When lightening strikes, there is no turning back; you have peel, like onion layers, your emotional skin and let go of any excuses used to hold one back

No Turning Back
Lightening has struck and I’m fried to the core, peeling off, like onion layers, one excuse after the other for not writing – much less publishing - my book. The thunderbolt I experienced a few hours ago went straight to my heart and melted my very soul with myriad emotions and brain waves never experienced before. My heart was bursting; my brain was exploding; my head was spinning. All I could do was hold both hands to my heart and holding back tears, look into the eyes of the Thunderbolt for striking me and rebooting my existence: The Thunderbolt, was Andre Pratt, out live-in Super in the Boston senior building where I live.
A few days ago, I had written an “Atta Boy” letter about Andre to the president/CEO of the company that manages our building apprising him of Andre’s beyond-the-call of duty and extraordinary feat he had performed on my behalf.
I am a writer; I started writing since I was five(5) years old and have been blessed with this talent that has served me well throughout the years. And yet, to date, I’ve never buckled down to write that book. Why? Ah…. There’s the rub! But I digress… even if it took Andre to (finally!) kick my butt to write my book!
Writing well-deserved accolades about Andre to this CEO was, if certainly most sincere and heartfelt (I love Andre like a son), easy for me. The email to the CEO about Andre was detailed and, most importantly, well deserved. I was so very, very grateful for Andre’s help and he deserved all the credit, acknowledgment, respect and recognition the CEO could afford him.
Andre, a tall, lanky African American gentleman in his 50’s, possesses a work ethic beyond description. He is hardworking, dignified, focused and takes immense pride in his work. Humble, he expects no accolades; simply respect. He doesn’t stop to chat; you just leave him alone often wondering if he even likes you. The man is focused; stay out of his way!
The morning after I’d written the email (at midnight) to the CEO, I bumped into a beaming, glowing Andre who told me the CEO had called him very early that morning on a job extraordinarily well done, per my email. Andre is not used to this kind of recognition; I had never, in 17 years, seen this man smiling from ear to ear, absolutely “mind blown,” as he said. I asked him if he would like a copy of the email and he, joyously, said: “Oh, yes, please!” I acquiesced, making a copy which I learned, today, he has framed. Framed…
Today, he approached me, beaming again, and, like never before, stopped in his tracks and couldn’t stop talking about “my writer as a talent, the way I expressed myself like he’d neve experienced,” on and on he went, and strongly suggested “someone who could write like this can’t throw the gift away”… and he said I should really write a book… I did not have the heart to tell him I was a writer, an English major, whatever nonsense. The man was begging me to not throw this gift away in such a way that I felt lightening strike rendering me speechless.
I am not the same anymore. It took Andre’s lightening strike to do it.
Throughout my life, I have heard about my writing gift from most people who’ve read my writings: professors, clients, bosses, newspapers, magazines, friends, family and kind people everywhere and I’ve thanked them. The truth is: I, humbly know I’ve been blessed with this talent. And the excuses begin with, like J.D. Salinger’s “I know I’m a good writer; I don’t need the world’s validation”… ok. Yet, Salinder kept writing.
I don’t have any more excuses.
And, while I’m at it: May I thank Ed Phillps of Authors Den for his most sincere, encouraging words through the years? If Ed thinks I rock, I know I do!
Thank you Andre, thank you Ed, thank you John and other John. And thank all the beautiful people who’ve been so kind with their encouragement and couldn’t get me off my duff to do it. It took Andre to pierce my soul and almost strike me dead – if I didn’t get that book out!
This is not edited; no perfectionist English major here. This is writing from the soul. That’s it!