Happy Veterans Day to all who have protected our shores

THE MEETING
(from The Many Faces of Chelle Cordero short story collection)

is a fictionalized account of the true story of my parents' romance. 

They met during WW2 and were married 32 yrs before 'til death do us part'. 

Daddy was in the US Army and served
in multiple campaigns in Europe and Africa.

excerpt:

The Meeting

Charleston, South Carolina

1942

“Make sure you send me a letter as soon as you get there.” Jeannette stopped to dry her eyes. “You just know how I am going to miss you.”

“Oh honey, I‘ll write to you every day.” Melanie hugged the best friend she always shared everything with. Their mommas had taken them for walks in their baby carriages together. They were there for each other‘s first dates, they consoled each other when Melanie‘s big brother left to go fight the big war, and they stayed up late reading letters from Melanie‘s ill mother. “Oh I wish I didn‘t have to leave you.”

“You tell your momma to get well so you can bring her home again.”

“Last call for Greensboro.” The train engineer poked his head out to remind passengers to get their luggage loaded.

“Oh, I have to make sure my suitcase is on board.” Melanie gave Jeannette‘s hand a squeeze and then stepped towards the train.

“Make sure you wave to me before you leave.”

In another car an M.P. checked the cuffs of the prisoner he was transporting from Georgia.

“I‘m going to step off and have a smoke.” He was satisfied the prisoner wasn't going anywhere, especially since he was cuffed to the seat. The M.P. motioned to one of the other military personnel on board the car that he would be back in a few minutes.

It felt good to stretch his legs as he stepped down from the train onto the platform. He watched as two women tearfully hugged each other and found himself unable to stop staring at the woman left on the platform. She was beautiful. ...

The Many Faces of Chelle Cordero

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#TBT ~ My inspiration for The Meeting

Reva & Marcy

This is a photo of my mom and dad dancing at my sister's wedding, June 18, 1970. They always loved to dance and I often found them in each other's arms in the living room of our Bronx apartment with my dad singing love songs to her.

35 years ago today, January 15, 1979, my mom passed away, my dad had died almost 2 years earlier. That day Mark & I saw a very clear stair shaped cloud and we both imagined Mommy climbing those stairs to meet Daddy at the top... and I know that this picture was re-enacted that day and many times since. 

They often told me how they met during WW2 at a train station in Charleston, South Carolina, and while I've heard different versions of their first meeting from other family members, the story Mommy & Daddy told me was always so romantic. 

Their life together (nearly 32-years of marriage before death separated them - temporarily) was always filled with romance. Daddy was always singing love songs with Mommy either dancing in his arms or serenading her with his guitar. His favorite songs were Begin the Beguine and Spanish Harlem; he sang in both English and Spanish.

I hope that I honored my parents with the short story The Meeting, a fictionalized account of their love affair. The Meeting is one of the short stories in my collection The Many Faces of Chelle Cordero

excerpt from The Meeting

It felt good to stretch his legs as he stepped down from the train onto the platform. He watched as two women tearfully hugged each other and found himself unable to stop staring at the woman left on the platform. She was beautiful.

He lit his cigarette and took a drag. Then he walked over to the woman.

Jeannette was aware of the soldier‘s stare and tried not to let it affect her. He was a handsome man, but it just wasn‘t polite to be scrutinized so thoroughly like that. He came even closer and she tried to look in the other direction.

“Hello.”

She could tell by the nasal quality of his accent that he was a northern boy. Maybe this was how they acted up there but he was being awfully forward. She was raised to be polite and couldn‘t ignore his speaking to her. “Good morning sir.”  She hoped he would go away.

“I‘ve been riding this train all morning – transporting a prisoner.” He motioned proudly to the M.P. sash on his arm.

She glanced quickly at his armband and realized he was probably trying to impress her. Jeannette gave him a polite half-smile and turned her head. She was trying to watch to see where her friend got a seat, but he wasn‘t making it easy.

“Well imagine how I felt when I stepped onto the platform and saw this gorgeous woman standing there.”

The Many Faces of Chelle Cordero is a single author collection of short stories featuring Introduction, Pussycat Tails, Holiday Happiness, Not Alone, I Swear That Raccoon Just Knocked on the Door, Stormy Weather, A Mother’s Love, More Than a Friend, The Meeting, The Vacation and a special bonus section.

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At First Glance - Weekend Writing Warriors / #8sunday / 11/30/14

Hi! Welcome to another Weekend Writing Warrior round. Every week writers post 8 sentences on their blogs from a published or unpublished book. Then we "hop" around and leave comments on each other's snippets. Whether our work is already published or in progress, the helpful comments help us become stronger writers on our next WIP. We welcome EVERYONE's comments.

