I love to write….I have been writing for as long as I can remember.  I’ve always dreamed of writing a novel.  I had this picture in my mind of sitting down with pen and paper and putting down my story.  That didn’t last long.  I can’t read my handwriting.

For awhile I used a typewriter but now they no longer exist.  So I use the computer, which is great.

In my mind I think of writers creating at their desk all day long; getting lots of work done.

In reality for me, it looks more like a page a day, in between everything else that needs to be done.  I’ve heard of some writers getting up in the wee hours of the morning to write before they go off to their jobs or staying up late at night after everyone else is in bed.

Nice in theory but again not really workable in my case.  My son has autism and a seizure disorder.  Sometimes he’s up all night.  And most days full of non stop energy, or at least that was the case up until seven years ago when he had a major set back in his journey.

After several trips to hospitals for his seizures being out of control he began a series of trials and errors; trying to find the right meds to control the seizures.  That proved to be easier said than done because although the medication might help control the seizures often they played havoc with the rest of his system, causing all sorts of major side effects.

So his recovery has been a long and slow process which thankfully is happening.  Our family pretty much had our own Katrina….wiping out everything that we’d known and spent years building up; and having to start over again, one step at a time.

And most of that time has taken place in Mark’s room, the place where he feels most comfortable.  While Frank and Michael are at work, most days I hang in the room with Mark.

Handy thing with the new computers.  They’re portable and easy to take with you.  So that is where I wrote the 3rd rewrite for Sunny’s Story; in my son’s room.

I decided that since we were in such a difficult period of our lives, especially for my son that it would benefit me- if no one else to make Sunny’s Story funny and light hearted.  The first two drafts were high drama and very serious.  I totally changed that.

Some parts of  Sunny’s Story had me laughing so hard, that it hurt.  Good therapy for my soul and my son’s as well.  He would laugh every time he heard me laugh or at the very least smile, making my heart sing.

I learned some things too.  One-That you don’t have to have perfect conditions to write.  That I could ‘show up’ and write, even if it was just one page, one paragraph, or one sentence…a day and that worked.  Because just like the steps my son was taking, so was I.

Two-I  learned to listen…..to hear the words/story as it unfolded to me.  To let go of needing to control what was going to happen, which in turn also helped me in other areas of my life; by applying that same principle.

And I learned that smiling and having fun with writing, shushing my inner critics, and trusting the process gave me joy on days that otherwise were hard.  But we did it anyway and made it through by our persistence, both for me in my writing and more importantly by my son in his courageous working through a tough set back in his life.