It is not unusual for a writer to feel a connection to the subjects of their stories, especially for a feature writer like me. A few years back, when I was writing a lot for the local papers, I did a story on a young mother who was being given a benefit to help her and her family with costs associated with fighting her cancer. It was an unusual interview, I remember, because we met in a very public establishment. Let alone having trouble hearing her answers to my questions, people kept coming up and hugging her, giving her high-fives as they walked by, even stopping to chat. After a while, she suggested that we step outside to talk, to which I eagerly agreed. As the sun sank low, she laughed and told me story after story about her friends and loved ones. She secreted joy as she told me about her little boy Cooper, her husband, and this long list of amazing people she was so connected to. I could literally feel her love for them in those words. At the end of the interview, she gave me a hug - and I mean the kind of hug when you know someone means it. She thanked me for doing the story and for my time... When I got home I decided to do a little research and checked out the benefit website. Somehow I got on this page of just a crazy-long list of people who were in love with this woman! They encouraged her, praised her, told stories... it was a writers dream - all those quotes, and they became a large part of her story printed in our paper. It was an easy story to type up, her friends and family, they were her real story - how she had touched them, how she had loved them. Anyway, the thing is, I kept seeing her! For the longest time, every time I covered a benefit for ANYONE, she was there. If some one had a health problem, or need help paying for funeral expenses, whatever the need, she was there. And each time she would stop and greet me like I was a treasured old friend. Over time I realized that she treated everyone that way, but the thing is, each time, she really meant it. Man, I dont know much, but I do know that wherever you believe the afterlife is, it got a little brighter today. Goodbye, Ms Brandy, thank you for your story, and should we meet again I am going to give you the biggest hug, and I am going to mean it!
Posted on: Sun, 17 Aug 2014 23:54:58 +0000
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