Baton Rouge Rotarian speaks on memoir, life

Cheri McDaniel’s book tour for her memoir “He Lays the Stones For Our Steps: Living Life Abundantly in the Face of Adversity” has been winding down and so too are her interviews.
Thus, when someone asked her recently, “How would you describe your life?”; there was some hesitation when she answered. Not that she worried about what words to use, but because it has been so hard to sum up succinctly.
She finally leaned on “It’s been an exciting adventure.”
The now 87-year-old Rotarian is just as active as ever, despite several health problems. But for her, they are just prime examples of her message that age is not an excuse and that nothing can stop someone from achieving what they set out to do.
She has steadfastly set forth to be a humanitarian and says she will continue to do so until the day she dies — and she seems set on making sure that when she dies that she will have truly lived.
As she described some of her many adventures to the Rotary Club of Crowley Tuesday, she seemed to be describing the life of someone who had indeed truly lived and continues to do so.
The late-in-life Rotarian spoke frankly about her journey from poverty to success and how she has given back to the communities and the world through many projects.
She is also quick to say that Rotary has been the vehicle for her philanthropic efforts.
“There’s the vehicle that God had sent me to because from there I could find out what the different needs were,” McDaniel said of her first Rotary experience.
For McDaniel, Rotary was introduced to her after she left the states and moved to Mexico. This led to her having many opportunities to help those in need over the years.
After moving back to the U.S. and, specifically, to Baton Rouge, her work with Rotary continued and McDaniel extended her humanitarian ways into that club’s project repertoire.
Now, almost 50 years after her first Rotary experience, she looks to the organization to help her fulfill her other plan now: meaningful retirement.
McDaniel’s life, full of ups and downs, is featured in the book “He Lays the Stones For Our Steps,” which is available online at www.helaysthestones.com, for $20, plus shipping and handling. Of that money, $13.50 is donated to the Rotary Foundation for its ongoing humanitarian work. The website also features more information on the book.
“I never expected to publish my memoirs, but seeing a vehicle on how it could benefit Rotary, I turned all my stories over,” she said.
McDaniel says that she is planning to write a second book, this one will focus on aging.