in my life after I turned sixty was silent and opened a whole new light at the end of my tunnel of darkness. Now the lights are so bright they almost put my eyes out! In the life of Linnie Delmar or what I refer to as my life in Linnie’s World when we get older bright lights in any room aren’t always our friend even on a good day. This bright tunnel of life brought me some happiness and at times some sadness as well. I was on the top of the world knowing that I had accomplished yet another goal on my famous bucket list. That goal was to complete my first book Divorced on the Redneck Riviera and have it published by the time I turned 62. I turned 62 on August 8th and my book came out in September 2010.

Yes I can check that off my bucket list just like I did when I went zip lining in the north Georgia mountains with Rodney, my beloved son, and white water rafting in Tennessee that same year of turning the Big 62. I also took a cross country trip with some friends (8,600 miles) on a motorcycle. We drove from Fairhope, Alabama to the West Coast of California and managed to see most of the National Parks along the way. My blue eyes always open to something new and exciting. The way I look at life with my heart wide open is still true today seven years later. My adventuresome soul of never a dull moment is still my motto that keeps me going strong each day. I still have goals and to do-lists every day in hopes to accomplish everything on that list and then some. My drive to push myself is still with me every morning when I wake up until I go to bed at night. With the satisfied feeling that I’ve done as much as I can do for others especially for my family, clients, and for the love of my life, my husband Denny!

When my book came out I was expecting to be rich and famous within weeks of its release and of course be on the best sellers list in no time at all! That was my thought in Linnie’s world of positive thinking. I also thought that the name Linnie Delmar would be a household name within the year just like Dolly, Cher, Winston Groom, or Danielle Steele. Thinking that everyone who read my book would think of it for what it was good ole adult Southern humor. Also, as well as a good chick book to take to the beach no more or no less! To say the least in the real world and not in Linnie’s World none of this happened the way I thought it would. I’ve had a few people say that I shouldn’t have told so much about my personal life. Not leaving out one detail about the mistakes I made by marrying the wrong men. It was these mistakes that messed me up and put my good reputation in question but it only made me wiser to the ways of the world!

Some people, mostly older ladies, told me that the last thing they want to read about is how pretty God made the male anatomy. I was expecting that to happen due to not everyone loves the male anatomy and thinks of it being beautiful as much as I do. Before I published my book, I asked my publisher should I take it out about the male anatomy. I told him that I have a lot of clients who are good ole Southern Baptist ladies and they might not want to hear about all that. My publisher laughed and told me they might not like to hear about the male anatomy but I assure you they are going to keep reading about it. He was right because most of my friends and clients said that they couldn’t stop reading and they finished it in one sitting. They laughed out loud with joy and some cried with sadness wondering if Linnie was ever going to find THE ONE?

For these people that did read my book I say thank you for your support! I appreciate you buying my book Divorced on the Redneck Riviera. You are the people I knew would find humor, find adventure, and only after a few pages would figure out the good side of my sense of humor and respect me for who I am as a good person with a kind heart for everyone. You are the people that have an open mind and a forgiving heart to see all the good in me and forgive all the mistakes I made 25 or 30 years ago. We all make mistakes when we’re young and stupid about the world out there just waiting to be explored.

By anyone’s standards I’ve had an extraordinary, exciting, fun filled life compared to most people. Remember the book is written about Linnie Delmar and the world she lives in and not the so called real world. Judge for yourself what is real and what is not from Linnie’s point of view. I’m just glad they enjoyed it as much as I enjoyed writing it! The main reason I wrote the book was to gain Mama’s approval. I wanted Mama to tell me that I was smart and pretty.

Of course, I’m still waiting for that day to come! Even at age 90 she kept me on my toes and called me out on anything and everything. Sadly, Mama passed away on June 1, 2015 and I still miss her dearly. I wanted to show her that I wasn’t the so called Blue Baby after all. I felt like Mama thought I wasn’t as smart as I could have been. I was the only one who thought that I was The Blue Baby when I would make mistakes! I was trying to justify my mistakes and blame others for all the wrong things I did along my journey of life. Not Mama or anyone else……just me for some reason or another thinking that about myself.

I never had a self-confidence issue. I’ve probably had too much dignity and self-confidence during my life. I still think I’m sexy at age 68 and when I look at my naked body in the mirror I say to myself Linnie you still rock! All this of course is done with dim lighting and without my glasses on! Remembering that bright lights aren’t a girl’s best friend under any circumstances! At times in Linnie’s world I still see that size 8 or 10 and still see the signs of a tiny waistline. Now that I’m getting older, I’m also trying to convince myself that looks aren’t everything. In Linnie’s world I feel like I look better than most women when I walk into a room due to the way I carry myself. Ladies remember, it’s the way you carry yourself that your confidence speaks louder than words or your looks ever will. Present yourself to the world like you are the most special person in the world. So again in Linnie’s World I still feel like that when I walk into a room. I own that room and I can work the room just like I did in my younger days because of the self-confidence and the way I carry myself, always with dignity and pride!

I feel like people love me for who I am and not who they want me to be, and I love each one of them right back! They feel my self-confidence and my presence. I try to be in the moment with everything I do in life. Also, I’m in the moment when I do my job of pampering stressed out people daily and especially in my personal life with Denny.

