Volume IIII, Issue 21
May 25, 2015
|
Word of the Week: memorial |
Dear ,
Happy Memorial
Day! While a number of folks, according to today's Writer's Almanac, "believe people have lost sight of the original meaning of the holiday, a day for reconciliation and honor," that hasn't stopped this day from becoming "a holiday for families to remember anyone they have lost (veteran or otherwise)."
I believe that we, as writers, can keep the holiday's original meaning -- as well as add to it. And in that spirit, I'm posting this picture of my dad (a veteran) and mom (otherwise)
on their wedding day in the summer of 1950. If my dad hadn't served in the Coast Guard during World War II, he would likely never have gone to Case School of Applied Science (now Case Western Reserve University) in Cleveland after the war, where he met my mother. Who are you remembering
today?
WordPlayer Bridgett Langson is remembering her dad, and the last sunrise she spent with him. You can read her moving essay below, and then take a few moments to write a memory of your own.
(And if you're interested in finding out what tributes people have left on the graves of their favorite authors, check out today's Writer's Almanac.)
Love and light,
Maureen Upcoming WordPlay
UNDER CONSTRUCTION (Fulfilling Writing Dreams & Goals; Creating New Writing; Revising & Polishing Your Writing) ONE SPOT OPEN
Email us if you'd like to have a conversation about whether this class is a good fit for you and your writing goals. This class is designed to fulfill your writing dreams and projects. You’ll set goals and support structures and watch your writing flow! You’ll also get feedback on your work (any genre) and learn revision tools. Jumpstart your pen and receive the knowledge and inspiration you need to write, whatever your preferred genre. Each week, writing prompts will generate material for new writing or further a piece in process.
Through examples of accomplished writers, you’ll learn techniques to aid you right where you are in the process. WHERE: Covenant Presbyterian Recreation Center, 1000 East Morehead Street, 28204
WHEN: Offered Thursday evenings from 7:00 - 9:00 p.m. May 28, June 11, 18 and 25, July 23 and 30, August 13 and 20
COST: $259 for 8 classes
TO REGISTER: To register, or for more information, please email info@wordplaynow.com for
details. ----------------------------------------------------------------- SUMMER WRITING RETREAT Renew and delight yourself. The Summer Writing Retreat is an opportunity to create new pieces of writing and/or new possibilities for our lives. Enjoy various seasonal prompts; they elicit beautiful material that can be shaped into essays, poems, stories, or articles. After a communal lunch, you’ll have private time which can be used to collage, work with a piece of writing from the morning, or play with a number of other writing prompts and methods. You’ll take home
new ideas, new drafts, and new possibilities. $97 includes lunch and supplies.
WHERE: South Charlotte area. Details will be provided upon registration.
WHEN: Saturday, June 20th, 10:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.
TO REGISTER: To register securely online with your credit card, click here. To pay with a check via mail, email info@wordplaynow.com for
instructions. ----------------------------------------------------------------- SPINNING WORDS INTO GOLD (Fulfilling Writing Dreams and Goals; Creating New Writing; Revising and Polishing Your Writing) Does writing fulfill you? Do you wish you were writing more? Jumpstart your writing life and learn to keep your words flowing. Learn specific techniques and exercises to create nonfiction, poetry and/or fiction. Whether you would like to keep a journal for your own personal growth, spin stories for your
loved ones, or further a career as a professional writer, experience the satisfaction of developing a writing practice that works for you—come spin words into gold. $594 for one week-long session, plus lodging and meals. WHERE: John
Campbell Folk School, 1 Folk School Road, Brasstown, NC 28902
WHEN: Sunday, August 23rd through Saturday, August 29th, 2015
TO REGISTER: Call the John Campbell Folks School at 1-800.FOLK.SCH (365-5724).
More WordPlay opportunities here. WordPlay Success Story
"A number of years ago, I met Maureen at a Girl Scout camp reunion. Although a mutual friend raved about her as both a writer and a teacher of writing, I was skeptical...
...My friend was right."
Meet Bridgett Bell Langson
Before she became a writer, Bridgett Bell Langson taught children in public schools in North Carolina in both special education resource
and elementary classrooms. After several years of teaching, she applied and was selected to participate in the UNC Charlotte Writing Project for teachers. Following this, along with continuing as a classroom teacher, she trained other teachers in methods of writing instruction for their students. After retiring from teaching, she has pursued her dream of being a published author of children’s books by participating in a number of Under Construction classes. She is now pursuing publication of her
first children’s book, Finding Home, a first person tale narrated by a feisty, lovable puppy named Bandit.
