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By Daniel Remin SPRINGFIELD
- Bernice Becker's been telling her stories to friends, family and
local audiences for a long time. Now they have been compiled in "Feel
Good Stories: An Enchanted Self Book," a collection of short stories -
all true - from Becker's past. "I've been telling these stories
for years, and my children said, ‘Mother, you're getting older. We want
to have these stories so we can pass them on,'" Becker said. So
Becker, soon to be 85, decided to write a book containing her memoirs.
The stories range from her childhood growing up in Brookline, to when
she started becoming interested in boys, to the time when she bought a
$200 pair of boots. In the book, that story is entitled "My Most
Expensive Purchase." In it, Becker tells a shoe salesman she
wants a pair of gray boots and told him how high she wanted them. He
brings out some pairs, and one was gorgeous, said Becker. "I was
afraid to buy it, and he said, ‘You can't afford not to buy it. This is
something your husband will be so proud of,'" she said. "I tell him the
heels are high, and he tells me they may be high but you'll be more
careful about falling if you realize you're wearing high heels. I said,
‘Are you telling me that I'm top-heavy?'" Of course, Becker wound up buying the boots. In
another one of her experiences, Becker is in a sauna and the door
doesn't open when she wants to leave, so a few men come and try to open
the door. "I realize one of the men who helps to open the door is
someone who does our lawn where we lived (at the time) in Norwalk,
Conn.," she said. In another story, Becker talks about the story
of when she and her late husband Harry brought their cat, Timmy, to a
veterinarian. They had to leave the animal there and come get him
later. When they returned to the vet, they were told that there was no
one named Timmy at the place. "The woman says, ‘Are you sure
Timmy isn't a dog? We have a dog named Timmy,'" Becker said. "We look
and suddenly, we see him at the end trying to get out of the cage.
That's because above the cage in big letters was ‘Harry.' They mixed up
my husband's name with the cat's name." Becker also wrote about the time she was at temple and got locked in the bathroom for an hour. Becker met her husband, when her grandmother brought her to a hotel. Becker was 19 at the time, and Harry was 26. "Harry
saw me and he wouldn't leave me alone," Becker recalls. "I didn't care
about him that much when I first met him. He was very smart. He chased
me until I caught him." Harry was a guidance counselor, and then
he became a history professor. After that, he served as superintendent
of Norwalk schools, and he also wound up starting the first community
college in Norwalk. The couple had two daughters who are now married with children of their own. For
the past seven years, Becker, who lives in Springfield, has been
sharing stories to audiences at country clubs, the local Women's Club
and even a Baptist Church. Now that she has written everything down, many more than just a live audience can laugh their way through these tales. For
more information about "Feel Good Stories: An Enchanted Self Book,"
visit the Web site www.enchantedself.com or www.storiesoffeelgood.com
or call (877) 256-9385. Daniel Remin is a freelance writer for the Jewish Ledger.
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