About Anne

080714 AM in mountainsI am a reformed letter writer whose words bubble out through ten fingers. It began when my husband, three children, and I lived in England in the early 80’s. Transatlantic calls were a rarity because of the cost, so the only way to let people know what was happening was to write letters. The tradition continued back in the US when e-mail became common. It was the best, most controlled way, for a motor-mouth to communicate with family and friends. The goal was to transmit daily events amusing enough for people to want to read about them.  Blogging seemed the next step.

I saw a comment recently about family that tickled my funny bone. It said I looked around at my family and thought, “We are two clowns short of a circus.” We have friends who happily join us in the center ring.

Our cast of characters include late husband John (d 2022), older daughter Lise in Denmark, middle child Kate in New Jersey, and caboose child $ in Washington State. $ is short for John Spencer. When $ was born, his four-year-old cousins called him John Spensive, as in expensive, so we began to spell his middle name $pencer. The abbreviation was inevitable. Grandson David lives nearby, and grandson Nathaniel lives in Charlotte, NC.

Bio information includes 20 plus years as the secretary for an accounting firm concurrent with being the organist and choir director at our church. Those were wonderful years, but I am now thrilled with retirement. I grew up in West Tennessee, confused people on Long Island with my accent for 50 years, and now sound more normal in the South again.

Anne Mehrling

44 thoughts on “About Anne”

  1. Respected Anne !
    It was so nice visiting your blog.
    I used to wonder that people have stopped writing letters, it is so good to know you have continued the charm of writing through emails and now through blogging.
    It only shows how much you give value to your life and the people around you.
    I have come to know that through your about and the other posts on your blog.
    Congrats !!!!
    I wish you good health and cheers to life.
    Shiva

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  3. Anne, I want to thank you for a comment you recently posted on my blog (WordWacker). It was very kind of you. Unfortunately when I clicked Like my fat fingers hit Trash instead, and it was gone! I didn’t want you to think your comment was unappreciated.

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  4. Hi there follower Anne,

    Just to let you know that I updated my blog, which is now called: I Just Had It Here. No action is required on your part. I’m writing to let you know the new URL is ihadithere.com Cheers! Kim

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  8. Hey Anne, just looking at your lovely about page this morning to remind me where you lived. Glad you are safe, I guess the hurricane was less of a big deal than they made of it (thank God). Our news in Texas said it was going to be devastating and we saw the millions of people evacuating Florida and on up the east coast. I’m so glad it turned into a rain event instead.

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    1. We were on the wrong end of NC to see Hurricane Matthew. I’m not complaining!!! I looked at videos on line and enjoyed the weather we had — light rain, interesting clouds, and lots of strong breezes. We had one bit of minor flooding — the birdbath overflowed.

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  9. Anne! I deserve 10 lashes with a wet noodle (as Ann Landers used to say). All this time I thought I *was* a follower of yours, and just now realized I wasn’t! Call me clueless. This has now been rectified! 🙂

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  10. Anne, I thought I was following your blog but couldn’t understand WHY I wasn’t seeing your posts in my reader. All that education was for nought. :/ I’m following now. Cool bio! I’ve been to Dyersburg. Is that close to your hometown? I used to teach in Wilson County, TN about 10 years ago — that’s in Middle TN.

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    1. Yes, Michelle, Dyersburg is close to my hometown! I think Ripley is about 20 to 30 miles south of it. I don’t know much about Middle TN, but I hope you had a very good experience teaching in Wilson County. We see my husband’s cousin in Nashville occasionally. Thanks for following me. I’ve been enjoying your uplifting blog.

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  13. You sound positively enchanting! 😀 Your family/circus comment would pretty much sum up my fam to. Love your son’s nick! Keep up the writing and the humor; seeing life through the lens of laughter sure makes it easier to look at!

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  15. Well Anne, I’m sorry I didn’t come here earlier and fit all the pieces together – we’ve shared a lot of stories and traded comments and I knew much about you, but I just learned a ton more from coming here. I usually do read an “about” when I subscribe to a blog, but I subscribed this time, based on an amusing blog post I saw on Reader and it was about walking – I figured we had something in common … so, as they say, the rest is history!

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  16. What city do you live in Anne? I thought you had mentioned it before, but I can’t find it and my husband was curious. He was stationed in Camp Lajeune and I used to live in Ft Sumpter SC when I was very young.

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  17. Thank you for reading and commenting. We’ve been to Tryon once. Nice town!

    We must look up Columbus. Our grandsons love to walk through towns just to get the feel of them. It would be great if we could eat at your son’s restaurant. Thanks for mentioning it.

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      1. I Googled the restaurant and am dying to go there. I think we’ve been to Columbia, but we’ll have to go again. Maybe it will work the next time Nathaniel is here and David has a day off.

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  18. How neat it is that we met through a mutual blogging friend, and now, after reading this, I realize we have more in common that just the love of a great meal. I spent some of my years growing up in Eastern Tn; I now live in the South as well, and I have a love for writing that, at times, seems insatiable.😊 Happy to “meet” you and become blogging friends. … btw, thanks for the recent follow!💕

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    1. Isn’t it wonderful how we can meet new friends? I’m very happy to have been led to you.

      I love your comment that your love for writing sometimes seems insatiable. I found out a few years ago that I often chose to write rather than eat or sleep. What a surprise that was to me!

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  19. Anne, what a great bio. I too was/an a letter writer especially in the mid 60s when I studied for three years at the U. of Heidelberg and phone calls were too expensive. Where in West Tennessee? I lived in Cookeville for almost seven years when I taught German at Tenn. Tech. U. What a small world. Two clowns short of a circus is a great description. Now I know the origin of $. Thanks.

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    1. I grew up in Ripley, which is 50 miles north of Memphis. John and I were college sweethearts at Rhodes in Memphis. We married two weeks after graduation and lived in Queens, then on Long Island. As you said, small world. Our paths might have crossed somewhere!

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      1. Anne, I am convinced that our paths may have crossed. My office mate and colleague at TTU grew up in McMinville and graduated from Memphis State. She is sadly deceased too soon of cancer. My husband’s father graduated from Columbia med school and practiced in Mineola where he had a home office. Small world indeed. oxox

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  20. Hello Anne,
    I ran across your blog and stopped to read your last post; put it in reverse and read your profile. You are a most interesting person. My sister once had a beautiful home in Tennessee…it was on the fringe of the Colonial – lots of errant golf balls visited their place.
    Like you, I began as a writer of letters…I am a lover of communicating. Aah, it is totally fascinating and fulfilling!
    I’m going to so enjoy following your blog.

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  21. Pingback: August is sliding right on by. « As The Rooster Crows

  23. Hi Anne, I recently moved to central North Carolina from Connecticut. Our mutual blogging friend Linda thought I might enjoy visiting your blog because we are thinking of planning a trip to the mountains to see some fall colors. I’m looking forward to following your posts!

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