About

The Birch Chronicle is an online journal designed to uplift readers’ hearts. You will find thought-provoking, self-reflective, and motivational stories inspired by art, books, language, coffee culture, and travel. This creative space serves as a vessel of love, honesty, and hope, encouraging readers to pour themselves into the slow life, appreciate the simple things such as a relaxing cup of coffee or tea, and embrace the beauty that exists in this world.

Marie Gerken, writer & lead editor

I am a Midwesterner with wanderlust. My zodiac sign is Sagittarius, which means I am a traveler with a passion for the arts, curiosity for the unknown, intensity for knowledge, and adaptability to place. I spend a lot of solitary time searching to be fed in ways that help me live a life of vitality. My Italian (and Polish) roots ground me. Spirit-filled communities lift me higher. And nature always consoles me.

In June 2023, I earned my MFA in Creative Writing from Alma College in Alma, Michigan, where I graduated with the inaugural class of the school’s MFA in Creative Writing Program. I am a 2022 Finalist for Bellingham Review’s Annie Dillard Award for Creative Nonfiction. In 2014, I co-founded the Western Springs Writers’ Society, a local writing group. Because I have a desire to encourage more active writing with a community, I created Paper & Ink Writing Workshops which to date, I have facilitated at my local library.

I hope that our time here together is filled with quality and meaning and that the stories in The Birch Chronicle touch you, the reader, with peace and harmony.

Every day is a beginning. Rush slowly and be surprised.

Marie

Diane Dachota, book reviewer

Diane Dachota is a semi-retired book reviewer and writer. She has a bachelor’s degree in Journalism and a Masters in Teaching. Besides reading and writing fiction, Diane enjoys art, music, travel, and the occasional Netflix binge with her family. Diane met Marie at the first Western Springs Writers’ Society meeting in 2014.

Diane reads over one hundred and twenty books a year as an avid reader. Her years as a reporter and teacher have helped her develop instincts on human behavior, which she utilizes to review books. Diane’s Book Reviews section in The Birch Chronicle results from her and Marie’s numerous conversations about their desire to collaborate on a writing project.

Eudora Wells, Dear Eudora columnist

Often, it’s not the act of caregiving that is difficult. The difficulty is navigating through the chaos and drama that can occur around caregiving. Every aging person in need of care deserves an advocate. And every advocate needs an advocate.

Meet…Eudora.

Eudora is an advocate for primary caregivers, the individuals who are juggling the extracurriculars of life along with tending to the needs of a friend or their aging parent(s).

Eudora is a movement to care about the dignity and quality of life of our elders’ knowing we will get our hands dirty, and it might be tough. Eudora is a call to normalize incorporating the maturing population into our homes, community, and society.

Eudora is not a business. Eudora means business by way of the work of the mind, heart, and hands.

Eudora has caregiver experience seeped in her bones of LMNOP—Lover Mother Nurturer of People. Eudora knows what it’s like to be in the center of the caregiving arena. She has coordinated care for elders in assisted and long-term living facilities, cared for family members who fought tough illnesses, and was the primary family caregiver for her mother who lived with Alzheimer’s.

Jammed between caring for your aging parent and raising your own children or grandchildren? Eudora has been there. Tired of listening to bystanders who complain and point fingers instead of lifting them to help? Eudora has heard it. Is family decision making about an elder’s care turning into a competition of egos that don’t understand cooperation? Eudora understands.

Best of all, Eudora knows there are caregivers in our midst who, for the sake of one person’s well-being, work hours on end to help the primary family caregiver. Why does someone put out this effort? Because it brings a caregiver great joy to provide the quality of life an individual deserves.

Eudora is your friend. Eudora has a listening ear. Eudora is FOR you, the primary caregivers.

Be the one for your loved one.

We’re in this together.

Eudora

For more information and to send a message or mail to Dear Eudora, please visit http://deareudora.org.