Stay Golden with Jena C. Henry

Many thanks to author and blogger Jessie Cahalin for the lovely post she featured on her blog, http://jessiecahalin.com. Her blog is “Books in My Handbag” and please make sure you take time to browse through her creative and splendid gallery. I am delighted Jessie and I are friends!

Jena Henry is an amazing supporter of authors, and she dashes around social media leaving her trail of golden comments.  I cannot imagine how we would cope without Jena’s positive, fun online presence. I wanted to find out more about this lovely lady, so I read her novel –The Golden Age of Charli. Jena’s book gave me a great insight into her positive philosophy and prompted me to ask further questions. I wanted to get to the heart of her catchphrase – ‘staying golden’.

Jena: Hello Jessie and thank you for inviting me to ramble on and on with you. I’m sure you know that I am a big fan of both you and your Handbag Gallery, so I hope after we chat, we will have some time to browse the handbags and see the latest books that you have added.

Right, we’ll move on. I suppose you want to talk books and writing? And me?

Jessie: Jena, it’s been great fun getting to know you over the past year. Sharing our books and ideas has developed a wonderful friendship across the miles, and I love my Ohio t shirt. I admire how much you have achieved in your life, and your infectious positivity. Introduce yourself with three achievements that make you proud.

Jena: I never think too much about myself that way- but I’ll try.

1. I’m still here! Which encompasses having a happy marriage and a happy life, amazing kids.

And I achieved two goals that were important to me:

1. I graduated from Law School.
2. I finally wrote a book! (plus 2 more)

Jessie:  What do you mean when you say ‘stay golden’ and when did you invent this phrase?

Robert Frost inspired me with his poem,
Nature’s first green is gold,
Her hardest hue to hold.
Her early leaf’s a flower;
But only so an hour.
Then leaf subsides to leaf.
So Eden sank to grief,
So dawn goes down to day.
Nothing gold can stay.

The last line, “Nothing gold can stay”, is used in the powerful conclusion of S. E. Hinton’s coming-of-age book “The Outsider’s” (also a movie). “Stay gold Ponyboy”, one friend tells the other, meaning “stay innocent.”

As I am now a golden ager, and my book series is “The Golden Age of Charli”, I borrowed the concept from Frost and Hinton and adopted “Stay Golden” as my affirmation. Even though life changes as we age- we must strive to stay as gold as we can. I wrote a post on staying golden and here it is: https://www.jenabooks.com/stay-golden/

Jessie: You’ve reached the glorious years of retirement, and your positive philosophy inspired me to connect with you. What are your five golden rules to make the most of retirement?

Jena: Retirement…the golden years…the sunset years…the years where we all ask, “What’s a weekend?” because it really doesn’t matter anymore- every day is a day to rejoice. The desire to thrive is really the key. Many people face challenges with health and other circumstances, so I don’t mean to make it sound like every senior adult is able to frolic, and I’m truly grateful every day for all my blessings.

After busy and active decades of building a career, a family, a life…retirement can be a jolt or even a let down. Where is our purpose now? Here are my five rules to get you thinking.

Prepare for your retirement

Focus on healthy living

Discover something new and fun to do

Do something good for someone else

Give thanks each day.

Jessie, you are at the perfect age to start planning for your golden years! You have plenty of time to get your finances and retirement plans, your health, and your interests developed. You already have the golden, optimistic mind-set!

Jessie: Now you are enjoying retirement, what word words of advice would you give to Jena in her twenties. 

Jena: Don’t worry, I know you were eager to finish college and move out from home and now that you’ve done it, you’re feeling a bit shaky but… EVERYTHING WILL TURN OUT BETTER THAN YOU CAN IMAGINE!  All the life stuff- career, marriage, kids… piece of cake! (yes, I try to be over-encouraging with young people!)

Plus- so many cool things are coming! Technology, computers, the internet, big screen TVs, ereaders for books, smart phones, smart homes, streaming movies and tv shows, so much better than the three tv channels you get now!

And, you WILL write a book. You won’t vacation on the moon, in fact you’ll never move far away from your hometown. The Cleveland Indians will not win a World Series, and you won’t get back to Paris, but you will visit China. And even though you don’t not know what sushi is right now, but you will love it!

Jessie: Tell us why reading is important to you.

