Writing is like being able to put life into a snow globe. It takes the things that are too big and scary and reduces them into a form that I can put away when I want and look at from a distance. It also takes all that’s good in life and captures it into something I can take out when I want and look at close up and keep forever. It makes the bad things into something I can hold…and the good things into something I can hold onto. Both help so much that I need that little souvenir of life.

Sunday, November 24, 2013

Past Love

When editors Kate Harper and Leon Marasco of Spruce Mountain Press informed me that I’d won an honorable mention in this year’s Past Loves Day competition, they did so through one of the loveliest and most personal letters I’ve ever received. I was moved all over again. If you are so inclined, hop on over and take a look at the 2013 winners.

And take a minute to think about the loves you may have left behind.


This is the most profound spiritual truth I know: that even when we’re most sure that love can’t conquer all, it seems to anyway. It goes down into the rat hole with us, in the guise of our friends, and there it swells and comforts. It gives us second winds, third winds, hundredth winds. ~Anne Lamott, Traveling Mercies
Posted by at
Labels: , ,

11 comments:

  1. Sioux RoslawskiNovember 24, 2013 at 9:36 AM

    Tammy--You quietly write lyrical pieces--stories with lines that just sing and make us swoon--and you quietly rack up the publishing credits and the accolades.

    I loved your story. It made me think of some of my past loves, and I wondered if the timing was right for what I needed then.

    Seriously, I hope you are working on your sci-fi novel. It's too good to let it collect dust. (And I hope you are willing to share your letter from Spruce Mountain Press with the WWWPs. I'd love to read it.)

    ReplyDelete
  2. TammyNovember 24, 2013 at 9:48 AM

    Thank you so much, Sioux, and I will definitely bring the letter. Shoot, I thought about posting it, even. And thank you so much for the Sioux-eet encouragement!

    ReplyDelete
  3. ValNovember 24, 2013 at 5:48 PM

    Congrats on your past love and your honorable mention.

    Because I am a twisted kind of gal, this made me think of the opposite...of that Ellen DeGeneres/Bill Pullman movie, Mr. Wrong. SHE knew he was wrong for her, but had to convince everyone else.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. TammyNovember 26, 2013 at 8:05 PM

      Thanks, Val. Sorry to say I never saw Mr. Wrong...but I definitely knew him too, ar ar.

      Delete
  4. Linda O'ConnellNovember 24, 2013 at 7:05 PM

    Tammy, what a beautiful sentimental journey you took me on with your story. I am wiping the tears. CONGRATULATIONS.

    ReplyDelete
  5. Lisa Ricard ClaroNovember 24, 2013 at 7:50 PM

    Congratulations! Your story is beautifully written, sentimental but never cloying, and so easy to relate with. It made me . . . feel. Thanks for such a lovely end to my evening.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. TammyNovember 26, 2013 at 8:07 PM

      Thank you, Lisa, for such a lovely end to mine!

      Delete
  6. Pat WahlerNovember 25, 2013 at 7:04 AM

    As with every piece you write...beautiful. Congrats, Tammy!

    Pat
    Critter Alley

    ReplyDelete
  7. LynnDecember 2, 2013 at 6:53 PM

    Absolutely beautiful... my heart feels happy.

    ReplyDelete

Any return "messages" are appreciated!

Subscribe to: Post Comments (Atom)