I spent my life blazing down the road, never slowing down even around the curves~As early as I can remember, (probably as a result of watching Bambi as a kid), I was wanting to save the animals. I didn’t want to cage them, wear them, or eat them. (OK, I did have a guinea pig ”Duke” – as a kid) But I couldn’t stand animal abuse on any level. I was involved in the National Anti Vivisection Society which focused on advancing science without harming animals. I didn’t want to add to the abuse that was inflicted on animals at the beef farms. I have an activist tendency – I didn’t want to add to the abuse that I thought was being inflicted on the beef population in the American farms that provided the beef in our freezers. I had always been interested in health and nutrition. As a high school student I wanted to be a vegetarian. My mom finally relented, recognizing me as old enough to take responsibility for my eating. I spent my senior year as a Lacto-Ovo Vegetarian. I didn’t work with the Anti Vivisection Society for long, I moved across the country, and didn’t pick it up as I settled in Michigan, with my dad. I was a young, high school graduate, enjoying the dating scene.

I was dating a young man, Tom, who shared the same attitudes about eating that I did. He gave with me the book, Sugar Blues by William Dufty, which described the negative effects of sugar. I stopped eating cookies, cakes and candies. Tom and I were eating mostly fresh vegetables, whole grain breads and delicious pastas. That lasted as long as our relationship did.

I broke Tom’s heart and Married Robby. Robby was a selective eater, eating and averge American diet, too much deep-fried foods and not enough vegetables – . Being the very young bride, wanting only to be a stay-at-home mom, I buckled. I learned to cook what my husband enjoyed. You need to know that he never insisted that I cook and eat what he enjoyed, I just wanted to please him! I enjoyed the foods that Robby loved, so I ate them! (realizing that I just enjoyed eating anything) Big Macs, Potato Chips, Soda, and candy bars. When the kids started coming, I became a “milk and cookies mom”. Almost everyday afterschool, I had fresh baked cookies or rice crispie treats or apples and peanut butter ready for them. I have always been thin, it’s in my genes, so I never had to count calories. Of course I would limit my children’s cookie quantity, watching out for their health, but as for me…

As a grazer by nature, with the cookies were already made and convenient to eat, I ate too many! Over the years, I truly became a junk food junkie! But I never got sick! The kids would bring home sniffles from school, I didn’t catch it ~ I mean I never got sick! I can remember one time in my whole adult life that I actually got the flu and threw up! I believed since my college years that all illness is created mentally/emotionally and that we have power to get over anything! You can imagine my surprise! In September, 1995….
My movie tells the story from here…

I am grateful for more years of feeling good! I am realizing the blessings of this experience! I’m anxious to tell you! You’ll read it here at LindaGraceonline!

I mean it, I was good at telling lies.  My mom tried to teach me differently, but every time it was convenient, it would just slip out.  You know, when I forgot to call someone and I saw her, I’d say, I tried to get a hold of you! Or when someone wanted to hang out and I didn’t, “I’m sorry,” I’d say, “I have plans!” Or when a friend would ask my opinion of her new dress, “Oh, that’s beautiful!”

When I graduated high school, I decided it was time to be honest.  I committed to myself and to God, to tell the truth.  The (true) story I tell my children to teach them about being honest happened in college:  I had an appointment to see a church leader after a public meeting.  We were planning to meet in the foyer as soon as the meeting ended.  I totally forgot, and went straight home.  It wasn’t until the next day, when I saw him that I remembered!  My first and usual reaction was, “I looked everywhere for you!  I waited for about 15 minutes, then decided I’d just catch up with you at church.”  Remembering my commitment to be honest, I said, “I’m sorry, I forgot.”  His response was, “Don’t worry, Linda, I saw you leave!”

Can you imagine?