Over the Years

By L. F. Olson

The content within is derived from years of struggle—a divorced single mother with two kids, worrying about money, holding down a job while spending lots of time in waiting rooms and hospitals, and asking why sometimes things didn’t make sense. Once the right doctor was discovered and the right medication was introduced, the world and her emotions started to congeal and allowing the content in this book to come together. Dealing with bipolar disorder is not easy. There are times when the adversities in life become so great they need an outlet—they simply can't be contained—and the paper and pen were always there to listen.

• Language: English
• Publisher: iUniverse
• Release date: Aug 25, 2020
• ISBN: 9781532083372

L. F. Olson

L. F. Olson grew up in a large family on a farm in Minnesota, the tenth of eleven children. She was born with a birth defect—a short left arm and half a thumb and no fingers on her left hand—but her brothers and sisters helped her adapt. She was eventually diagnosed with bipolar disorder.

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Copyright © 2020 L. F. Olson.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced by any means, graphic, electronic, or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, taping or by any information storage retrieval system without the written permission of the author except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.

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Because of the dynamic nature of the internet, any web addresses or links contained in this book may have changed since publication and may no longer be valid. The views expressed in this work are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the publisher, and the publisher hereby disclaims any responsibility for them.

Any people depicted in stock imagery provided by Getty Images are models, and such images are being used for illustrative purposes only.

Certain stock imagery © Getty Images.

Interior Image Credit: L.F .OLSON PHOTO ARCHIVES GALLERY

ISBN: 978-1-5320-8336-5 (sc)

ISBN: 978-1-5320-8371-6 (hc)

ISBN: 978-1-5320-8337-2 (e)

Library of Congress Control Number: 2020901470

iUniverse rev. date:  09/07/2020

CONTENTS

Reviews

Foreword

Preface

Acknowledgments

A Note about the Scanned Poems and Writings

Life

Sacred Heart of Jesus

Down by the Rock River

God Bless America and My Family

Changing Lanes

Another Mountain

He Silently Gives Gifts

Tick Tock Time

Missing Forgiveness

Almighty Judge

The Feeling I

Pointed Decisions

On Healing

You Don’t Apply; I Don’t Know Why!

A Den Mother’s Year

The Best Little Scout

Den One

Refreshing Spirit

Memorial Day

Music Is Lively

Flag of the United States of America

Memory Lane

Kansas City, Missouri

Thank God for These United States of America!

Our Lord’s Prayer for Unity

A Christmas Rose

Tranquility

De Civ Dei (City of God)

LORETTACISMS PART 1

Football Blessings

Soul Skipping

Goodwill Friends

The Tree of Point

Hurt Feelings

Sunburst Streams

March

Valentine’s Day

Angels in My Life

To Each Alone

Season of Joy

Gifts

The Dream of a Glass Bridge: Variety in Life

Hearing Myself Hope

Precipice

LORETTACISMS PART 2

Uniquely Be

Basics

Life

Warm Eggs

Fourth of July

Summer Showers

Happy New Year, 1982

Happy New Year, 1994

LORETTACISMS PART 3

A Prayer for Better Memories

Little Angels

Hurt Too Much

Light Your Star

Prayer of Praise

LORETTACISMS PART 4

Prayer

DONE

The Climb

A Walk in the Park

Let It Rain

Too Dry

Thirsty Birds

Tin Roof

First Sunday after Pentecost

A Child Is a Rose

Lady of Fatima

The I in Me

Individual

A Home at Safe Harbour

Having a Manic-Depressive (Bipolar) Illness

The World to a Manic-Depressive

Year’s End

REVIEWS

L. F. Olson’s words come from her heart and her experience in life that reaches all levels. Through her joys and struggles, L. F. Olson has found strength in herself and her faith. Deep down, she shows each of us that we are capable of living and loving. It may not always be as we would like to see it or as others would like to see from us, but to be real is to be ourselves. Thank you, Ms. Olson, for sharing from the depth of who you are!

—Fr. Kevin Kenney, pastor, Divine Mercy, Faribault, Minnesota

This book of poems is very insightful and intellectually stimulating! A very good read for anyone dealing with the trials and tribulations called life.

—Rachel Baldwin, manager, Brookdale Senior Living, Faribault, Minnesota

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FOREWORD

I can safely say I’ve known my mother for my entire life—or have I?

My sister and I grew up with her sitting at the kitchen table, reading and writing. I knew she had a creative personality and sometimes had trouble sleeping due to her issues with what we used to call manic-depressive illness. When I got older and showed her technical drawings and stories of my own, she encouraged me. I have no doubt it helped lead me to my first career and influenced my sister to pursue a similar path.

One day in 2014, while cleaning out a closet, my mother uncovered a number of old notebooks and began looking through them. She pulled a few out and asked me to review. They were mostly what