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Dear Reader,
I could have talked to her for hours. Such a warm, friendly, inviting personality on the other end of the line. I felt right at home when I called, pulled up a chair, and got to know Pearl Champ, the 2nd Runner Up in this year's Write a Dear Reader Contest.
"I used to do a good bit of writing, and poetry, too," Pearl told me when I asked about her interest in writing. Pearl remembers the teacher who encouraged her to write when she was growing up. "When something happened I would write my thoughts on it. Or sit down and write, explaining about something that was going on, how I was feeling about it."
Pearl has been reading at the book clubs for three or four years. "My son introduced me to a computer and told me I should read at a book club. Then he lured me to your book club." I can hear Pearl's smile through the phone.
"I love to read and I guess the next thing is writing. I entered the contest one other year. But this year the idea came to me when I was driving on my way to the next neighboring city, when I was thinking about things, thinking, 'I wish I remembered...' and that's when I thought, you know, I think I'm going to enter that Dear Reader contest."
When Pearl got home someone else was using the computer so she had to wait until the evening, but then she sat down and started writing. "I was a little uncertain. When someone would walk behind me while I was writing, I'd lean over and cover up my writing. Not ready yet for someone to see it."
Pearl, we're so happy you decided it was time for someone to see what you'd written. Thanks for entering this year's contest. I'm very happy to introduce Pearl Champ and her entry...
Don't wish Your Life Away
As a small child, like all children, I was always wishing for something. A particular gift for my birthday, a friend to stop by to play, or just to stay up past the normal bedtime. At these times my mother would just smile indulgently and give me a cookie or some other small treat, then give me something to do to stay busy.
As I got older my wishes became, "I wish I was old enough to date," "I wish I was old enough to drive,"or "I wish I was out of school." On these more adult wishing occasions, my mother didn't smile, she simply said, "Don't wish your life away," and continued with her work.
I really didn't understand the wistful look that would cross her face at these times. I didn't know until later she had been diagnosed with breast cancer.
Happily after the pain of a mastectomy she was cured.
Twelve years later I was blissfully getting ready for my bridal shower that my mother had planned for me. I knew my mother so well by this time, so I pressed her to tell me what was wrong. She sat me down and told me she'd had tests run, and the doctor had just told her the cancer was back.
This time in the bones and lymph nodes. This time it was terminal, but they would fight it anyway and hope for a miracle.
Suddenly, like a wave crashing over me, I understood with all its implications, "Don't wish your life away." Everyday of life you're given is precious. Everyday with someone you love is a gift. A chance for one more shared secret, one more laugh together, and one more, "I love you."
She and I fought hard for every day over the next two years. Some days were filled with pain, but mostly they were filled with love.
She lived to see me happily married and her first grandson born. She held my son in her arms, as she lay in a hospital bed, five days before his first birthday.
Out of nowhere I heard myself saying, "I wish he was old enough to tell me what he wants for his birthday." Then my mother said with more strength than she'd had for many days, "Don't wish his life away, he'll do everything soon enough." I have never wished my life away since that day. My mother went to heaven two days later as I was holding her in my arms.
Now, as a sixty-two-year old mother of two grown sons, and a grandmother of an eight-year-old granddaughter, I hear them wishing the same way I did and I say, "Don't wish your life away."
Like the younger me, they don't understand the wisdom of those words yet. My story always felt too personal to share until now. I feel the time has come to pass on my mother's words, and my lessons learned, to my children. Hopefully, they will never again wish away their lives, and the lives of someone they love.
--Pearl Champ
P.S. When Pearl's 8-year-old granddaughter Allison, read her entry, she said she loved it, "except Grandma, you didn't mention me in it."
Thanks for reading with me. It's so good to read with friends.
Suzanne Beecher
Suzanne@DearReader.com
* This month's Penguin Classics book is MEMOIRS OF A FOX-HUNTING MAN by Siegfried Sassoon. Start reading now and enter to win a Penguin book bag. Go to: http://tinyurl.com/Sept13Classics
AUTHORBUZZ: STRANDED (Mystery) by Dani Pettrey
When her friend vanishes from a cruise ship, reporter Darcy St. James isn't satisfied with the explanation that she left of her own accord. Something isn't lining up. Gage McKenna has taken a summer-long stint leading adventure excursions on the Bering cruise ship. He's surprised to find Darcy aboard, investigating a troubling report. But the deeper they dig the more they fear they've only discovered the tip of the iceberg.
Go to: http://authorbuzz.com/dearreader click on STRANDED to find out more about the book and the author, Dani Pettrey. Send her an email, she'd love to hear from you.
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