Volume IIII, Issue 18
May 4, 2015
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Dear ,
Happy Mother's Day!
(And let this be your reminder to celebrate your mom this Sunday if you still have her here on earth with you.) I lost my mom a few days before Mother's Day 13 years ago, but not many days go by that I don't think of her. WordPlay Linda Whitesitt thinks of her mother often, too -- this week's zine features the two of them connecting across time. Linda shared this touching piece in a Gift of Memoir class, and I'm so glad I can share it with you. Linda is so lovely inside and out, and makes
beautiful music on her violin as well as being a prolific writer.
Speaking of Mother's Day, even though it's not Throwback Thursday, I thought you might enjoy this photo of me the day after I became a mother for the second time -- can you tell how smitten I was with our son Dan? And look how excited our daughter Amanda is to meet
her little brother. (Note the library books I brought to the hospital with me -- a dedicated reader through thick and thin!)
One last thing -- I hope you can make it to the very special reading I'll be doing at Park Road Books this Thursday evening at 7 p.m. at Park Road Books in Charlotte. I'd love to see you there and share my longtime friend Gilda Morina Syverson with you. More below. Love and light,
Maureen FREE WordPlay Offerings:
FREE Reading at Park Road Books
I am very excited about this first-time joint reading with my longtime friend Gilda Morina Syverson! Gilda was my first writing buddy (we met each other in a writing class at Queens back in 1988!!!) and we have supported each other in all our writing projects along the way. She'll be reading from her new memoir, and I from my new book of poetry. We would love to have you join us for this special evening at the best book store in
Charlotte (And the only one that supports local writers)!
WHERE: Park Road Books 4139 Park Road. Charlotte, NC 28209
WHEN: Thursday, May 7th, starting at 7:00 p.m.
----------------------------------------------------------------- Every Picture Holds a Story workshop
Would you enjoy using visual images as writing inspiration? Come learn fun, easy methods to capture treasured family stories and create memorable fiction, memoir, and poetry. A variety of images will be provided; bring your own photos if you like.
WHERE: Morrison Regional Library. 7015 Morrison Boulevard, Charlotte, NC 28211
WHEN: Tuesday, May 12, from 6:00 – 7:30 p.m.
TO REGISTER: To
register online, please visit the Morrison Regional Library website here.
More WordPlay opportunities here.
WordPlay Success Story
"Maureen lovingly offers me the tools, the encouragement, the inspiration, the confidence and the safety to bring the unseen and unspoken bits and pieces of who I am into the light via words that surprise and confound me, offer comfort and bring revelation."
Meet Linda Whitesitt
A lover of music, words and flowers, Linda has worn many hats — violinist, teacher, arts education evaluator, and musicologist. She is the author of The Summer of Our Awakening: My Grandmother’s Solstice
Story, co-author with her husband of We’re Surviving Cancer…Today, co-author of The ARTS Book: Designing Quality Arts Integration with Alignment, Rigor, Teamwork and Sustainability, and author of scholarly publications on women and music. She has recently moved to Charlotte with her husband and two
furry, feline companions.
Check out Linda's Wordplay webpage here.
What Linda says about WordPlay
I am filled with gratitude that a series of wonderful synchronicities led me to Maureen and her “Gift of Memoir” classes — an amazing gift from a universe that helped me find exactly the teacher I needed when I was
ready to find her. With Maureen as a trusted guide, what started as a project to write the story of my immigrant grandfather has morphed into a journey of self-discovery. In each class her words, her wisdom and her heart-tugging examples give me the courage to ask questions about his life, which in turn nudge me into taking the risk to retrieve unknown parts of myself and hunt for the words that bring them to life.
Maureen lovingly offers me the tools, the encouragement, the inspiration, the confidence and the safety to bring the unseen and unspoken bits and pieces of who I am into the light via words that surprise and confound me, offer comfort and bring revelation. In the process of looking for the words that capture my experiences and convey the fullness of who I am, I am discovering a wholeness of being that is both healing and exhilarating. And as members of the memoir
class share stories of discovery with each other, as we tell about the joys and sorrows in our unique human lives, I revel in the richness of what we have in common and am thankful for both our guide and my sister travelers. Featured Writing
Mother
by
Linda Whitesitt
I catch myself in a mirror, unexpectedly see a face that’s not mine but one I recognize instantly. “Mother,” I think. “How wonderful! She’s here!”
But she’s not.
My next thought is — “How can I possibly look like her? Can I be
that old already?”
After that somewhat self-absorbing thought, I reconsider and think, “What a blessing it is to see her again!”
Here we are. I’ve become her. She always said that someday I’d know what it would be like to be her.
When she
started to move so slowly on our walks, and I urged her to keep up, she’d say, “Someday you’ll know what it’s like to have to slow down.”
When I’d get impatient with myself for not getting my life “right,” whatever that is, she’d say, “Someday you’ll know that you are getting it right. It’s all good.”
When I despaired over losing a loving pet, she’d say, “Someday you’ll know that letting go is as much a part of life as holding on. Love
fiercely.”
So now when I see my mom suddenly in a mirror, I welcome our meetings. Thank her for her words that echo in my life, words
that keep her close to me in the times I need her the most.
Linda and her mom, Judith Whitesitt
WordPlay Now! Writing
Prompt This is WordPlay -- so why not revel in the power and potential of one good word after another? This week, it's "mother." PROMPT: Write out one of your own (or a character's) favorite memories of your mother, in any genre you like.
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MAUREEN RYAN GRIFFIN, an award-winning poetry and nonfiction writer, is the author of Spinning Words into Gold, a Hands-On Guide to the Craft of Writing, a grief workbook entitled I Will Never Forget You, and two collections of poetry, This Scatter of Blossoms and When the Leaves Are in the Water. She believes, as author Julia Cameron says, "We are meant to midwife dreams for one another."
Maureen also believes that serious "word work" requires serious WordPlay, as play is how we humans best learn -- and perform. What she loves best is witnessing all the other dreams that come true for her clients along the way. Language, when used with intentionality and focus, is, after all, serious fuel for joy. Here's to yours! |
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