Today I'm participating in a mass blogging! WOW! Women On Writing has gathered a group of blogging buddies to write about family relationships. Why family relationships? We're celebrating the release of Therese Walsh's debut novel today. The Last Will of Moira Leahy, (Random House, October 13, 2009) is about a mysterious journey that helps a woman learn more about herself and her twin, whom she lost when they were teenagers. Visit The Muffin to read what Therese has to say about family relationships and view the list of all my blogging buddies. And make sure you visit Therese's website to find out more about the author.
When WOW sent out the invite to participate in a mass blogging about family relationships, I knew I could connect it to writing. I figured that I'd talk about the time I had to complete an interview in the closet while hiding from my three year old, or the time that my husband had to come with me around town during his lunch while I delivered magazine invoices with a 4 year old and 2 year old in the van (McDonald's anyone?). But instead of connecting this to my immediate family, I thought perhaps I could tell you a little about where my writing passion came from.
I like to tell people that my mom was the original bootstrapper. She pulled herself out of poverty by attending community college and then University. I remember those first couple years of college, when I was maybe 10 or 11. My mom would bring home the coolest books, and she'd even let me read them! She would play tapes (cassettes!) from her French class in the car. I remember the first time I read her essays from a writing class: one was about her father, who passed away when she was a teenager, and the other was about losing her fertility in an emergency hysterectomy. Both brought tears to my eyes.
I was immersed in writing, language, and reading from an early age. That history, when you're in the middle of it, seems somewhat inconsequential. But it's not. My mom is now a published author, and that's a family relationship, and a writing relationship that I adore.
My mom constantly drove us to the big library a few town over(our town didn’t have one)but I never once remember her taking a book out for herself. I never really thought my mom liked to read. Then she retired(school teacher)! Now we can’t get her nose out of a book. It’s like this whole new person I didn’t even know was there!
I loved this post! My mom also inspired my writing, by giving me a spiral notebook after a huge arguement we had. She wrote on the inside cover “Whenever you’re feeling frustrated, angry or hurt, use these pages to express it!” And I did. And I have. Now, I’m inspiring my 2 sons to write from their own voices!
What a wonderful post, Allena! After my mother passed away, I found a notebook she’d written in–in Japanese Kanji no less. I held on to it for many years and one day I had it translated. It contained the most beautiful poems about nature–birds, water, wind. I never knew she wrote anything other than letters until that day.
wow, Ang, that’s an INCREDIBLE story!
I always felt a little bit disconnected from my mother while growing up. When I became a journalist and she read my articles, she told me (for the first time that I remember) how proud of me she was. That became my “inspiration” to accomplish my goals in writing.