A 48-Hour Reprieve



These are pictures from my weekend in which I visited the Washington and Oregon coasts with my sisters and mother—three of my favorite people.
 
We don’t get to spend enough time together—just the four of us. Even our tea dates have ceased to be the four of us as my daughters have joined and now we are six.

In the last couple of years, Mom has acquired herself a new man. And while we’re thrilled that she’s in loooove and happy, we miss the woman she once was. 

When did she become a super-sports fan? “Oh, I have always loved basketball.” 

Yeah, we were in the same house as you and the only time you watched a basketball game was when the Blazers were in the championship series—circa 1977.

She’s set aside her strong network of friends that she and my dad had—the men and women who got her through Dad’s death. I don’t think it’s a deliberate thing—it’s just when one person becomes your life, you cocoon yourself into theirs.

As a writer, it’s been interesting to watch the metamorphis of this woman and it’s made me wonder about the sliding doors in my past. What if I hadn’t married Mike? Who and where would I be right now? Would I like that person? Would I even be a mother?

I know that we become different people based on the friends and loved ones who surround us and inspire us. A few summers ago, I was quite active with my group of friends and I was a different person with them than I am now. I think this is part of the human condition. But, as a writer, it’s a character analysis.

My WIP is about a woman who reopens a sliding door from her past and steps through it—ten years later. Can you go back? Should you go back? Those are a couple of the questions she has to ask herself. And if you go back, will everything be the same or has too much time passed for the feelings to be the same? And will HE be the same—he’s also had ten years of life without her, so how has he changed?

These are the thoughts rattling through my head at 7:15 this morning. What’s on your mind?



Comments

  1. Great post, Margie! Those are the questions I had to ask when I wrote Once More From the Top--how had the past 16 years changed Liam and Carrie and was it realistic to believe their passion might survive? It's a great question! They changed...but the passion is still there, only now it's different--more grown-up, more real, more honest... just some thoughts!

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    1. They're good questions. I've never had to face that before, but I do wonder...

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  2. This is a great post! I have a relative who is a wonderful person on her own, but whose personality changes each time she falls in love. We never know for sure who we're talking to.

    I liked what Nan said, and what some reunion story writers tend to not take into account--things are different after time apart, even though they're the same, too.

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    1. That's hilarious! I just didn't expect it with my mom. You think you know someone and boom, fifty years later, totally new person.

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  3. Great post, Margie! I've wondered who I'd be if I'd never met RadioMan, and what if we didn't move here...would we have bebe? Would we have other children? I read a Jude Deveraux book once that had that theme - 3 friends got to try out their 'what if'...

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    1. I'll have to look for that Jude book. I haven't read one of hers in years. I'm not sure why, as she used to be one of my favorite go-to writers.

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