Friday, January 29, 2016

I'm back. Yet again.

My wife asked me to write again. I've been thinking about it, but always scare myself off. An interesting thing happened this weekend at the memorial service of my wife's dear, dear aunt. While waiting in the line to greet the grieving family, my mother-in-law (re)introduced us to a friend of hers. As we were introducing the kids, we get to Hope and this look of surprise and recognition comes over her face. "Is this the Hope that I read about while she was in the hospital?", she asks. I was floored. I couldn't believe that this woman had remembered that writing from eight years ago. She went on and on about how great it was that I'd done that and how it gave people a way to get to know Hope and to pray and wish for her. She kept telling Hope what a great writer I was. Maybe it is starting to sink in. Maybe I'll allow myself to believe the praise, maybe a little. As most creatives, I have long been my own worst critic. I'd like to be able to sit here and write that "from now on, I will no longer ...", but I'm a realist. I promise, though, that I will try every day to be better. I will try to write every day. I might not publish it here, but I will work to write every single day. Sometimes I will bore you with stories of the kids. Sometimes I will bore you with stories from cycling, training, racing. Sometimes I will bore you with reviews of cycling and other outdoor products. Every once in a while I might even bore you with an original piece of fiction.