An Amazing Journey (Three Parts) Scroll down for Part 1.

An Amazing Journey (Part 3 of 3)

By Donna Erickson
I phoned cousin Nora in Vancouver, British Columbia, surprised there was someone still alive who was my mother’s first cousin. I said, “I’m Philip Koven’s granddaughter, and she remarked, “Isn’t that amazing!!” Nora was 90 years old and not feeling very well. She put me in touch with her children and her nieces, and we began corresponding.
My cousin, Penelope, was thrilled to hear the news, as was my brother, Rob. We all began calling and e-mailing each other. After a few months, Nora was on the mend, and we began speaking regularly. Penelope spoke of taking a ferry from her hometown of Seattle to Vancouver Island for a visit. It was then that I realized I wanted to go, too! For me, it would mean flying across the country first. So, I began planning my trip and saving my money. We decided we would arrange a Labor Day weekend reunion.
The plan was to fly to Seattle and stay overnight with Penelope. Then we would take the ferry together to cross the border. Nora’s sister, Olive, had passed away in 1984. She had 3 children and 2 were living in Canada- Trudy and Andrea. Their brother, Michael, lives in Germany. Trudy offered to have me stay a few days with her and her husband, Doug.
I kept busy during the coming months planning all of the arrangements—flights, hotels, ferries, getting a passport, etc. When the time came, I was more than excited. That morning, a sedan from a limousine service picked me up to bring me to the airport. As we rode along the busy highway, heading to Logan Airport, the unthinkable happened. I remember screaming, “Oh, no!” as the sedan crashed into the vehicle in front of us. Two other cars had collided ahead of them, and there were four cars involved all together. A state policeman appeared at my window, asking if I were okay. I was banged up but felt all right. I found myself standing on the shoulder of the highway with the others involved. I felt crushed. As they continued to fill out reports and check licenses, etc., it all hit me. I realized I wasn’t going to make the trip I had planned all year. I made sure they realized I was supposed to catch a plane. First, they were going to try and send another vehicle to transport me. After getting the front hood to close on the sedan, the police officer said it would be okay for the driver to take me. It was only 10 minutes away.
Luckily, I had shipped out my luggage by UPS and didn’t have to check baggage at the airport. If I hadn’t taken that step, I never would have made it. When I arrived, the line was forming to board the plane. I couldn’t believe I made it.
The rest was a dream, come true. We had a magnificent reunion. I was running on pure adrenaline the entire time. Bruises appeared and I was sore, but I was having such a great time with my new family that I wasn’t focused on the pain. When I returned, I realized I did have some injuries—a sprained neck, back, ribs, and knee. But it was all worth it. I am about 90% healed now, after months of physical therapy and chiropractic treatment.
Nora celebrated her 91st birthday and continues to amaze me. I have been blessed with many new cousins who are all wonderful, warm, kind, and caring people. I have learned a lot about my family. With my new family members, I look forward to many happy years ahead.

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An Amazing Journey (Part 2 of 3)
By Donna Erickson

One evening, something led me to the computer. I thought I would have one last try at www.jewishgen.org. I found a message board in the Discussion Group Archives I hadn’t seen before. After searching for Kowensky, a strange letter popped up. It had been posted a year earlier. I read with disbelief. The letter was written to my family. Nora was searching for us!

A copy of the letter appears below:


Date: Thu, 05 Oct 2006 13:57:56 -0700
From: Nora Jenkin
Subject: Re: Family of Philip KOWENSKY or Philip Kowen


I am researching the family of my father, Louis KOWENSKY, b. 8 May 1888, in Stalkliskes, Russia (now Lithuania). Louis and his brother Philip immigrated to North America, via Leeds, UK, some time in 1904. Louis came to Montreal but Philip went to Boston, MA, USA.


I do not know whether Philip went to Ellis Island or not. I do know that Philip married and I believe that her name was Sarah Levitt. I have a copy of her Application for Social Security which tells me that she was born 15 October 1893. According to Ancestry,com she died in 1971.


I have recently found some snapshots of her four children, Lillian Doris, possibly b. 1917-20; Alan Summer who was younger; Estelle Rita, also younger and Bobby who was the infant in the family.


