Saturday, October 27, 2012

I believe in miracles


I have mentioned my oldest sister, Barbara, a few times before.  She passed away in 1995 from complications from heart surgery.  The experience of losing my sister was profound for me.  My life was dark for awhile, until I found that writing about the experience was a way of healing from it.

A year later I found a brief outlet for my grief by submitting an article to the Hattiesburg American for consideration for publication in their Religion section.  The editor of the section called me and said yes, they would definitely publish it, and would I please supply a picture?  A picture of us from my wedding was the best one I could find at the time.

The article was originally published on January 13, 1996, two days before what would have been Barbara's 43rd birthday.  I didn't tell anyone it was going to be published.  I think my mother was the most surprised when she opened the paper that Saturday morning.

I finally bought a scanner that allowed me to scan and stitch the article together so that it appears on one page.  If you click on the picture above it should enlarge enough to read.  If you're anything like me you might need some readers to help you along.

Not long after this article was published I found a contest entry form in the paper.  It was for submissions to a book by Steven W. Vannoy called The Greatest Gifts Our Children Give to Us.  This time I wrote about Barbara's daughter, Anna, and the experience of Barbara's illness and hospital stay.  My story was selected and published in the book in 1997.  I'm not sure anyone outside of my immediate family even knows about it.

It took me 14 years to write another sentence.  Now I can't seem to stop.  It's like all those years I spent in silence.  There's just too much I have yet to say.



1 comment:

  1. my dear one... it was your turn..."you woke up" ... listen to your sister..she has never steered you wrong

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