The core of this illuminating memoir consists of threads of consistency and learning that have emerged through Carol’s life experiences. We learn, as she and her sister Linda did, of the constructive optimism of their parents and how that mindset underlies successfully facing life’s struggles. Mistakes can be overcome. The burdens lift. Life is meant for living.With well-balanced sensitivity and striking honesty, she frankly reveals the false starts in her career and her love life and how things worked out in the end. We gain perspective, as she did, through spirited tales of her life experiences.Heart-wrenching events mix with moments of light, hope, and relief. Even the death of loved ones, people, and dogs doesn’t have to be a downward pull, as Carol learned from her dad.Carol has found that angels have an impact on our experiences, too. Although she has never seen an angel, her dogs saw several one evening.Her experiences in finally finding and settling into her career, her love life, and several events that didn’t seem significant, and some that did, all seem to fit together to form those surfacing life threads.
Although Carol Dismore holds a Master of Science degree in mathematics from Montana State University, she changed her vocation early on and worked a 36-year career as a certified public accountant. Since retiring, she keeps her hand in the game by doing the accounting for her church and for a few people she knows, just as a volunteer.
Carol also enjoys writing. Poetry is her medium of choice, and many of her poems have appeared in various periodicals. Being a stickler for precision, she favors rhythm and rhyme. Using the rhythm to enhance the poem’s subject matter, she has written rollicking sagas of her own and her father’s adventures, heartfelt tales from her own experience and from her mother’s childhood, and, more recently, what she calls ‘downloads from God’, poems that come to her in the middle of the night, unbidden.
Although they don’t have any dogs of their own now, Carol and her husband, Barry, dog-sit for a young beagle. They get their dog-fix that way.
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10 reviews
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Life Threads reminds me of growing up in Montana – with dogs, riding bikes, stilts, and boating down the river. Carol’s childhood was forged with love, curiosity and independence, as she and her sister Linda found adventures. She would need all three as she experienced a wide assortment of jobs, finally finding her niche as a CPA. Told with simple honesty and integrity, this book drew me in and kept me reading. Carol reminds us that we are always changing and growing, that we must take time to reflect and keep positive. Good advice for “just living.”
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Life Threads is a superbly executed, kind hearted memoir that is part personal history and part Baby Boomer Montana history. With Dismore’s many talents on display, it’s her compassion and problem solving that soothes us and brings us hope.
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I so enjoyed reading Carol Dismore’s Life Threads that it inspires me to want to read some more memoirs, maybe even this one again. As a fellow retiree, in reading Carol’s memoir I reaped the benefits of her reflection on life’s trials, tribulations, and “just living” so that I could do the same reflection on my own life. I think other readers would also feel the same whether they’re someone with a long connection to Montana or someone distant from Montana who would enjoy vicariously experiencing a life being lived primarily in Montana
Also, the stories would be appealing to readers of many ages as Carol’s stories starts with her “growing up years.” I could see children enjoying hearing the author’s stories about such things as “climbing the walls” and an array of animals; dogs, polliwogs, horses, and skunks, to name a few.
I also enjoyed how this memoir included writing from other family members, such as letters written from her father to her mother while he served in the military during World War II. So, I am happy that this author with a Master of Science degree in Mathematics and a career as a certified public account grew to enjoy writing. Now, many can enjoy her stories.
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In today's ever connected and transactional world, Carol's memoir is a reminder of the joy of hard work, nature and animals, and staying true to one's self. It celebrates the power of competence, independence, and caring for one another. Imagine a world where we taught our children to be as competent as Carol - oh the things we could accomplish! Life Threads feels like a return to not only a simpler way of life but to what matters. It is a grounding and inspiring read.
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With strength of character, vulnerability, and unapologetic raw honesty, Carol shares a life well-lived. The threads of the life of all creatures, two-legged and four-legged, who have woven themselves into the life of this forthright, amazing, strong woman sew a beautiful quilt with vibrant colors, places worn thin with the wear and tear of life, dark colors of grief and loneliness, and warm patches of faith, beauty, love, and family. In reading this memoir, one can gain strength, knowing someone else has frayed moments, moments of beauty, and the strength that runs deep while putting it all together for a life worth living and sharing. This book is a treasure and a testament to the legacy of family, friends, and four-legged creatures.
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A very pleasant read, before bedtime. And it reminds me of the luxurious feeling of sun-dried bed sheets.
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Life Threads is a wonderful read. It was like sitting down with a friend reminiscing. I had forgotten all about stilts when growing up and what fun I had with them until I read it in Carol's book. Not originally from Montana, I learned what it was like growing up in Montana and some history of Montana. Carol's love and appreciation for nature and animal's shines thru. I really liked how Carol let the voices of those she loved and important in her life be heard, by including personal writings of theirs. Nice touch.
Carol's independent spirit and can-do attitude shines thru, like receiving the Elijah Watts Sells Award. That is quite an accomplishment!
I believe she has finally found her soulmate in Barry, which warms the heart. Life Threads shows that life is a journey indeed.
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Life Threads is an interesting read by a new author. Carol’s memoir tells of her idyllic childhood and the trials and blessings of living in Montana. She tells of how she capably meets challenges and figures out solutions. The importance of her parents and her sister, Linda, is recognized as a major part of her life. This memoir will hold the interest of all who yearn to learn about life in Montana.
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“Life Threads” A memoir by Carol Dismore is the first-person story of two generations of an American Family. Representing what some refer to as the WWII era “Greatest Generation,” A.B. “Doc” Dismore Jr. and Madge Hogan, later to become Madge Dismore, whose contributions of love, direction, and support have to a large part given their daughters, Carol and Linda, the tools to navigate the challenges and opportunities of the Post War “Baby Boomer” Generation.
Told from Carol’s perspective, this is an interesting account of both her parents’ lives and the lives of Carol and her sister, Linda. Each generation celebrating life’s journey from their humble beginnings through loss and success, challenges and failures, victories, and celebrations. Carol presents a compelling narrative of connections to people, horses and dogs, magpies, and robins.
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Carol Dismore has been a talented writer for a long time. Poetry has been her preferred form. Now, she has written a wonderful memoir about the importance of family, community, history, hard work and dealing with problems that arise in our lives. For example, she tells of yearly family vacations to Glacier National Park.
Carol and her sister Linda have practiced an interesting exercise. They would recall a distinct event and then would write their memory of that experience; afterwards they would share their memories. They discovered they each remembered the event similarly, yet differently.
It was fun to see essays from other members of her family that add to the memoir. A couple of really enjoyable essays were her sister, Linda’s, “Pollywog Pond” and Carol’s, “Winter Mornings.”
One part of her life is her love of dogs and other animals. Sometimes, dogs were from the humane society or given to her from friends or family. She and her husband often dog sit for friends.
She includes world, national and local historical events throughout the memoir. Patriotism and faith have been important to the family.
Overall, she expresses that she has been blessed with a life “well-lived”
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