Philip was, I believe, killed in a car accident when Bobby was a baby, or possibly just before his birth. Nothing much was ever told to me about my Father's parents, because he was afraid for their lives as he and his brother escaped from Russia when my father was only 15 or 16. I do not know if he was the eldest. My father lost contact with the American family after the death of Philip.


I would like any of Philip's children or grandchildren to contact me if they are interested in researching their family roots. They may know some things that I do not. I do have some information regarding the brothers and would be happy to share it with any family member who is interested.


Thank you for allowing me to use your services to post this notice.
Nora (Kowensky) Jenkin

As soon as I saw my mother’s name, Lillian Doris, I screamed. Then I cried. It was so emotional. It was a miracle...


To Be Continued

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An Amazing Journey (Part 1 of 3)
By Donna Erickson

About a year ago, I decided to act on an idea I had for quite awhile. I knew I had cousins living in Canada, but I didn’t have much information. All of the family elders were gone, so I was on my own—other than what my cousin Penelope could offer. I was on the east coast, and she was on the west coast with a three-hour time difference, so we were limited to e-mails and planned, long-distance phone calls. I informed her that I was about to begin searching for our family.

I began browsing around ancestry.com and took advantage of their free trial offer. As I set up my family tree on their site, I was fueled by a sense of excitement. Who knows where it would lead? I began posting requests in the forums, stating that I was searching for Koven relatives in Canada. My mother’s father, Philip, had emigrated from Lithuania. Tragically, he had drowned in a river, following a freak car accident. He had been a traveling salesman during the 1920’s. One icy day in November, while driving through New Hampshire, he skidded over a bridge and plunged into a river. My mother, the oldest of the children, was only four at the time, and my grandmother was expecting her fourth child. The news hit hard, and after that, nothing was quite the same for the Koven family.

A few people responded to my inquiries, and it was fun communicating with other Kovens, but none of them were my relatives. I kept coming upon listings for another deceased Philip Koven who had a living relative named Roger Fleishman. Roger had been at this for quite some time and was an expert at genealogical searching. He was a tremendous help. He located a listing in an old Boston directory that had my grandfather listed as Philip Kowen. This didn’t seem right to me, but I was open to exploring any possibilities. Roger asked if I had my mother’s birth certificate. He gave me the address for Philip Kowen in the directory. I rummaged through old papers and located the birth certificates of my mother and her sister, my Aunt Esther. Sure enough, the handwriting spelled out their last name as Kowen and the home address matched the one in the directory!

This was my first breakthrough, and I was ecstatic. There had been a name change I was unaware of my entire life. Apparently, after Philip died, my grandmother, Sadie, changed the spelling from Kowen to Koven. I wondered if my mother ever knew. She never mentioned it.

Roger Fleishman had “cracked the code,” and I now knew the correct spelling. The only information I had about my Canadian cousins was their names, Olive and Nora. They were Philip’s brother’s daughters. I didn’t know the name of my mother’s uncle, Philip’s brother. I realized if Nora or Olive had married—which was likely—that could be the end of the trail.

In the past, I would find myself Googling Olive Koven and Nora Koven in Canada, just to see what came up. Now I realized I had been using the wrong name. Once I began searching for Kowen (and Kowensky since I knew the family name had been shortened) I discovered something interesting. I located a record of the border passing of Louis Kowensky during the 1930’s. His wife was listed as Lillian, and there, in plain English, it read: daughters Olive and Nora. I couldn’t believe it. I now had validation that these were real people and not just names.

Roger suggested I also look on www.jewishgen.org, which was new to me. I spent hours weeding through the forums and postings but was slowly getting discouraged. I continued to respond to those who e-mailed me from ancestry, as well as those from www.jewishgen.org. This went on for months. I was ready to give up. I really believed it was a lost cause...

To Be Continued
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Tuesday, December 16

Link To Her Story Online

Here is the link to the online article of my profile:

http://www.patriotledger.com/lifestyle/x596333871/HER-STORY-Donna-Erickson"

A Flair For Writing is a Platinum Sponsor Of New Reality Show

This reality show will be aired in June 2009 on the CW Network, Channel 56 and on ABC in some areas. It will be broadcast in more than 9 million households, and I am proud to be a sponsor.