Both her sons are grown and she lives in Charlotte with her husband and two dogs—yes, one of them is named
Bandit.
Connect with Bridgett on Facebook here. Check
out Bridgett's WordPlay webpage here.
What Bridgett says about
WordPlay
"A number of years ago, I met Maureen at a Girl Scout camp reunion. Although a mutual friend raved about her as both a writer and a teacher of writing, I was skeptical. Instead of jumping in feet first, I tiptoed into the waters of writing by taking a two-hour "sample class" of Maureen's. My friend was right.
Since then I have taken a variety of WordPlay writing workshops, including many semester-long classes. I can now say that I am immersed in the waters of writing.
One of my pieces, The Best Gift, was published online in The Charlotte Observer. Also, I have an essay in the anthology Imagining Heaven and a story about my dog, Bandit, in the Charlotte Dogs Anthology.
My tale, Bandit and the Bone, won second place in a
children's writing contest held by the Charlotte Writers' Club.
Winning this award and participating in Maureen's weekly classes inspired me to write four children's books with Bandit as the main character. But I have been treading water too long and have yet to submit my finished first book to publishers.
Maureen and I have made a pact that with my completing the necessary work and with her throwing me a life buoy, I will get Finding Home submitted to book companies by the end of this summer."
Featured Writing
One More Sunrise
by
Bridgett Bell Langson
The call. “Come home. Your Dad’s been hospitalized.” I knew what this summons meant. At fifty-four, he
had been fighting metastasized cancer for over a year.
The details of buying a plane ticket, making lesson plans for the days I’d miss, getting to the airport, flying home, getting to the hospital—all are gone from my memory.
What I do recall is, once I was there, peeking into his room. There
was my dad in the plain hospital bed, the white sheet tucked around his body, his arms and still large hands on top. He was breathing, but in a coma. I had expected, counted on, wanted one last conversation with my father.
I turned from the doorway and rushed to find a hospital phone. Calling collect to the man I was dating and would one day marry, I cried into the receiver, “My dad’s still
alive, but he’s already left me.”
Never again would I hear my father’s deep voice, or his wholehearted laugh.
When I arrived in his room, my three sisters, who had been keeping watch, went home to shower, to sleep.
Staying the night vigil with my dear mom, we held Dad’s once strong hands, wiped his forehead. Talked to him. Whispered to each other. Mom told me, “The last words Dad spoke were, ‘One more sunrise and then I’m crossing the river.’ ”
Morning? Would he be with us that long? Throughout the night we swabbed his dry mouth with a dampened sponge on a
stick.
A month earlier I had gone home to visit Dad and help Mom. Sitting on the porch, Dad comforted and reassured me. He had accepted his fate. He had done so much it was as if he had lived several lives already.
My father was a Renaissance man. Though he was a white-collar industrial
engineer, he could fix and build anything and grow everything. At twenty-two he designed and constructed his and Mom’s first house. He pulled out engines from cars and rebuilt them. He dug up suburban soil to plant large gardens.
Holidays? He helped make all of them a huge production. He invented and made his famous Thanksgiving stuffing, and baked the Christmas cookies with us girls. Having
served in the Army, he loved the Fourth of July—cookouts, parades, fireworks.
He read voraciously, was witty and just plain fun. A big man with a quick temper, yet he had a soft heart. Many a time he’d shed a tear over a sad news story. He lived and loved large. And now, here I was with Mom, keeping a final vigil.
Needing to stretch, I let go of Dad’s hand to stand. I walked over to the hospital window just as the sun broke the horizon, smearing pink and yellow streaks.
“Mom, it’s morning,” I said. And in that moment, my dad, with Mom clasping his hand, died.
I walked back to
my dad’s body and held his other hand while Mom and I prayed aloud.
My dad. Gone.
He taught me to ride a bike, to give a savvy Girl Scout cookie pitch, to throw a softball, to plant tomatoes, to set up a tent, to change the oil in my car. He taught me to have courage and to be
myself.
These infrequent mornings when I watch the daybreak from my kitchen window, I think back to my father’s last sunrise and the gift he gave by being totally himself.
Daddy, these thirty-three years later, I still miss you. Every
day.
Bridgett's Father, Bob Bell
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 "memorial."
PROMPT: Write a memorial for someone you've loved and lost, veteran or otherwise. Following Bridgett's lead, include these elements: - What was your loved one like?
- What did he/she do for a
living?
- What passions and pastimes did she/he enjoy?
- What did your loved one teach you?
Use whatever genre and style best fits you and your relationship with your loved one.
|
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! |
|
|
|
