Something Good my Way Comes

Posted by Edith Cook on Saturday, February 18, 2012 Under: Reading Life
"I like your essays. You write things that readers want to read," someone in my exercise class said recently about my WTE column. I smiled, remembering how many things I'd written, and attempted to publish, that nobody in the business felt strongly enough about to give me a leg up. An entire manuscript sits on my desktop, ready to go, if things should change. But maybe I learned something from my failures. Maybe I learned to let go of the desire to amount to something in the eyes of family, community, friends.

Then, when I no longer expect it, something good pops up. "Someone said to me, 'Aren't you the son of Edith cook?'" Walter recently mentioned. The individual went on to tell him to mention to me that he admires my writing.

In the past, Walter had been the notable one in the family, the one known and respected in the community. I, on the other hand, was the retired one. An old woman. Passe. 

I cannot tell you how good it feels to know that my contributions are yet valued. It's tough enough to face the inevitable and fast-approaching end of life. To suffer oblivion while yet living--that's truly dispiriting. So. I'm glad for these offhand remarks. They are something good that comes my way when I no longer expect it. 

In : Reading Life 

Next post: My Pleasure
Previous post: At a Loss

Tags: "something good" 
« Back to posts

About Me


Edith Cook Though I now live in Wyoming, I make frequent return trips to California with visits to travel club members along the way. At home I play classical guitar, enjoy gardening and cooking, and participate in group yoga. Getting together with family and friends is high on my agenda. I value people who write or make music and love it when my adult children and their offspring play their instruments, sing songs with me, or discuss what they read and write. Such gatherings help me cope with the losses in my life, which have been severe. Next year I hope to visit family in Germany.

 

Tags

#nokxl 350.org 350cheyenne 350org addiction adverse childhood agriculture als altitude andrew knoll apg media of the rockies arizona autism beijing bet the farm big bend national park big coal bill mckibben bill roorbach birthday bitumen blossoms bnsf botanic gardens bottled water bp brother buddhism california california" cancer cannabis casper casper star tribune change cherry cheyenne cheyenne guitar society china christopher hitchens christopher merrill christopher potter church climate climate change climate cover-up climate wars coal oil gas college station columns comfort zone confessional writing conversation cousin cousin edith cowboy indian alliance dachau danish oil december democratic women's forum desmogblog.com james hoggan division of labor dr. slobochikoff drought durango dzongsar jamyang khyentse east texas empathy epa essays ethics of writing ex-wheatfarm extinction events family family life family matters flourish frans de waal gardening germany global warming governor mead grandchildren health profile hemp hemp production henry louis gates jr horses and autism http://groups.google.com/group/edith-cook hypoxia in in animals israel-palestine conflict it's japan jonathan balcombe jourard kabat-zinn keystone xl oil pipeline klx leaving for places unknown lemon letting go life lions lives of animals los angeles guitar quartet malcolm gladwell marijuana" martin e. p. seligman memories michael mann mike magner mindfulness miwas neibsheim newspaper writing norwegian wood oil gas coal our planet our universe paris park poisoned legacy prairie dogs qi deng railroad industry rainfall patterns ranching recycling richard leakey richard littlemore robert kelley roberta flack rupert murdoch schoolchildren sea level self-awareness sidney sidney jourard sketches from my life smoking social relations something good sonya huber stephen chao still storms susan abulhawa tap water tar sands temple grandin tennessee" terry tempest williams texas thanksgiving the end of food the tree of the doves tokyo tony judt toyota prius travel turtle rock union pacific unitarian universalists utah uwyo hydraulic fracturing forum vedauwoo viktor frankl visa application visiting friends wednesday walkers wheat farm wheat production wheatland wind energy winter women in orchestras writing autobiographically writing confessions wte www.sidneyjourard.com wyoming wyoming tribune eagle wyoming tribuneeagle wyoming wheat farm wyoming's deq xi'an yoga 2015

Tags

, US

Make a free website with Yola