A Published Article About Me

Recently, I was selected to be profiled in the Patriot Ledger/Brockton Enterprise. The article appeared on December 2, 2008 in the Her Story section of the Womyn Zone pages.

"Nisssitissit Witch"

After six months of editing, "Nissitissit Witch" has been published and is selling like crazy. Author Rosemary Chaulk has reported local sales of over 250 books in a matter of weeks. I wrote this article about my experiences as editor of the book:

6 EXTRAORDINARY MONTHS
Recollections From The Editor
By Donna Erickson



“I’ll take that one.” Those were my words when Cheryl Pillsbury, owner/publisher of AG Press, offered me my first editing assignment. She had rattled off four or five titles, but when she uttered, “Witch of the Nissitissit” (the original name for the book), I was intrigued. I had just begun working for Cheryl and found her enthusiasm contagious. I was eager to begin and felt immediately drawn to this project. All I knew, at the time, was that the book was about a ghost. I have always been interested in the occult –even more so during the past decade. You see, I have discovered that I have clairvoyant abilities--and this was “right up my alley!”

And so I began my winter project. The bleakness of February 2008 set the stage for long hours at the computer—perfect for that time of year when much of my writing business slows down. The experience was rather lonely at first. I had no communication with the author. Rose was in Florida and wasn’t due back until spring. I knew I would be spending a lot of time with this work in progress. Being the first draft, it needed major editing. But I enjoy turning sentences inside out and removing wordiness. For me, it feels like I’m removing clutter, which is one of my great pet peeves (just ask my family).

When Rose returned, she came back with another 70 pages. Not having an ending already planned, she was suddenly fueled with new ideas. She finished writing the book and headed back home with it. When she arrived, I added it into the 250-odd pages she already had completed. I had a manuscript more than 300 pages long to revise—line-by-line, word-by-word. I was busy for a lot longer than I had anticipated.

At least I had contact with Rose, and we could bounce ideas off each other. She decided to have me just read for a while, so I would become more familiar with the characters, plot, and sub-plots. So, I worked each day, and every night I curled up with the manuscript and entered the imaginative world Rose had created. I began to feel connected to the book and the characters. Rose told me she had even dreamt about the characters while writing the book. Weeks later, I began dreaming about living in the 1800’s.

Rose had warned me there had been a legend about a curse. She had read that anyone who writes about “the witch” will be cursed and die a horrible death. I thought, “Oh great! Now you’re telling me this!” I shrieked out loud, “What??” “Don’t worry,” Rose replied. “The more I read, the more I realized there’s no truth to it. Plenty of people have written about it and are either okay or they died normally.” What a relief.

Rose and I worked well together as a team. She seemed to appreciate my revisions and we were in agreement most of the time. I had my own ideas about some of the characters and happenings, but, ultimately, the final decisions were hers. We had some nice chats, and when I finished (six months later), we both missed the daily e-mails. Toward the end, I said to Rose that I dreaded the final chapters. I had become so attached to the story and characters, that I felt an actual loss when I was done. Rose told me she had experienced the same emotions—even more so. Although we felt as if we were losing something at the time, we were actually gaining a lot. Now we have the personal satisfaction of seeing the book sell and hearing the wonderful feedback from the many readers who have enjoyed it.

Donna is the owner of www.aflairforwriting.com .

6 EXTRAORDINARY MONTHS - Recollections From the Editor by Donna Erickson

“I’ll take that one.” Those were my words when Cheryl Pillsbury, owner/publisher of AG Press, offered me my first editing assignment. She had rattled off four or five titles, but when she uttered, “Witch of the Nissitissit” (the original name for the book), I was intrigued. I had just begun working for Cheryl and found her enthusiasm contagious. I was eager to begin and felt immediately drawn to this project. All I knew, at the time, was that the book was about a ghost. I have always been interested in the occult –even more so during the past decade. You see, I have discovered that I have clairvoyant abilities--and this was “right up my alley!”