See more at the
WeWriWa blog

I'm continuing with snippets from The Meeting, a part of The Many Faces of Chelle Cordero, a short-story collection which exemplifies (I hope) the diversity of my writing.

The story begins at a Charleston SC train station in 1942. America, still reeling from the Pearl Harbor attack, entered the war and soldiers in uniform were going off to Europe and the Pacific to fight. Life continued on the home-front.

Last week two young ladies, both Southern born and bred, were saying a tearful good-bye at the train station. A young MP riding in another car was about to step onto the platform.

It felt good to stretch his legs as he stepped down from the train onto the platform. He watched as two women tearfully hugged each other and found himself unable to stop staring at the woman left on the platform. She was beautiful.

He lit his cigarette and took a drag and then walked over to the woman.

Jeannette was aware of the soldier‘s stare and tried not to let it affect her. He was a handsome man, but it just wasn‘t polite to be scrutinized so thoroughly like that. He came even closer and she tried to look in the other direction.

           “Hello.”

 For more WeWriWa snippets, go to www.wewriwa.com

The Meeting

From a random meeting in the south during WW2 to a
marriage and love that lasts for an eternity.

 AUDIO 

PRINT 

Kindle 

 AllRomance Ebooks 

 iBooks 

 Smashwords 

The Many Faces of Chelle Cordero is a single author collection of short stories featuring Introduction, Pussycat Tails, Holiday Happiness, Not Alone, I Swear That Raccoon Just Knocked on the Door, Stormy Weather, A Mother’s Love, More Than a Friend, The Meeting, The Vacation and a special bonus section.

...and in time for the holidays!

A short story about finding holiday happiness whenyou didn’t realize it was right there with you all along.

Holiday Happiness: A Short Story [Kindle Edition] by Chelle Cordero

just 99-cents - click HERE to buy

Introducing The Meeting ~ Weekend Writing Warriors / #8sunday / 11/23/14

Hi! Welcome to another Weekend Writing Warrior round. Every week writers post 8 sentences on their blogs from a published or unpublished book. Then we "hop" around and leave comments on each other's snippets. Whether our work is already published or in progress, the helpful comments help us become stronger writers on our next WIP. We welcome EVERYONE's comments.

See more at the
WeWriWa blog

I'm moving to another story from The Many Faces of Chelle Cordero, a short-story collection which exemplifies (I hope) the diversity of my writing.

This snippet is from The Meeting which begins in 1942 at a train station platform in Charleston, South Carolina.

“Make sure you send me a letter as soon as you get there,” Jeannette stopped to dry her eyes, “you just know how I am going to miss you.”

“Oh honey, I‘ll write to you every day,” Melanie hugged the best friend she always shared everything with. Their mommas had taken them for walks in their baby carriages together, they were there for each other‘s first dates, they consoled each other when Melanie‘s big brother left to go fight the big war, and they stayed up late reading letters from Melanie’s ill mother. “Oh I wish I didn‘t have to leave you.”

“You tell your momma to get well so you can bring her home again.”

“Last call for Greensboro,” the train engineer poked his head out to remind passengers to get their luggage loaded.

In another car an M.P. checked the cuffs of the prisoner he was transporting from Georgia and then motioned to another soldier on the train.

“I‘m going to step off and have a smoke,” he was satisfied the prisoner wasn‘t going anywhere.

 For more WeWriWa snippets, go to www.wewriwa.com

The Meeting

From a random meeting in the south during WW2 to a
marriage and love that lasts for an eternity.

 AUDIO 

PRINT 

Kindle 

 AllRomance Ebooks 

 iBooks 

 Smashwords 

The Many Faces of Chelle Cordero is a single author collection of short stories featuring Introduction, Pussycat Tails, Holiday Happiness, Not Alone, I Swear That Raccoon Just Knocked on the Door, Stormy Weather, A Mother’s Love, More Than a Friend, The Meeting, The Vacation and a special bonus section.

from the book's dedication...

To my parents, Marcy & Reva, their relationship was the epitome 

of the love story and the inspiration for "The Meeting"

The Many Faces of Chelle Cordero - YouTube video

The Many Faces of Chelle Cordero Short Story Collection Volume 1

including:

Nine short stories and a special bonus section, featuring:
Introduction
Pussycat Tails
Holiday Happiness
Not Alone
I Swear That Raccoon Just Knocked on the Door
Stormy Weather
A Mother’s Love
More Than a Friend
The Meeting
The Vacation

Available on Smashwords http://bit.ly/13sN86Q
and on Amazon Kindle :http://amzn.to/13sMXZt

from Vanilla Heart Publishing