May 14, 2019

How Tembi Locke Was Able To Take Flight

And find her own “fountain of health.”

Story By: Tembi Locke

How Tembi Locke Was Able To Take Flight

And find her own “fountain of health.” Story By: Tembi Locke

Confronted with a different set of coordinates, our minds and heart can engage in a fresh new way. In “From Scratch”, I write about the two biggest times that happened for me: as a twenty-year-old college student and then again as a newly-widowed single mother. Both times, I landed in Italy, first Florence and then Sicily. Both times I set out with a kind of wish fulfillment. A wish for life I didn’t yet know was possible.

In Sicily, there is a term: “donna fuggata.” Literally translated, it means “a woman who fled” or “fugitive woman.” It is a reference to Queen Carolina who fled Naples in the 1800’s and took refuge in Sicily. Today, the expression is used to characterize a woman who is escaping something horrible or who doesn’t want to be found. Coincidentally, it is also the name of one of my favorite Sicilian wines.

I was drinking a glass of it one summer in Sicily when I noticed the name. Earthy yet noble and elegant, spicy but always sweet bouquets of citrus, the wine is complex, red, soft and round with hints of cherry and licorice and cocoa. As I sipped it, I couldn’t help but feel it was as complex as most women I knew, especially after a life changing event. We have all had a moment when we needed flight from something, big or small. We are all, in that way, a “donna fuggata.”

I became quietly obsessed with this term. And with more research, I learned that the words have Arabic roots and mean “fountain of health.” Flight and health may seem contradictory, but I saw a connection in my own life.

At forty-one, I was a newly-widowed, single mom honed and hammered by ten years of cancer caregiving. I was grieving the loss of a great love and my own vitality that I felt I had “lost” to years of illness. I kept looking back over my life to make sense. Looking back seemed easier than looking ahead. But I ran the risk of only looking at what had been left undone, half-finished, unfulfilled, longing for a past time. That is a natural in loss and it is a natural occurrence of mid-life. We look back at our choices and at events and wonder what might have been. But I was also anchored in deep grief. So, for me, the two things were intersecting in a powerful way. Some days I felt as if I were running out of runway on my life. The desire for “flight” felt strong.

In Sicily, there is scant rain, torrid heat and a long growing season. Sweetness and acidity go side by side. Sicily’s flavors are haunting, they will not leave your soul. For me, they are restorative. My need for flight found a soft landing spot there in the summers.

I knew “From Scratch” would be about an imperfect storied pilgrimage into love, family, forgiveness, motherhood and the ways I found home. What I came to discover in writing the book is the way I found my own “fountain of health”—emotional, physical, spiritual – by momentarily stepping outside of everyday life. Travelling allowed me to enlarge my reservoir of hope by enlarging my perspective, my understanding of truth and beauty. In the process, I went from being a woman in flight, to becoming a woman who slowly took flight.

Enjoy this peaceful moment in the serene Smoky Mountains of Tennessee, the setting of Once Upon A Time In Dollywood, taking in the day with author @AshleyJordanWrites herself! ✨

Throughout the book, Eve embarks on a journey of healing and self-discovery, ultimately embracing these mantras as truths about herself. 💙
Kicking off the week on a high note by finishing Once Upon A Time In Dollywood and getting ready to hear from @AshleyJordanWrites on the latest episode of Bookmarked, the Reese’s Book Club podcast. 🎧📖

New episode drops tomorrow — and trust us, you won’t want to miss this one. Expect all the feels: romance, stepping out of your comfort zone, and the journey of writing a debut novel. We're calendaring it in! 

Listen tomorrow on the @iHeartPodcast app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you love to listen!
"I hope you will also find that there is reassurance, maybe even a promise, whether you’re coming of age or not: that your anger is righteous and just. That the endurance with which you face the world is admirable. That your vulnerability, your longing to be wanted just as you are, is worthy." — @afarolfollmuth

To girls and women everywhere, we see you. 💙
Welcome to the club, Once Upon a Time in Dollywood. 💙

📷: @therealbookhustler
"You are important and you are powerful. Just as you are, in yourself, standing alone. Don’t let anyone, and especially no man, treat you as anything less."

We're still hung up on this iconic line from Stuck Up and Stupid. A fantastic reminder that you are worthy and certainly not stupid. 🩷
This weekend’s mood: resting, recharging, and rendezvousing with every iconic and authentic version of Cate Kay. 🧖‍♀️✨
This book gives us all the fireflies (iykyk) ✨ It's just so easy to ship Eve and Jamie in Once Upon A Time in Dollywood. We’re always here for the sunshine-and-stormcloud duo that just make each other better 🌤️💙
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Reese’s Book Club and Gevalia have partnered to help you slow down and find your calm with the perfect tools: delicious coffee and a good book. It’s time to reclaim a moment of joy. Give yourself permission to pause and head to our link in bio to shop Gevalia coffee.
✨ HOLD DOWN ✨ on this video for all the romance vibes and prepare to swoon!

And if you fell in love with the couples in Seven Days in June, Honey & Spice, or any of these titles, we promise you'll be obsessed with Eve and Jamie in Once Upon A Time In Dollywood. 💙
Enemies-to-lovers fans unite and add Honey & Spice to your TBR! ❤️‍🔥 Why is this trope truly the best? Sound off below!

📷: @chris.reads.a.lot