Sarah, Thanks for your kind words! This summer is magnificent: in June John and I married--a surprise ceremony no one was expecting at his 80th birthday party. I believe you know I've been working on a memoir based on love letters written to my deceased husband and have just completed the manuscript. The story begins with the death of Herb and ends with my marrying John and our decision to move to a CCRC together which is happening right now. Much of the writing of the latter part of the story was done concurrently with life happening, and each informed the other, as you noted so eloquently in your writing today. I am about to begin looking for a publisher, a whole new kettle of fish and something I know absolutely nothing about. I'm about to find out, though! Maybe someday there will be an actual book and you can say, "I knew her back when."
oh Peggy, this news fills me with so much joy! Mazel tov to you and “your” John! I’m curious which books are currently stacked on his side of the bed 😂😂 As for your manuscript, I am confident it will find its way to its proper heart and home. Honored to say I knew you then, I know you now and I will always cherish our connection and times together.
Hi Sarah. Peggy Mandell here just to say I loved your most recent reflections on writing. Beautiful, resonant, so personal to me right down to the OCD. Were we twins separated at birth? Wishing you joy on Monhegan and everywhere and always.
thank you Peggy ~ oh how many have i wondered the same about our “separated at birth-ness” similarities! i hope you are having the most magnificent summer and as always that you are still writing ✍🏻 🤍
As a former subscriber to the false narrative that meaningful writing can occur only in a specific place (island,✅), I also have discovered that writing can happens anywhere. On a plane (between my two dwellings, ✅), in the car, at the beach, on a trail. When I’m ready to receive the words, they’ll flow. And they do.
isn’t it amazing the many ways our (overthinking) minds try to sabotage our creativity? leaning into the possibility that while i may gather many ingredients on island, my writing is a moveable feast available to me anywhere and everywhere. 🥰
thanks Shirley 🩵 Rebecca Solnit is one of my all time favorite writers, with the Faraway Nearby being one of the most significant books I have ever read AND this is terrible to admit that it’s been so long since I read A Field Guide to Getting Lost that I don’t remember that essay… . ..sounds like I should pack it for my next trip to Monhegan 🥰
Sarah, Thanks for your kind words! This summer is magnificent: in June John and I married--a surprise ceremony no one was expecting at his 80th birthday party. I believe you know I've been working on a memoir based on love letters written to my deceased husband and have just completed the manuscript. The story begins with the death of Herb and ends with my marrying John and our decision to move to a CCRC together which is happening right now. Much of the writing of the latter part of the story was done concurrently with life happening, and each informed the other, as you noted so eloquently in your writing today. I am about to begin looking for a publisher, a whole new kettle of fish and something I know absolutely nothing about. I'm about to find out, though! Maybe someday there will be an actual book and you can say, "I knew her back when."
oh Peggy, this news fills me with so much joy! Mazel tov to you and “your” John! I’m curious which books are currently stacked on his side of the bed 😂😂 As for your manuscript, I am confident it will find its way to its proper heart and home. Honored to say I knew you then, I know you now and I will always cherish our connection and times together.
Hi Sarah. Peggy Mandell here just to say I loved your most recent reflections on writing. Beautiful, resonant, so personal to me right down to the OCD. Were we twins separated at birth? Wishing you joy on Monhegan and everywhere and always.
thank you Peggy ~ oh how many have i wondered the same about our “separated at birth-ness” similarities! i hope you are having the most magnificent summer and as always that you are still writing ✍🏻 🤍
As a former subscriber to the false narrative that meaningful writing can occur only in a specific place (island,✅), I also have discovered that writing can happens anywhere. On a plane (between my two dwellings, ✅), in the car, at the beach, on a trail. When I’m ready to receive the words, they’ll flow. And they do.
isn’t it amazing the many ways our (overthinking) minds try to sabotage our creativity? leaning into the possibility that while i may gather many ingredients on island, my writing is a moveable feast available to me anywhere and everywhere. 🥰
Definitely! Throw in her Orwell’s Roses while you’re at it…
Beautiful to read, Sarah. I wonder if you’re familiar with Rebecca Solnit’s essay on “blue” in A Field Guide to Getting Lost…💙💙💙💙💙
thanks Shirley 🩵 Rebecca Solnit is one of my all time favorite writers, with the Faraway Nearby being one of the most significant books I have ever read AND this is terrible to admit that it’s been so long since I read A Field Guide to Getting Lost that I don’t remember that essay… . ..sounds like I should pack it for my next trip to Monhegan 🥰