Yes, one year after my first book came out Divorced on the Redneck Riviera I finally met THE ONE! Thank God, the days of hearing that tiny voice is gone forever asking me I know he’s out there, where is he? My mistakes are fewer and screw-ups are less because I now put forth my best effort with everything I do in life and the people in it. I’ve always given it my all but I’ve noticed in my older years I pay attention to details. I’m trying harder to do it the right way the first time around. In my younger days when I did something wrong I would just do it and say to myself Well if I screw up I’ll deal with the consequences later. My motto now is, May you have the BEST life has to offer and may your BEST continue to be shared with others!

When the first copy of my book Divorced on the Redneck Riviera came to me in the mail I felt as happy and excited as Carrie Bradshaw did in the movie Sex and The City when she got the first copy of all the books she wrote as Carrie Bradshaw, the author. I immediately took it over for Mama to read. I waited for days for the shit to hit the fan while Mama took her sweet time reading it. During the entire time while writing the book I never once let her see or read the manuscript. I wanted it to be a surprise to her and surprise it was!

I finally got the phone call I had been dreading that she had read the book! I walked in the door of Mama and Dad’s home nervous and afraid. We locked eyes as she gave me that go to hell look that she was so famous for. I braced myself for what I thought would be the biggest ass chewing of my life. Instead she held out the book and said to me, I think you have a little money maker here…… I LOVED IT! Words can’t express how happy it made me feel for her to say she loved the book that took me over a year to write. My happiness was beyond belief and I felt like I had won the lottery! I said to myself thank you Lord Jesus…. mission accomplished!

Now I can check this off my bucket list and move on to my next project. Writing another book, like I’m doing now, was out of the question. I was so tired that I knew it would never be on my bucket list of goals and accomplishments to write another book again. Well people NEVER SAY NEVER! I also said that I would never get married again throughout my first book. I was single for over twelve years and happy with my single life. I had Mama, Dad, my son Rodney, and my little dog Coco. Finally, I had my Harley Davidson Ultra Classic (named BIG BOY) sitting in the garage ready for me to ride anytime, anywhere. What more could a woman want?

Since the time that my first book came out my life has changed in so many ways. I’m happy to announce that I finally did find The One and the right one found me about a year after my first book came out. His name is Denny and he turned out to be the man I want to spend the rest of my life with. When people ask me, Where did you meet Denny? I tell them that my Dad walked in my front door and said to me I met the man you are going to spend the rest of your life with! We got married on Valentine’s Day 2012 in our favorite city of New Orleans. It was a perfect day in every way. Rodney told me he would never walk me down the aisle again (3 times for him was enough). Thank God, he changed his mind and he did walk me down the aisle for the last time when I married Denny.

I knew Denny was The One the day Dad brought him in my front door and introduced us (January 23rd, 2011). When I first laid eyes on him and him on me we both knew at that moment it was love at first sight! It was that moment that inspired me to write this book Finding the One. Dad called me on the phone before he brought Denny over. That’s when he said in a soft low voice I have met the man you are going to spend the rest of your life with. Of course, I said REALLY Dad? Although I knew Dad wouldn’t say that if he didn’t mean it! Two weeks earlier Dad told me I’m going to find you a good man before I die. I laughed and since Dad was in his mid-eighties I told him Dad you had better get started looking because time is a wasting. Dad is a man of his word and low and behold he kept his word and he found Denny for me!

When Dad and Denny first met, they had been talking for over two hours about Denny renting a rental property that belonged to Mama and Denny re-doing the kitchen cabinets in one of Mama’s beach condominiums in Orange Beach and of life in general. I’m sure Dad was drilling him for additional personal information not pertaining to rentals or construction. Denny’s a custom contractor mainly doing custom kitchen and bathrooms. His passion though is art! His goal is to have an internet art gallery for classical reproductions and over forty different categories of art you can purchase online plus top of the line frames you can order as well! The name is so perfect for our new company www.artchateau.com. Once he gets that business up and running he can get out of the contracting business and devote all his time to the gallery where he has the highest resolution art images in the world and a lifestyle magazine. We also have original art commissioned by artist all over the world who paint for the galleries of Art Chateau. Denny is what I call a conceptional artist who comes up with the concept and our artist put it on canvas for artchateau.com.

I plan to help him with the business so that I can semi retire from my physical job of being a Licensed Massage Therapist (LMT). I’ve worked hard for over 31 years of pampering stressed out people. I’m looking forward to retiring one day and me getting pampered as often as possible! I’ve taught Denny to work on me (massage therapy) and he’s good at it. It’s the only time I can completely relax my tired muscles and get in the zone of letting go. Denny and I also want to travel promoting our new business that will one day be a brand, Art Chateau. Recently when I met Jane Seymour I said to myself and told Denny if she can be a brand and have her own brand of jewelry and furniture so can we with Art Chateau.

Denny is a Yankee boy from Farmington, Michigan. He also spent time growing up in Murfreesboro, Tennessee. He’s close to my age, tall, blonde, blue eyes, and very handsome. His friend Pat who lives part time in Fairhope comes down to Fairhope to spend a few months at a time from Michigan. Pat had been telling Denny all about Fairhope for over a year from when she met him. He was her contractor who did some renovation at her home in Michigan. It had never crossed Denny’s mind, before then, to ever come to lower Alabama.

Thank God Pat was persistent for him to be introduced to Fairhope. It took a while for him to decide to make