Nov 1, 2017 |
by Molly Jo Realy @MollyJoRealy
There’s a Louis L’Amour quote I discovered years ago when reading his short story collection.
Frankly, My Dear . . .: Louis L’Amour, The Beginning
That’s never been more true to me than this very minutes.
Fifteen minutes ago, I typed the most beautiful words.
Frankly, My Dear . . . : The End
I’ve both dreaded and looked for this moment for years. In the last months, weeks, days it became increasingly difficult for me to not be emotional. I felt I was building up to a loss in my life. Soon I would finish, type those two last words, and say good bye to these characters I’ve grown to love.
Oh, but that’s so not true. I’ve not lost them. I’ve set them free. Now is the part everyone told me would come. Now I send them to my editor, my almost-agent, my alpha readers. Now I let others start to discover the beauty of NOLA.
Now, instead of ending this world, I get to share it.
Now comes the real beginning of the life of NOLA.
But first, beignets and chicory.
Happy reading, y’all.
It’s time for This Girl to get some rest.
Tomorrow I start writing CENTRAL.
And Frankly, My Dear . . . That’s all she wrote!
Oct 21, 2012 |
Recently I posted a question on my Facebook page: How do you feel about abortion? I know it’s a Hot-Button issue. My intent is not to stir the waters, not to preach my personal views. Just to find out what other people think.
It’s been eye-opening and I appreciate everyone’s input.
The two most popular words in this discussion are “choice” and “murder”. When all the color fades away and the soapboxing is over what’s left is “choice” and “murder”.
Abortion is a political topic, a religious topic, and a personal topic. I strongly believe that no matter where you fall in the spectrum, your view contains both those words.
Everyone makes a choice when it comes to abortion. You choose to be Pro-Life or Pro-Choice. You choose whether to allow abortion into your life or not. And you may choose differently in different stages of your life.
Everyone chooses to believe whether or not it’s murder. Differing studies and beliefs state life begins at conception, in the womb, or at birth. Your personal belief strongly affects your choice.
I’m not going to delve into scientific research and religious views. Because for every pro there is a con, and for every “A” there is a “B”. And it bothers me when people pit religion and science and politics against each other. Every side has their own foundation.
But I’d like to ask a few questions:
- At what stage does a fetus become a person?
- If a woman has the right to choose what happens to her own body, who chooses what happens to the baby?
- Why is it okay to legislate against murder, but not against abortion?
- If abortion is a religious topic, does it belong in legislation?
- If abortion is a legal issue, how can it be Pro-Choice (left up to the individual)?
- If abortion is a personal decision, why should it be publicly decided?
- Are there other issues that fall under the Religious v. Political umbrella?
I’m not sure where I stand on abortion legislation. I have my personal beliefs, but I’m not a “one size fits all” kinda Doll. I realize no matter what I feel/think/believe, there are others who support my views and others who don’t. And there are situations in which my perspective has no bearing.
I believe, whether or not abortion is legal, it will still be performed. The world as a whole has grown comfortable with the idea and you can’t un-ring a bell. If abortion is legal, it protects women. If not, while it tries to protect the fetus, it will cause abortionists and women to become criminals in the eyes of the law.
I don’t quite understand why, what so many claim to be a personal choice, needs to be decided so publicly, for everyone.
Everyone’s story is different. Everyone’s background, heritage, experience, and life is different.
After reading and talking with you, you’ve reaffirmed that abortion is not a “one size fits all” kind of discussion.
And I’m left with this simple statement:
There is no simple answer.
And Frankly, My Dear… that’s all she wrote!
Mar 2, 2012 |
It’s not the first time such a tragedy has shattered its way into our living rooms, our lives. Unfortunately, we also know it won’t be the last.
The news broke sparsely at first: another school shooting. Another random victim. Another suspect at large.
The information trickled in slowly and even now, days later, the aftermath is still confusing, still missing pieces.
But what I think I know, based on what the media has told me, is this:
TJ Lane was bullied.
He grew up with rough parents.
He didn’t get the help he obviously so desperately needed.
He took a gun to school.
And he killed Daniel Parmertor, Demetrius Hewlin, and Russell King, Jr, as well as wounded several other students.
He fled the scene, was pursued, surrendered and is going to be tried for murder.
Please don’t misunderstand what I’m going to say. Because I believe there should be legal and civil consequences for criminal action, especially when such actions result in the ultimate price. I believe there needs to be justice for the murders he committed.
But something about TJ’s story, as I’ve heard it so far, has brought me to tears.
I often see sadness in the news these days; but this story is different. I let myself feel more deeply. I let myself cry without caution. I don’t want to be strong against this fear and sadness. I don’t want to be desensitized to this type of situation or immune to these emotions.
I don’t want to stop thinking, if only…
I think he never really had a chance. I think he was doomed from birth to live in tragedy. I think he was discarded and not paid attention to when it should have been critical to listen to him. I think he was taught at a very young age to not ask for help. I think he learned a twisted lesson about what’s right and wrong, and he learned it far too late.
I think too many people put in half an effort and not enough people put in a full one. I think, ultimately, he was just alone, a lonely guy with no one to help or direct him.
I can’t imagine the horrors, the agony, the numbness that would drive a young man to feel he had no voice to be heard except the bang of his bullets. What evils could well up inside him to the point of taking such drastic actions? Was there any point when he had the tiniest glimmer of hope that he’d be caught and stopped? How lonely was he, how lost, to have planned out such cold-blooded slaughter of other kids?
And for the loneliness that I think he must have felt for most of his life, I cry. I cry a lot. I cry for the boy he never was, and the man he will never be. I cry not for the loss of his childhood, but for the obvious absence of it.
A healthy, well-adjusted, mentally stable person doesn’t wake up one morning and shoot people. This was a chaos in the making for many, many years. And I cry. Because someone, somewhere, must have seen something. And didn’t care.
And all he wanted was someone to care.
And I cry for the three students who died as a result of his downfall. That they suffered for hours, being worked on and hooked up and unplugged. How hard they labored for their breaths. How softly their families sobbed for them.
I can’t imagine the emotions any of them felt that day and continue to feel.
Because I’m so far removed from the situation. I’m on the other side of the nation. I’ve never experienced anything like this. I’m not personally connected.
But I’m personally affected.
There’s a world of hurt in TJ Lane and what he’s done.
And for him, and his victims, and even the survivors who have to live in the aftermath ~ I cry. And I keep crying.
And I hope I always will.
And Frankly, My Dear… that’s all she wrote!
