Dear Reader,
Wow, the entries from this year's Write a DearReader Contest are amazing. It's going to be difficult to choose 1st, 2nd, and 3rd place winners. I hope everyone who entered had fun writing. Even though last year's first place winner, Karin DeLaurentis, wasn't eligible to win again this year, she emailed, "I wanted to write an entry this year, just for fun and practice."
I'm so glad you wrote to say hello this year Karin, while I'm busy reading entries, I think readers will enjoy reading your just-for-fun piece today.
"Last year, I was blessed--and may I add, shocked to the tips of my toes--to win the DearReader Contest with an essay about my great aunts Cora and Elsie Whitesell. When I wrote about the aunts' lives, I turned to my mother for insight. Because my grandparents are long gone, and my siblings were so young, she and I were the only ones living who really remembered the aunts.
Now, she is gone, too.
My mom passed on May 29th, two days after a tornado tore through her Ohio town. She survived the storm, only to succumb to the much more deadly rage of cancer two days later. I am the only one left now, I am sure, who guards those memories.
A few weeks ago, Suzanne published a DearReader column musing about the lives of her parents--all that she knew, but more importantly, all that she did not know. She wrote five of the most poignant words a child can say: "it's too late to ask."
When I looked at the questions she posed in the column, I naturally applied them to what I knew about Mom. Some were easy to answer. I knew how my parents met and that my mom did not go to college. I know that she was an only child because my grandparents could not have children and Mom was adopted when they were already middle-aged. Here is a story: when my mom was in high school, she met a boy she liked. He asked her out. When her parents and his parents found out, they put a stop to the date. Why? Because the boy was my mom's biological brother, also given up for adoption. Mom knew she was adopted, so the shock was not so great for her, but the boy did not know. He was so upset he ran away. He must have eventually returned, because years later, he was our mailman.
But a more intriguing thing Suzanne asked in her column was this: "Did their lives turn out like they expected?"
What a question. I dearly wish I could ask Mom. I know absolutely that her life did 'not' turn out the way she expected, but the more interesting query might be--what had she expected? What had she wished for her life? What were her dreams and aspirations? As Suzanne said--I never asked, and Mom never volunteered. Why would she? She got married, she had kids, she worked, she retired. This was the way of that generation--to just get on with it.
Here is the thing about expectations. None of us, and I mean none of us, get exactly what we expected from life. If someone tells you otherwise, take it with a large grain of salt. We are human; our hopes and dreams are buffeted by the whims of life, and, like Cora and Elsie, we are taken places that we never expected to go. That can be bad, but it can also be wonderful. Each step on the path informs all the steps that come after. Without today's mistake, tomorrow's miracle might never happen. Consider this: Mom meets someone she likes better than Dad, marries him, and consequently, the me that's 'me' is never born. Is that a miracle? A disaster? Hopefully, neither, but like the butterfly effect--a small change can make much bigger changes happen.
With that in mind, and because Mom is not here to ask, I ask myself: has my life turned out the way I expected? How about you? Has yours? I hope not, because the beauty--and the challenge--of the journey lies in the unexpected. Take a clear-eyed look back at where you've been, the joys AND the sorrows. The path you could not see at the time is suddenly crystal clear, and the future, as always, a wonder."
As always, thanks, DearReader, for the opportunity to write!!! -- Karin
The winners of this year's Write a DearReader contest will be announced the week of November 4th.
Thanks for reading with me. It's so good to read with friends.
Suzanne Beecher
[email protected]
AUTHORBUZZ: Click here to discover new books, "meet" the authors and enter to win.
THE KING (Fantasy) by Jennifer L. Armentrout
As Caden and Brighton's attraction grows despite the odds stacked against a happily ever after, they must work together to stop an Ancient fae from releasing the Queen, who wants nothing more than to see Caden become the evil Prince once feared by fae and mortals alike. Both of these characters have come so far together and that's what they'll need to be to fight back those who want to rip their world apart.
Go to AUTHORBUZZ click on THE KING to read more and to email author Jennifer L. Armentrout, you'll get a reply.
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