Diann Shaddox is Founder of the Diann Shaddox Foundation to find a cure for Essential Tremor. She is a Native American Indian and a member of the Wyandotte Nation of Oklahoma and she has Essential Tremors. She’s the author of “A Faded Cottage” and “Whispering Fog.”

Diann was born on December 18th in a small southern town of Nashville, Arkansas, the youngest and only daughter of William and Mary Ann Shaddox. But, fate stepped in and William, a crop-duster, at the age of 25, died in a plane crash on November 20th, a month before she was born, therefore, Diann was never able to meet her father. Mary Ann, who grew up in Miami, Oklahoma, moved back to Miami after William’s death, where Diann lived until her mother died when she was only 3 years old. Diann then moved to Nashville, Arkansas to live with her grandparents. At the age of 10, Diann’s Granddad Holt died of a stroke, leaving her grandmother alone to see to her.

Diann learned from an early age about death and how life should not be squandered. Her Mamow Holt, who had lost her right hand in an accident at a factory in Nashville, Arkansas, taught her, you never give up. Her grandmother never let anything stand in her way. She taught herself to write, cook, and even how to sew and make quilts with her left hand, without any prosthetics. Being handicapped was a word she never used.

Growing up in a small town was wonderful, learning to fish, growing a garden and the most important thing, patience of a grandmother. Stories from the past evolved of family bringing many stories to life. Sitting out late at night on cool summer evenings, swinging on an old swing staring up at the stars helped Diann’s vivid imagination grow.

She has an enthusiasm for travel and living life to its fullest. You have only one life and shouldn’t waste it. The zest for meeting and getting to know people is a very important component in her life. She is a believer of herbs, natural and organic foods, and a big supporter of Bio-identical Hormones and keeping our planet green. 

A FADED COTTAGE, a South Carolina love story about a artist with Essential Tremors is a Mom’s Choice Awards Honoree

A Faded Cottage is a powerful story blending fact and fiction about a famous artist whose life is turned upside down when he learns he has Essential Tremors and begins to shake uncontrollably. He leaves his life in New York and buys a faded cottage on the beach of South Carolina discovering his teenage love after thirty years. This is his journal of only two weeks, a story of endless love, and his tale of living with Essential Tremors.

Whispering Fog  is a Time Travel, One fall night a mystifying fog captures a young girl from the 20th century and a captain of an old sailing ship from the 18th century bringing them together.
On an unusual foggy night in 1959, Belinda sees an image out in the sea, a ship of years ago, begins her descent into the misty vapor climbing down the steep, rocky cliff to help the ship’s crew, and falls literally into the whispering fog.

Did the story end that night for Belinda when she fell down the cliff, or was it a dream of a young girl? On foggy nights, fishermen have heard an old ship’s bell tolling and voices from the fog whispering Belinda’s name. 


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Is Friday the 13th an old wives’ tale, just superstition, or reality?

So how unlucky is Friday the 13th?
Friday the 13th is known by many as the unluckiest day of the year.

This may all have originated from the word or phobia triskaidekaphobia, or fear of the number thirteen.

Numerologists consider 12 a "complete" and divine number. There are 12 months in a year, 12 signs of the zodiac, 12 gods of Olympus, 12 labors of Hercules, 12 tribes of Israel, 12 hours on the clock, 12 months of the year and 12 apostles of Jesus. Anywhere outside a bakery, then 13 is considered a transgression of this rule, which I love. You can never go wrong with one  extra donut.

This fear of 13 can be seen even in how societies are built. For example, more than 80 percent of high-rise buildings lack a 13th floor. And many airports skip the 13th gate. Hospitals and hotels regularly have no room with the number 13.

On streets in Florence, Italy, the house between number 12 and 14 is addressed as 12 1/2. There is a longstanding myth that if 13 people dine together, one will die within a year. In France socialites known as the quatorziens (fourteeners) once made themselves available as 14th guests to keep a dinner party from an unlucky fate.

While many will laugh off the superstitious day, others will remain in bed paralyzed by fear and avoid daily tasks, conducting business or traveling. In the U.S., an estimated 17 to 21 million people suffer from a fear of Friday the 13th, according to a study by the North Carolina Stress Management Center and Phobia Institute.

The phobia, a fear of Friday the 13th, known as friggatriskaidekaphobia, is not uncommon. The word comes from Frigga, the name of the Norse goddess for whom Friday is named.

Accurate data is impossible to collect since many people around the world avoid certain activities, including travel and surgery on that day. Past Black Fridays notwithstanding, Friday the 13th may actually be a boon for finance. According to CNBC, the market has been up 80 times out of the past 140 Friday the 13ths.

According to research completed at the Dutch Centre for Insurance Statistics (CVS) in 2008, there were fewer accidents and reports of theft or fire on Friday the 13th than on other Fridays.

Whatever you believe; Friday the 13th is a lucky or unlucky day, may good fortune be with you and the one extra donut. 

February 2 is Groundhog Day, a weather lore that has its origins in ancient Europe, but Groundhog Day has a different meaning for me. I think of Woody each Groundhog day. 
Well, you ask who is Woody?

Woody isn’t as famous as Punxsutawney Phil, or Birmingham Bill or Shubenacadie Sam, but he was just as important to a small group of people in VA. 

When we lived in Burke, VA, many years ago, we had a groundhog who we named Woody that burrowed under our carport. At first we would catch a glimpse of a furry brown, round creature in the back yard scampering around and wondered what it was. That little groundhog became brave and eventually would sit at the end of the carport and stare at us just as we would stare at him. We did some research and learned he was a woodchuck, so he became known as Woody. We also learned that Woody loved lettuce. Even though Woody was supposed to be hibernating, he would pop out of his burrow to get his snack of salad that we would leave for him throughout the winter. The only sound Woody made was a low bark and we all knew to stay our distance, since he was a wild animal.

All the kids in the neighborhood would stop by to get a glimpse at Woody and Woody didn’t seem to mind the stares. I believe he enjoy his fame. On February 2 that one year we had our own Groundhog Day celebration, but it really didn’t count since Woody would emerge from his burrow every day for his snack, and he was in the shade, however we did have fun watching and waiting for him to appear.

The tradition of Groundhog Day began in Gobbler’s Knob in Punxsutawney, PA. The first documented American reference to Groundhog Day can be found in a diary entry, dated February 4, 1841, of Morgantown, PA storekeeper James Morris.
 
The tradition of Groundhog Day says if a groundhog comes out of its hole on February 2 and sees its shadow, there will be six more weeks of winter weather; no shadow means an early spring.

Groundhog Day has its roots in the ancient Christian tradition of Candlemas Day, when clergy would bless and distribute candles needed for winter. The candles represented how long and cold the winter would be. Germans expanded on this concept by selecting an animal like the groundhog as a means of predicating weather. After the German settlers came to PA, they continued the tradition, which is now known as Groundhog Day.

In Scotland there was a  poem:

If Candle-mas Day is bright and clear,
There'll be two winters in the year.
If Candle mas be fair and bright,
Winter has another flight.
If Candlemas brings clouds and rain,
Winter will not come again.

I wish everyone a Happy Groundhog Day.