And so I began my winter project. The bleakness of February 2008 set the stage for long hours at the computer—perfect for that time of year when much of my writing business slows down. The experience was rather lonely at first. I had no communication with the author. Rose was in Florida and wasn’t due back until spring. I knew I would be spending a lot of time with this work in progress. Being the first draft, it needed major editing. But I enjoy turning sentences inside out and removing wordiness. For me, it feels like I’m removing clutter, which is one of my great pet peeves (just ask my family).

When Rose returned, she came back with another 70 pages. Not having an ending already planned, she was suddenly fueled with new ideas. She finished writing the book and headed back home with it. When she arrived, I added it into the 250-odd pages she already had completed. I had a manuscript more than 300 pages long to revise—line-by-line, word-by-word. I was busy for a lot longer than I had anticipated.

At least I had contact with Rose, and we could bounce ideas off each other. She decided to have me just read for a while, so I would become more familiar with the characters, plot, and sub-plots. So, I worked each day, and every night I curled up with the manuscript and entered the imaginative world Rose had created. I began to feel connected to the book and the characters. Rose told me she had even dreamt about the characters while writing the book. Weeks later, I began dreaming about living in the 1800’s.

Rose had warned me there had been a legend about a curse. She had read that anyone who writes about “the witch” will be cursed and die a horrible death. I thought, “Oh great! Now you’re telling me this!” I shrieked out loud, “What??” “Don’t worry,” Rose replied. “The more I read, the more I realized there’s no truth to it. Plenty of people have written about it and are either okay or they died normally.” What a relief.

Rose and I worked well together as a team. She seemed to appreciate my revisions and we were in agreement most of the time. I had my own ideas about some of the characters and happenings, but, ultimately, the final decisions were hers. We had some nice chats, and when I finished (six months later), we both missed the daily e-mails. Toward the end, I said to Rose that I dreaded the final chapters. I had become so attached to the story and characters, that I felt an actual loss when I was done. Rose told me she had experienced the same emotions—even more so. Although we felt as if we were losing something at the time, we were actually gaining a lot. Now we have the personal satisfaction of seeing the book sell and hearing the wonderful feedback from the many readers who have enjoyed it.

Donna is the owner of www.aflairforwriting.com .

Awarded by Embracethepositive.com

My article, What Inspires Me, which appears in my blog, has been selected for publication in the November e-zine of www.embracethepositive.com . They sent me a nice journal, pen, and bookmark as a gift, along with a coupon for the products on their site. Check it out.

New Direction

I'm excited about my new duties as Senior Editor and Copartner for AG Press. Owner, Cheryl Pillsbury has designated me to review the work of the other editors to determine if additional editing is required. I'll also be managing the company website, proofing Poetic Monthly Magazine, and editing company documents. I just received the latest (15th edition) of the Chicago Manual of Style-the "Bible" for writers, editors, and publishers-which will help me answer questions from the other editors. I will continue to edit manuscripts to be published by AG Press. None of my services have changed at A Flair For Writing. Needless to say, I'm quite busy!

What Inspires Me

Every writer hears the question sooner or later – where do you get your ideas? I have finally figured it out. Those light bulb moments and middle-of- the-night brainstorms

are divine inspiration at work. If you have never wondered where your creativity stems from, then it merely exists. No further questions. However, if you’re like me and want to know the answers to everything in life, you have probably wondered where a great idea has come from.

 

I believe this world and the world beyond function together as the universe. Because we are linked to another dimension, we are infused with thoughts and ideas. The stronger our spiritual connection is, the greater our creativity. Here are some suggestions for developing your own divine inspiration:

 

1. Keep a notebook and pen by your bed. You’re more likely to write things down at odd times if you don’t have to get up.
2. Get in touch with your spiritual side. There are so many choices today to help you. Meditation, visualization with guided imagery, yoga, Reiki sessions, and other forms of bodywork are all ways to improve your connection.
3. Prayer. If you ask for help with your creativity, you will receive it. You will need to find a way that works best for you.
4. Start a journal. This will allow your creativity to flow and may give you ideas for future writing projects.

I have learned to always go with my “gut feelings.” That little voice inside is usually right. That same little voice can inspire you to create some of your best writing.