Writers Who Influence

I sometimes wonder why I became a writer. Who impacted my life in such a way that influenced my life for the rest of my life? 

Though no one else in my family has written a book, two women in particular, I believe, convinced me that the written word is powerful. These two women, my mom and my grandma, were writers of a different kind. They corresponded with each other, with family members and others by penning their thoughts and putting them down on paper. 

As a youngster, I followed suit. When we moved away from Nebraska and all our relatives including Grandma, I began corresponding with her via the U.S. mail. Grandma would send me a box of stationary for my birthday and Mom made sure I had a book of stamps. 

At first, my letters were formal and short. But Grandma never critiqued them. She just wrote back. It was spine-tingling to receive a personal letter, addressed just to me, from Grandma. Even though we were miles apart, reading her written words assured me that she was thinking of me.

Though I corresponded with Mom after I moved away from home, her letters to me were not as spine tingling as my Grandma’s had been. But, after my father’s suicide, Mom’s correspondence with doctors and lawyers made me aware of the potency of the written word. 

 By then, Mom had a manual typewriter and I’d hear her pecking out words late into the night. Her thoughts about Dad’s death did not lie dormant. Instead, she penned powerful words, stating her case against a veteran’s hospital in Denver where Dad had ended his life. 

After a few years, her words could no longer be ignored by those in higher places and she got her day in court. Her case against those who were supposedly caring for Dad, was brought before a judge and both sides of Dad’s sad story were brought out into the light. 

My Turn

Both my Mom and Grandma are dead and gone, but their influence lives on in my life. I write, like they did, but in a different way. I write to an unknown audience that I rarely meet, but yet think about all the time. You and I share some things in common. We are all on a journey, doing the best we can, with what we have. We all have the need to be heard, acknowledged, understood and encouraged.  

Why Bother?

Why bother writing? Writing is a wonderful way to bring our thoughts from the realm of the unseen to the realm of being seen; from the ethereal to the real. Give writing a try and you just might feel a tingle of potent power along your spine. 

1. S.  I wrote the story of my journey to forgiveness because I want to encourage others to believe that God’s love for us changes everything about us. You can find A Heart’s Journey To Forgiveness at Redemption Press and Amazon.