Overheard at... home

“Can we look in this box?”

My daughter decided, on Mother’s Day, to explore the attic. She had found one of the boxes before, a red dress from one of my childhood dolls had drawn her to it like cotton candy at the fair. Proud of herself, she had already rescued two dolls, packed away for 30 something years, and was now on the lookout for anything else she might add to her collection.

Sadly for her, she lost interest pretty quickly. What remained in the box were mostly letters and cards, along with some high school memorabilia (like my old school uniform- which caught my hubby’s eye, but that is another
story). 

As I searched through the letters I found, stuffed between them, an old story I had written in my creative writing class in college. It brought back fond memories of that spring semester, writing outside in the California sun and being inspired by my wonderful professor, the amazing poet, Ed Kleinschmidt (now married to Frances Mayes of UNDER A TUSCAN SUN fame.)

I wrote, in my last blog post, that passion comes from combining talent and interest. That semester, as I rushed to class, as I stayed up late to work on poems and stories, as I listened to published authors share their secrets, even as I received harsh feedback on my own work, I discovered that combination.

And yet, it took many years for me to pursue it. Because there is one more thing that I forgot about passion… it also takes courage. Ironic then, that the story I wrote all the way back then was related to this very idea.

I’ve created a new web page here to share some of my old and new work, starting with this very story (as is, no edits). I hope you enjoy.

Deanne