Maureen Klues
Memo: Termination NoticeDate: Aug. 22, 2023 Dear Summer, We regret to inform you that although we have very much appreciated working with you, unfortunately, we are going to have to let you go. When you joined us in June, you were truly a breath of fresh air. Your sunshine brightened our hair, lightly bronzed our…
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Do you find you have less emotions as your phone and social media dominate your time and control your human interactions? Or are you a social media rage poster? Are your emotions heightened in response to those you don’t agree with? I see the pendulum swinging between those two extremes for most people. For me,…
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You think you know about most things, from the last 100 years or so, when you compile school history classes, movies, books and random facts your parents have told you. Since I started doing life storytelling, a few stories have taken me by surprise and made me question how much I actually might still be…
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This is the first year I don’t have a kid in elementary school. The first time in 20 years. Yes, I have been a mom a LONG time. No more school parties, no more Valentine’s boxes, spelling tests or Halloween costumes. My youngest child is in the depths of junior high nonsense at the moment.…
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My adult daughter recently shared with me her “guess what I got away with that you never knew about” story — at her grandparents’ 50th wedding anniversary party, no less. In her defense, there is something that feels good about spilling the beans when there is no consequence. I am not sure what I would…
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Some Christmas moments are just magical. If you take the time to stop during the hustle and bustle of this season, you can feel it — even if it is just for a few seconds. There are so many memories that surround us this time of year that we can often miss that feeling, or…
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Ashley Conrad talks to Maureen Klues of Memoirs by Maureen about her business and a contest for you just in time for Christmas. Send us your best holiday memories. They don’t have to be 1,000 words (but they can be) or they can be a couple of sentences. Send them to news@muddyrivernews.com or respond in…
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What is great about Halloween is that it hits pretty much every phase of your life. Growing up in the Midwest, who doesn’t love a crisp day with swirling fall leaves? Every movie with a spooky backdrop pretty much looks like it was made down the street from us. I was watching “The Curse of…
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The cool thing about life storytelling is it often takes me in unexpected directions. I recently partnered with the Quincy Public Library for its “Big Read” event. One thousand copies of the book “Sitting Pretty,” written by Rebekah Taussig, are available for free to people living in the Quincy community. If you do not live…
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We took a vacation to Colorado this summer to visit family, packing in as much adventure as was humanly possible. We don’t have any little kids, so we were free to hit up excitement all day — no naps or strollers needed. Truly, this is a glorious phase to have left behind. I miss the…
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For all my fellow Quincyans: Are you “Quincy” or are you “Quincy Quincy”? I am just “Quincy,” but my kids are “Quincy Quincy.” Stick with me on this one. I do have a point with this. Wherever you happen to live, you can apply this test. For example, if you are just “Quincy,” then you…
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“It’s work! How I hate it! I’d much rather play! I’d take a vacation, fly for a rest…” — Lazy Mayzie, before she abandoned her nest and took a permanent vacation to Palm Springs in “Horton Hatches an Egg” by Dr. Seuss. Oh, to be a lazy Mayzie bird this summer. The season has just begun,…
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When interviewing people for life storytelling, I often break down story questions by childhood, young adult, older adult and then the big picture of life. I have rarely contemplated where I land in this distinction. Terms like “barely 40” or “a smidge over 40” are used since turning 40. “I’m just sticking my toe in…
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I am usually a very decisive person. I follow my gut and that’s the end of it. Looking back to my early adulthood, this was a good and a bad thing. I would often tire of something quickly and think, that yep, the grass IS greener at a different college. Or, I have accomplished what…
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I have been on the fence with what to write lately. Like everyone else, I swing like a pendulum back and forth from diligently monitoring the world news until my anxiety ratchets up to a breaking point — then I completely tune it out. Then I feel guilty for turning a blind eye, and the…
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In my storytelling role, I often compare the writing process to playing a song. Each life memory told is a musical note. The notes are sung to me one by one in no particular order, and then in the silence of just me and my keyboard the song slowly takes form as I reposition the…
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QUINCY — The story Maureen Klues never had the chance to tell gave her the inspiration to start her own storytelling business. Klues recently started Memoirs by Maureen in the Quincy area. She will capture the story of an event, a story of one’s life or create a tribute for a person and put it…
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