title: Can't You See Them?: True Stories of Love, Life and Near-Death Experiences
author:  Mirian Bethancourt 
description: Mirian Bethancourt was born in New Orleans, Louisiana in 1927, and lived most of her life in that colorful state of bayous, steamboats and great food. She was married to Joseph Bethancourt and raised four children. She graduated from Dominican College with a BA degree and worked as a social worker for the city. The work consisted of serving the financial and counseling needs of families including their elderly members, who, in some cases also needed physical care in nursing homes. In her work with the handicapped, she served clients at United Cerebral Palsy of New Orleans, and to give them an opportunity to advance and receive a paycheck, despite their handicap, she started a T-Shirt printing business at the site. The enterprise was successful for eleven years. She turned her interests to art and writing, later in life, as she moved into retirement. At that time, as an artist, she painted and sold portraits of tourists in the historic section of the city known as Jackson Square. She also painted on consignment many old plantation homes, and the state flower  the magnolia. Mirian was also very involved with the most famous celebration of the city  Mardi Gras. She designed all the costumes for the Krewe of Iris for the Kings Court, and costumes for their parade. In addition, she was commissioned by the New Orleans department of travel and tourism to design and create an artistic rendition of a typical German city for their annual German Festival. In the mid-1970s, she established and managed two art schools for children and adults in the lakefront area of the city. It wasnt until Mirian moved to California that her interests in writing became more prominent. At that time, 1998, she turned to writing magazine articles and free-lance inspirational stories. Many were published in the Ventura County Star in Thousand Oaks, California, where she now resides.
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  > > THE DUKE AND THE LADY
  
  > JESSIE CLEVER
  
  > ![](images/00003.jpg)
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  THE DUKE AND THE LADY
  
  Published by Someday Lady Publishing, LLC
  
  Copyright © 2020 by Jessica McQuaid
  
  All rights reserved.
  
  No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or
  mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without
  written permission from the author, except for the use of brief quotations in
  a book review.
  
  This book is a work of fiction. Any references to historical events, real
  people, or real places are used fictitiously. Other names, characters, places
  and events are products of the author's imagination, and any resemblances to
  actual events or places or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.
  
  ISBN-13: 978-1-7333262-8-5
  
  Cover Design by [The Killion Group](http://thekilliongroupinc.com/)
  
  Edited by Judy Roth
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  Once upon a time, a teacher told me to live my dreams.
  
  Well, Mr. Cusimano, I just wanted to let you