June 2021 Newsletter
Hello Friend!
I hope summer’s arrival on Sunday brought you the warmth of family and friends, whether or not you have a father figure to celebrate. My husband Michael and I enjoyed take-out on our porch with our older son, Matt, while our younger son, Steve, Zoomed in from Boston. My dad died last October (not of Covid), and I wished he could have joined us on the call.
A friend recently sent me this picture of Matt, circa 1994. He was about eight–the age when everything started to fall apart. I can almost hear his goofy laugh, and it reminds me that we did have good times, we did have a special bond, he did feel loved. Sometimes in writing my memoir, I lose sight of that.
My knee replacement surgery on June 2 was successful, although the physical demands of recovery have distracted me from producing any meaningful writing, including a June blog.
But, boy, did I kick things into overdrive before surgery. I revised two memoir chapters, queried eight new agents, submitted an essay to The Writers in the Storm Blog (it will go live early in July), and entered two writing contests. And, I created a fun tipsheet–50 Simple Ways to Stop People-Pleasing–to entice visitors to my website to sign up for my mailing list. Since you already subscribe, it’s yours.
In other website-related news, have you checked out my quick “Hello” video? It’s your chance to see and hear me in action.
Bionic knee or not, I doubt I’ll be gardening by July, and the weeds have already declared victory, like this monstrosity below, which I believe is Bear’s Breeches. Not technically a weed, it is nonetheless invasive and will take over my garden, which means someone (hint, hint, Michael) will have to pull it out. By the roots, Dear. Please.
During my convalescence, I started reading Perfectly Hidden Depression by Margaret Robinson Rutherford. I ran out of bandwidth to finish it, but from what I’ve read so far, I’m not sure “PHD” describes me in my difficult motherhood years. Next month, I’ll tell you my final impressions.
Finally, here’s an interesting article about agreeableness as a personality trait. It’s a trait I fully own, but its six sub-traits–altruism, cooperation, modesty, straightforwardness, sympathy, and trust–don’t fit me as neatly as I expected. Do they fit you?
Maybe I’ll write about this for July’s blog.
In the meantime, be well.
Karen
