Interview: Rasma Raisters

I remember meeting Rasma Raisters, also known as Gypsy Rose Lee, through my pal, Martie Coetser.

It didn't take long for me to fall in love with this lady. She is honorable, supportive, interesting and extremely funny.

Rasma's writing has a diversity ranging from travel to modern fairy tales to poetry. There is a decency, goodness and faith that shines through her work every time.

Join me in reading more about Gypsy Rose Lee:

.very early in the morning when the day is just beginning and starting at midnight which is the best time for me to get some work done. Everyone is already asleep and I can do what I like and write to my heart's content.

The times I feel saddest are..

I sometimes get a feeling of melancholy in the late afternoon when there's that golden glow in the sky. In the winter it gets me down when twilight appears at 3PM and by 4PM it's pitch black. That makes me feel isolated from the world.

Something I'd like to teach others...

I'd like to teach others how great the Lord is and how it's wonderful to have faith and what a great book the Bible truly is.

My secret passion ... my dream job....

would probably be working with animals in any field.

Most hated gift I ever gave someone ..

I don't remember giving a gift I hated but I do remember long ago giving someone something I had no use for and wouldn't use. Perhaps it was of use to them.

The gift I could have done without ...

was and is a large, black ceramic panther which sits on a book cabinet in my livingroom and collects lots of dust. Does anyone want it and how do I send it?

If you peeked in my junk drawer, you'd be surprised to find ...

of all things a heart shaped bracelet which the love of my life at the time my high school boyfriend gave me. He had it engraved with our names and since I have had it all these years I just hold on to it because every time I happen to come upon it it makes me feel as if the years slip away.

My date from Hades ....

an Arab boy I met while I was at my first job in N.Y.C. His parents owned a Persian Carpet store in Manhattan. So you could say a wealthy catch. lol He invited me to a restaurant where they also had dancing. First of all I had to meet him there, then he arrived and practically right away suggested we leave. I thought he had a better place in mind - he did the nearest motel. So he took me home after I insisted and good riddance to him.

My worst/ or funniest vacation story ...

Worst vacation story? You got it. It was Memorial Day Weekend and you don't go anywhere without reservations. Especially to the beginning of the season so to say at Wildwood, N.J. However my first husband said it was not necessary there will surely be vacant rooms. There weren't. Just his luck that we found one but they stuck us in a lousy basement room of this motel. We were sitting on the bed - there were no chairs - deciding where to go when the fiberboard ceiling fell in. Just on top of the other bed luckily. After that the manager have us a great upstairs room which he had been saving for the Queen probably with a kitchenette at the same price as the disaster room downstairs. This is what saved my first husband's life that weekend. .

getting back to the U.S. and traveling through all of the states.

What I most look for in a friend ....

honesty, sincerity, understanding and a good overall feeling between us. So that is never matters what happens we're always there for one another.

Something I will never part with....

of all things a black, striped Hawaiian shirt which was my father's.

my mom always helped people older than her and I did too. It made them so happy to have someone go to the store for them, to drive them somewhere just simple things that the elderly need help with and it was a great feeling to get their smiles.

The worst part about getting older ....

I don't know. You mean I'm not a kid anymore? or a teen? I know I'm still a rock and roll queen.

A writing lesson I learned the hard way ....

I don't think there was anything to learn from it but I guess the most difficult paper I ever had to put together was at the university as the final paper for my major in marketing. It took like forever to get it just right but in the end it all worked out and I passed with flying colors and got out of university.

My favorite movie and why ....

I have quite a few moview which I like. For me a movie has to make me feel a certain way and then I vote it up. One such movie is a very old one called "I Remember Mama" with Irene Dunn and a very young barbara bel Geddes who went on to become Miss Ellie in dallas. The movie I mention is from 1948 and it always makes me cry because I remember my mama.

What subjects / genres do you enjoy reading about...?

I like all sorts of subjects among them horror - love Stephen King and Edgar Allen Poe, romance - Danielle Steele and also about true stories and history among others and a book that has many different genres in it my all time favorite The Bible.

What would be a subject / genre that you would like to read more about ...?

anything to do with traveling. Enjoy reading about different cities and countries.

Can you take us to a favorite piece of writing on HubPages that does not get much traffic...?

Now that's difficult because they just put hubs on Idle and I haven't had a chance to see which ones. I guess I'd have to mention all the ones I wrote about my parents under True Stories and the ones about Riga under Travel and Places if I got that right.

Please do some digging Maria and let me know what you come up with...

OK, Rasma... my choice, although there was much to choose from, is:

When Your World is Falling Apart

I was honored that you shared your husband and sweet kitty, Sid, with us.

And just as Mickey has his Pixie, you have your soul mate, Martin. I hereby dedicate this Supremes song, "Stoned Love" to you.

Thank you for taking the time to spend some time with us, Rasma.

© Maria Jordan (revised September, 2014)