Why Our Writing is Part of Us

I think I have just lived through one of the most insane weeks of my life. I am so glad today is Monday and we are starting over.

Because last week was rough.

Last week was spring break for all my kids so we planned a fun trip to the zoo (hich we did but it rained on us) and other activities like that. Unfortunately, we also started out the week with my mother being in a car accident, then continued with my son being in a car accident and totaling our car, my son having an eighteenth birthday, my husband's uncle dying and us attending his funeral, helping my friend move into her new home, and having an extended family birthday luncheon at our home right after we finished working at my other son's Eagle project.

See what I mean?

Thankfully, my son and my mother were okay and walked away from their car accidents with only bruises. (The airbag hit my son so hard in the face it was pretty swollen and his ears were ringing from the airbag popping out, though. Scary.) But as I reflected on the events of the week, two things really stood out for me.

When the phone rang late that night I was pretty calm, just wondering why my son wasn't home yet. But I learned quickly that seven words "Mom, I've been in a car accident" can make the adrenaline in my body start flowing freely and it takes a while for adrenaline to calm down. So, someday in a book I will be able to say with authority that reactions to a child in distress can be adrenaline-fueled with no action necessary.

I also had the experience at the uncle's funeral of witnessing the military honors for this relative. From my line of sight, there was a young man in full uniform, down to the crisply pressed pants and beautifully shined shoes, folding the flag as they prepared to give it to the widow. This was being done in the mortuary's small back area, and directly behind it was an apartment building with a little balcony. On that balcony was a young man, with ripped jeans, earbuds in his ears, a t-shirt with something I can't repeat emblazoned on it, and sunglasses. He was watching the ceremony, but from where I was standing, he was directly behind the military man about his age who was folding the flag. It was a powerful image for me. The sacrifice of those in our military seems to huge, so that people like that young man on the balcony, and myself, can have the freedom to express ourselves through words, clothing, and actions. Having the mournful notes of "Taps" being played as I watched these two young men was an image I won't soon forget and I know I will write about someday.

It's not that I write about every experience I have, but there are times when life experience can add another dimension to my writing that wouldn't have been there if I hadn't experienced it myself. I think that's why writing becomes such a labor of love because we put ourselves and the fruits of our observation in the pages that eventually becomes our book, our baby, that part of us that we express through our stories.

So, I am chalking up this past week to lessons learned and experiences that will someday be put into the words of a book to be explored and re-lived through a character's eyes as well as my own. However, living through last week has also motivated me to start working on my grand finale that I've been struggling with. We'll see how I did on Word Count Wednesday this week.

How was your weekend? Did you do anything fun?