Writing Memoirs (Book) - 5/1/2017 5:34:22 AM
You are right about the truth and perception. When my cousin died, I wrote a story recounting our experiences together. For the most part, his sisters weren't there, but when I asked them to review the story they got quite angry even though they weren't present for most of what I described or were way too young at the time. I even had to get my mother to correct things like them thinking that a half-brother that died as a baby was their brother when my mother verified that he was born five years before my uncle met their mother. Our family is quite good at correcting facts like this without getting angry, once verified. But I think this information is good for future generations to read.
I mentioned over 100 people in my autobiography with 121 photos. Many are now dead. Mine was/is not a scandalous life, so mostly I wrote about friends and relatives in a very positive way and professionals for their contribution/mentorship. I make no apologies for singling out individuals who discriminated against me as a disabled person. Some of those have admitted that they were wrong about how they treated me. In the four years that the autobiography has been out, I have received no "merry-go-round" from anyone.
Ron
Maybe Tomorrow (Short Story) - 5/3/2017 5:31:10 AM
A slice of life for a young mother who had dreams in high school that are now shattered with the responsibility of marriage and children. It seems very typical and reminds me very much of those star football players who married those cheerleaders in my high school and were then strapped with family responsibilities that moved them apart and left them alienated. Divorce inevitably followed.
Your story is a day in the life that seems to be part of a larger story, perhaps a book chapter, but you didn't say. I usually read a story for its excitement or twist at the end. This one didn't give me that. But my ex-wife would read it as validation of her early marriage right out of high school at that time. I met her, recently divorced, at our 20th and was shocked at what her husband had put her through… Things like sewing little red and green markings on right and left socks before folding them neatly and putting them in the drawer. And then, putting up with his barroom exploits leading to bringing her home venereal disease. Our life together was much different, but when she saw that she might have to take care of me like she did her young children, she left. My current partner and chief caregiver leads a life similar, yet diametrically different, where she feels trapped and, "I cannot breathe."
There are some inconsistencies. I don't recall that there were car seats in the 1960s. Also, clothes dryers were just becoming available. Maggie may have had one. Young mothers in those days usually had their mother or their mother-in-law around as well as other young mothers to converse with on the telephone.
Finally, you seem to indicate that Maggie had married right out of high school and then later wrote that she had a career at a insurance company indicating possibly some college.
Ron
Maybe Tomorrow (Short Story) - 5/3/2017 2:34:49 AM
Your well-written story realistically captured the gamut of emotions running through Maggie as she struggles to juggle everything in the midst of feeling unfulfilled. The only thing that will make tomorrow better is inner change.
The Demons (Poetry) - 5/1/2017 6:29:10 AM
This poem is certainly filled with great heartbreak and suffering for the author. I hesitate to call alcoholism a disease. It is certainly a form of mental illness where the mind is tricked into thinking that an altered state is better than the raw edge of life.
As far as demons go, they are conjured up to try to describe what is happening in the mind of an individual who is not behaving the way one thinks someone should behave.
You have my sympathy but no solutions. Whenever I found myself drinking too much, I took no pleasure in it and just stopped.
Ron
The Demons (Poetry) - 4/30/2017 10:37:54 PM
How tragic! God bless you! For excessive abuse drugs and alcohol are the devils tools to get us to go astray. Alcohol is really a drug.
I think everyone who has taken drugs in excess knows that loss of control of the mind is the result. In fact, our personality usually changes completely. So this person who you are trying to speak to and rationalize with is NOT the same person you once knew. If I drink too much I usually want to sleep. If someone tries to wake me up I am not going to be very kind. That is why I don't drink to excess. I do not want to because it's demonic. No good will result from it! If my wife drinks too much she has no clue what she did the day after. How foolish as she could risk her job by speaking out of term to someone in an office party. It happens all the time. That's why it's called spirts. It just needs to be labeled, "Warning: Evil Spirits can ruin your life if you take too much of this product." Amen!
