Emotional Ties

by G.Parker

I wasn't going to post today.

I have many things on my mind, not the least of which is my brother passing away this week.  But as I was sitting this morning and contemplating life, I realized I had something to say - even though nothing came earlier in the week.  So you get my thoughts.

Emotions are a strong tie in writing and reading.  They bring us closer to the character, pull us into the story and make us want to know how things are going to end.  Is the girl going to find her birth mother?  Is the son ever going to get over finding his father hanging in the barn?  Stark emotion exists in our day to day world, though for some, not as much as others.

I've had a lot of death in my life, though I don't dwell on it.  I lost my parents at a young age, a foster father, my grandparents, a 20 year old niece, my 'adopted' mother, my father-in-law and now one of my younger brothers.  When my 'adopted' mother passed, we owned a pizza place and I had no choice but to go to work.  I remember being there while the high school lunch crowd came in, tears flowing down my cheeks.  The boys were so sweet...they asked what was wrong and when we told them, they all offered their sympathy and kind words.  I'll never forget that outpouring of compassion.  It's something that I could use in a story, I remember it so well.

I know I've mentioned before how I draw on my own life experiences to enliven or bring emotion to my writing, I would think every writer does.  We write best what we know, right?

So today, as I contemplate the life of my brother and how lucky I was to know him, I celebrate the chance I have to continue on and perhaps immortalize him in word somehow.  He will always be part of me and what I feel inside.  We'll meet again.

Life goes on.