(Written in July 2015, but has been mis-placed in blog by website)
As I was writing my blog, Change Goin’ Come, July 22nd my sister was dying at home. After a long battle with renal failure from type one diabetes, she passed away quietly at home with our mother. I received the call only moments after shutting my laptop. I struggled with my bags to leave the hotel, and cried on and off hysterically through the airport, like a mad woman. When I finally reached home, I was filled with a sense of emptiness and disbelief. I shared a bag of double stuffed Oreos with my mom, and talked for hours about what had finally come to pass. We knew her time was limited, but she had been so lively the past few months. We thought we had more time. If I have gained anything from this, it is that we need to enjoy the present. My sister was only three years my senior, full of life and an insane will to live. She had almost died two years previously of a massive stroke, so my family felt fortunate to have had extra time to share with one another. We were indeed closer in the end, and for that I am thankful.
I spoke of a fortune teller in my last blog, and again I have to share an interesting tidbit. I asked the fortune teller, when my sister was forty-three, how long she would live. The fortune teller told me she saw the number forty-four. I dreaded that entire year for my sister until it passed. I just realized the day after she died, that I am forty-four…. Interpretation is a precarious thing.
Two days after my sister passed, my writing partner suffered a death in her family as well. We have several publishing offers, and are stricken with grief. It’s like Christmas morning, but you can’t open any of the presents. As trying as this all is,my wedding is also near. I thought of postponing the date, but my sisters were both very excited. Though my heart is sad, it is still very much in-love.
I hope in my grief I will write something to truly make my sister proud.
As soon as I was old enough to write, I composed a play in one act about the love of Seth and Beth. Probably inspired by my favorite movie at that time, “Gone With the Wind.” I was in the second grade, so I don’t remember much about the story but it was the beginning of a lifelong interest and career. I sent off my first novel at age 22, topping a whopping 100,000 words. It was immediately rejected and is in a box somewhere in my closet. My second publish attempt was a decade later at an equal length, followed by an equal amount of rejection. With a helpful critique from an editor, I felt I was gaining ground. I started and stopped many stories after my two publishing attempts, looking for the story to write. While I was working on a novel about soulmates and soul-keepers, my writer friend, Zoe, needed motivation. We started a chain of exercise paragraphs that have led to three completed manuscripts in three different genres and two more books near completion. So far, we have gotten a lot of positive feedback. “I think this is the beginning of a beautiful friendship.” Bogart
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