…something to say…
Yesterday our family was shattered by the news of the death of my niece, who was about the same age as my older daughters. Last night, feeling aimless and bereaved, I wandered out to my writing cabin and picked up Katherine Paterson’s book of essays, Gates of Excellence. She had this solace for me, and maybe for you, too.
“It might have happened sooner had I had a room of my own and fewer children, but somehow I doubt it. For as I look back on what I have written, I can see that the very persons who have taken away my time and space are those who have given me something to say.” -Katherine Paterson
I’m sorry to hear about the death of your niece. When my husband suffered his first stroke in 2006, I found solace in writing. Caring for him has taken up a lot of my time, but it has given me, as you said, something to say. I’ve since published a collection of poems entitled How to Build a Better Mousetrap: Recollections and Reflections of a Family Caregiver. For more information and to purchase a copy, visit http://www.abbiejohnsontaylor.com/bettermousetrap.html You can also visit my new blog, also powered by WordPress, at http://abbiejohnsontaylor.com/blog I hope writing eases your grief.
Thanks for posting, Abbie.
So sorry.
Thank you, Kathleen. I so dislike this feeling of wanting to DO something and not knowing what on earth that could be.
I say the same thing over and over. It’s the hard times in our lives that teach us or compel us to write, if our lives were happy and perfect all the time we would have no incentive to sit down and write whether badly or goodly in order to understand, what just happened, what is this telling me personally. Sometimes thru tears we write something true and from the heart and we stop weeping and as the Bible says,
“Joy comes in the morning” or perhaps mourning.
I told a student recently to pay attention during a difficult time, as she couldn’t know what she was supposed to learn. (Though I remember my friend Karen once saying to me, “I’ve learned enough now, God, no more lessons!”) I’m trying to pay attention.