Jena: Reading is my superpower and helps me to stay golden.

I have always been an ardent reader. And now I am enjoying being a passionate reviewer. I post reviews on Amazon, Goodreads and my website. https://www.jenabooks.com/category/promotions/

https://www.jenabooks.com/category/blog/

Currently, I am considering if I can do more to connect with and serve and promote writers, authors, bloggers in even better ways. Any ideas for me?

Jessie:  Apart from books, what other hobbies do you have?

Jena: As you may know, I am an avid sports fan, and we stay current with most sports, from local to professional. And now thanks to you I’m learning more about British sports! I’m happy to chat about Baseball- I root, root, for the home team which is the Cleveland Indians! I also cheer on the “real football” team, the Cleveland Browns and I’m most passionate about our pro Basketball team, The Cleveland Cavaliers!( Until last year, we had the GOAT (Greatest of All Time) LeBron James. I believe you have never heard of him?) My husband and sons also follow motorsports.

Jessie: What was a key influence in your life? 

I am thankful I was born, grew up, and have always lived in Ohio. Ohio is a mid-western state with contrasts- cities and farms, conservatives and liberals, even Amish. Church and community are important. And one thing unites us all- The Ohio State University and its championship football program.

When someone starts the cheer of “O” “H”!…We all know to shout back “I” “O”.

And Ohioans are also quick to form OHIO with their arms and we share photographs of this all over social media.

Here is a photo my niece took, that shows OHIO on the side of a barn, near the city where we live. (Photo by mackmarie.com)

Jessie: You are also an author of a great collection of books about retirement. Pinpoint the exact time when you decided to write your trilogy.  What was the biggest writing challenge?

Jena: I always wanted to write a book. After 40 years of dreaming, my husband said to me “Well, if you ever want to write a book, you should get started. Time is running out.”

Perhaps a bit harsh- but it worked. The idea of Charli came to me and I got to know her and write about her.

No real challenges. I am so proud of my books and me. I wrote a three-book fiction series, The Golden Age of Charli. I love all my books because they are just what I wanted them to be- fun, positive and encouraging. My books are loosely based on my experiences and the experiences of about 50 million other women! For more info

Thanks again Jessie! Time for tea and cake?

Jessie: I thoroughly enjoyed Jena’s book and it made me reflect on my future retirement as a golden goal to be enjoyed.   I’ve learned it’s never too early to plan my golden years.  Here is my review of The Golden Age of Charli : GPS

The Golden Age of Charli is a novel, memoir and self-help book. It cleverly guides the reader through the familiar frustrations encountered by retirees who have lost their way.  However, the dominant ideology of this book can be applied to anyone who is searching for a ‘raison d’être’.

Charli McAntic has reached her ‘sunset years’ and yearns for a new adventure as she stares at a photo of Audrey Hepburn in the hairdressers.  Alas, Charli and Pud drink to ‘joie de vivre’ but they seem to be on automatic drive mode.  It is only Charli who muses ‘why wasn’t I content?’

Aug, their son, observes, ‘We need to boost your wild side, Mom’: his cute observation made me smile.  Although she is on the verge of an exciting era, Charli is uncertain about stepping off treadmill of life that has sustained her.  I yearned for Charli to navigate through her sunset years and ‘do something meaningful.’  Charli explains, ‘I don’t want to change my life; I just want to search for more meaning to add tapestry to my life.’ I understood she needed to weave a little je ne sais quoi into her life to achieve fulfilment.

Alas, Pud is content to play golf, and I was impressed Charli introduces her frustrations rather than shouting at him.  I wanted to chastise Pud who didn’t respond to his wife but organised to exercise with Connie.  Connie’s character is well drawn and added to the tension.

As the novel progresses winter draws in and the weather parallels changes in the narrative.   Language used to convey the seasons is poetic and symbolic.  ‘The winds roared harder and the wheels of the seasons changed to late autumn.’ Read the book to discover whether Pud and Charli find their ‘Technicolour moment’.   Will the storms and winds of Ohio shake up their life or will calm be restored?

Explore life through Charli’s perspective as she evaluates her life with warmth, honesty and vulnerability.

Please all my author interviews at My Guests and my website and blog at JessieCahalin.com.

A copy of my novel can be found here.