Welcome back to my week-long blog series with Cynthia Joan Mitchell. Click here for parts one and two.
How have your family's stories influenced you as a
mother and grandmother?
I wouldn’t say my family stories have influenced me,
but rather, that family members and the life experiences I shared with
them have influenced me greatly. Sadly,
it seems we don’t recognize the most meaningful lessons from loved ones till
they’re gone, but keeping special memories within our heart, keeps them alive
and with us in a way. From these
experiences, I have learned valuable lessons in how to treat people and respond
to different situations.
My father in his later years had lost much of his vision,
and suffered dementia. Both my parents
had difficulty getting around, so with a sincere love for them, my siblings and
their families’ got together, and we decided to build a ramp, clean leaves from
the rain gutter and do yard work. With
the help of our families, we looked like a beehive swarming with activity. Dad got up from his recliner several times
and hobbled to the garage which was being cleaned and organized, and each time
he was led back to his recliner and told “We’ll take care of it…you just
rest”. I will never forget the
image of my father as I entered the house.
He was standing in the middle of the room with tears welled up in his
eyes as he sadly said “They won’t let me do my thing…I’ve got to do my thing!” My father has always been a tower of
strength, and I have never seen him confused or upset the way he was
as he stood before me. He needed to
help. He needed to feel useful. All we needed to do was put a broom in his
hand and the story would have been much different.
This experience has taught me how to really serve
others. We need to consider the
circumstances and real needs when we offer assistance. Sometimes we do a greater service if we allow
those we serve, to assist. Sometimes
helping someone feel useful as we serve is the best service of all.
As mother of grown children, and especially as a
grandmother, I feel I can make a lasting impact on my family if I keep
treasured stories, memories, special experiences and life lessons alive by
sharing them. Recording these
experiences within my journal is nice, but finding the right time to share
these things with my children and grandchildren may allow these life lessons
carry on.
3) How about as a writer?
As a writer, I’ve been able to capture emotion within my
stories by tapping into my personal feelings.
Mind you, this is not always a good thing. I recently completed a children’s historical
fiction about a pioneer girl traveling west with a wagon train. I was feeling a little pain from a toothache,
and as I wrote the next chapter of the book, oddly enough the main character’s
mother had the same problem. Back then,
in the 1850’s the dental experience was not as enjoyable as it is today, so her
tooth had to be extracted with tools that would make a grown man cry. She ended up dying from infection that spread
into her body. The pain that Eliza, my
main character, felt from the death of her mother was captured in the pain I
felt when I lost my best friend. The
temper tantrum I long awaited to throw occurred within the pages of this
book. In fact, I can recognize several
of my family experiences within the pages of this book as my own emotion
swelled within the experiences Eliza faced.
No comments
Post a Comment