by Terry 31 Replies latest jw experiences
Very nicely written, I can see these people in my mind, you brought them alive.
I buy and sell antiques, I love finding old photos and speculating about the lives they might have led. I sometimes make up stories about them, sometimes I do a collage art project inspired by them.
Flabbergasting positive response from you all--I'm very pleased to read your kind words.
I would guess we all have somebody in a corner of our life hidden away from sight--somebody who touched us in some way long, long ago.
The smallest thing might trigger it and suddenly all the memories flow back and a tingling feeling takes over.
It is likely a function of age that I get so nostalgic all the time. After all, there is more of my life behind me now than lies ahead.
I don't like to wallow in the past, but some things are well worth the time.
Cheers!
I am just wondering ....you know like we all do ... if you hadn't taken her picture, and if you hadn't sealed her great worth to you with your beautifully moving story... would she ever have found that kind of devotion had she lived? Food for thought.
clarity
Time is a stream of flowing water you can't hold in your hand. You can only drink it in and make it part of what you are.
So many beautiful things can slip through our fingers in a day of our life if we don't become alert to catching it before it goes.
For me, writing is very much that process.
Your writing style is similar to that of my favorite author, Stephen King. Although it was a horrible event, you skillfully and honorably find the good in it - in this case honoring her memory. The older I get the more I realize that life is unfair. No girl should ever have to die that young.
Somewhere, in some other universe or parellel dimension (even if it's only in our minds), she is running around in a field, playing with her dog and laughing forever.
Wow! Terry, just when I had decided yet again that your postings were too lofty for my pea brain to "get," here you go and write the finest piece of prose I've read in a very long time. It had to come from deep down in your heart and soul, and it truly moved me. Thank you so much for sharing. Now many of us will remember Cheryl Ann Draper. We may never have known her, but she now lives in our hearts and minds just the same.
I agree with Bonsai and WingCommander that your writing style in pieces like this is very much like that of Stephen King. Please consider that a high compliment. You write with a poignancy that envelops the reader and draws them into the tale. That is not something one learns in Journalism 101. My hat's off to you, Sir.
I hope you will consider entering this essay and, of course, Cheryl Ann's picture, in some writing or photography exhibition. Maybe even a competition. Don't let anyone tell you it would cheapen her story. Rather, it would share her with the larger world and allow her to touch even more hearts. Consider it a tribute to what might have been.
Thanks again, my friend. You made my day.
Deepest thanks! I appreciate it more than you know.
I'm writing a series of short stories and I'm publishing them so this will make my 3rd book. I'm trying for one book a year.
