Life is full; therefore, you should vote today; therefore, you should write today.
Vote Today
My Dad fought in WWII as a 30-something. When the Phillipines fell, he was a Japanese prisoner-of-war for three years. While in the camps, someone had a copy of Evangeline: A Tale of Acadie by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow. They spent hours reading and analyzing that poem. It kept their minds busy, kept them from thinking about their circumstances. In a very real way, I’m here today because of literature. Because Daddy came home from war, married, and had eight children, of which I’m the fifth. In spite of three horrible years, he had a long and full life.
I vote today to honor my Dad, who fought for my right to vote.
Write Today
I also write today because a poet named Longfellow kept my Dad alive in the midst of overwhelming circumstances.
Katherine Paterson says:
I was writing — learning and growing along with the children — until eventually I was writing fiction worthy of publication. It might have happened sooner had I had a room of my own and fewer children, but somehow I doubt it. For as I look back on what I have written, I can see that the very persons who have taken away my time and space are those who have given me something to say.
I write today because of my family — and just writing that brings an overwhelming flood of emotion.
I write today because life is indeed full, and a writing life isn’t busy — it’s full.
Write for Tomorrow
But partly, I write for tomorrow. Just as literature kept my Dad alive, so literature can, in so many ways, save those who come behind us, if we give them something worth reading.
Still and all, every night we does the Tell, so that we’ll ‘member who we was ans where we came from. . . But most of all we ‘members the man who finded us, him that came the salvage. . . And we lights the beacons, but not just for him — for all of ‘em that are still out there. . . ‘Cos we knows there’ll come a night when they see the flickering light, and they’ll be coming home. . .
(Special kudos to anyone who knows the source of that quote.
Related posts:
- Life is Full
- life rhythms
- When Life is Hard
- Events NOT Worthy of a Full Scene?
- Turning Life into Fiction
 |  Revise with confidence. |
Darcy,
I LOVE that quote from Katherine Paterson!!!!!!!
I’m going to copy it down and stick it on my desk and read and reread it every time I hear a “Mom?” And then I will give that young speaker my full attention.
Wonderful post.
Thank you.
Bev
Darcy, I love that quote from Katherine Paterson. So very, very true.
I am reading Carla’s Varian Fry book and loving it. My son wants me to hurry up and finish it :) My heart is full of thankfulness for these remarkable people.
This is a beautiful post. Thank you!
Thank you for sharing the story about your father. It shows how humans need an active mind and find ingenious way of actively thinking.
Susan