Tapestries

About the Book

The Dandelion and The Orchid Memories of my Sister I remember my sister as a three year old and I was only six months old. I remember that my sister was very abused by my mother. I remember that my sister was put in a French Catholic boarding school. The next time I remember my sister, I was 8 years old and she was eleven. My new stepfather, Lee, had brought her home form the boarding school to live with us . We were happy to be together again and we have many happy childhood memories but we also have difficult memories because my step-dad was an alcoholic as was my own father, George, and my mother’s second husband, Jake . My sister was diagnosed as retarded but basically she was only slow to learn. Lee was good to us and soon we had a little house. The only problem was the drinking, the fighting, and my mother’s abusive ways. Valerie was always an “orchid” in my mind. She was delicate and easily crushed. I was a “dandelion!” Mow me down , weed me out, and I still popped up and thrived. Valerie was destroyed by our vicious family. Although she never graduated from High School, Valerie passed a General Education test and she left home at seventeen to join the army. The following year, she was engaged but her future husband died before the wedding, then she traveled to California where she met Howard. I remember when my sister was beaten and raped during the Watts Riot. She spent several months in the hospital. She moved to Seattle and struggled there to live but she loved Seattle. After all these years, (she is now sixty-eight) the Orchid “Valerie” is home with her sister, the Dandelion , and I am very relieved and happy The dandelion will take care of the Orchid with the greatest of care and unconditional love. My favorite verses in this book are ‘Empty House’, ‘Welcome to the Pit’, and “Old Photographs on “Past Boulevard’. By VeAnn Campbell, Her Sister

About the Author

The Sky is the Limit! “Granted that Mental Illness is often viewed as an unmovable obstacle in a persons life, Community Voices, special profile on Valerie McDaniel is unadulterated proof that there is no limit to what the human spirit can achieve. “ Lu Gabriel, Reporter Community Voices Seattle Washington 1991 About the author: I was born in Lynn, Massachusetts on July 8, 1941 as the eldest of two girls. Because of illness as a child I did not go to elementary school but went one year to a special class. At the age of 14 I graduated from it and went directly to the 6th grade. There I became an avid reader and discovered my love for literature and poetry. I remember the first poem I read was the Highwayman by Alfred Knoes. I was so impressed that I memorized the entire poem. Because of my lack of formal schooling my English skills such as spelling and punctuation were in need of adjustment. I graduated from Breed Jr. High School n 1958 and did one year at Classical High Night School. From there I entered the Women’s Army Corp from 1959 to 1960. I moved to my beloved Seattle in 1962 for the world’s fair and my honeymoon. I graduated from Seattle Central Community College in 1995 with a 3.6 GPA. I earned a Social and Human Services degree. I worked as a Mental Health Coordinator at Harborview Hospital, Mental Health Unit in 1994 and 1995. Since I excelled in literature and poetry I found an outlet to express my feelings in free verse and writing. For the first time in my life I was accepted for a skill I was good at. My first book “Journey’s of a Moonchild” was published by Chapbook first edition in 1991. Later I published “Moonlight Reflections” first edition in 1991. I am presently working on two more books.