I urge everyone to read the linked essays within "Letter to My Younger Self." Powerful writing. This line struck me: "Even though my mom and I had not lived in the same country for more than two decades and my memories of her were from another time and place, I was unhinged by grief. " The word "unhinged" seems so apt for loss of a parent, even if on some levels they've already left through illness and distance. This essay urges rituals and that itself feels healing. Thank you for this.
I loved the Orca and Spider article too. It's so brilliant I can't believe 20 places passed on it. I'm glad you persisted. I live in the PNW and that sad orca calf death was big news here. Weirdly, the day your piece came in, I was looking at pics of a Bigg's Orca mom and her newborn calf taken just in front of my cabin in 2018. The Biggs too are a local pod, but unlike the one where the calf died, possibly from malnutrition due to decreases in salmon habitat, the Biggs eat mammals such as seals, and aren't (as) endangered. Again, thanks for the brilliant essays.
I loved all of this too especially referencing when the lights were turned off when the Obama’s left….& we didn’t elect our 1st female president. The darkness in our nation since then stated so simply. Thank you for your dedication & clarity in your writing to see all the light.
Oh, Grace! Your beautiful piece spoke to me on such a deep level. These last sentences knocked me out: “You know in your bones that you are not late, that you are actually right on time. For you, writing has never been just about the output; it’s also about the process, the mistakes, the learning, and ultimately growth. Writing is the teacher that waited for you and wouldn’t let you fail; it’s the friend that kept you company through all the seasons of your life.”
YES. This has always been my problem with the term “late bloomer.” Late according to whose timeline? I’m a mom with a full-time job and my creative writing happens whenever and wherever I can make it fit. The writers I know like me who are publishing work in their 40s, 50s, 60s, 70s, have been blooming all along. I love the way you said it and celebrate you and your perfect process!
Thank you so much, Leanna! I know you know! For so many of us, writing gets squeezed into the margins of an already busy life, so it's important to celebrate when we reach our goals!
You echo my feelings entirely - we all bloom at different times, and perhaps in the course of a lifetime we can be more than one type of flower? In fact have my cycles of growth and fading. I think some of us need all these life experiencing, no matter how challenging, to be ready. We are always emerging always blooming
So many moments resonated here, but this one in particular: "Your mom, who is the glue that ties you to your heritage and culture, is disappearing bit by bit." Thanks for sharing this.
Love this. Going to read the linked essays now, and then to order your book. I LIKE the idea that it's perfectly okay and right to tend to our lives in many ways, one of which is writing. Thanks for articulating this so clearly. A lovely way to start my day and week.
Thank you for this beautiful and heartwarming writing. I really enjoyed it and I’m working on memoir myself. Your truth on the pages opens my heart with gratitude for you are sensitive and caring.
This is exactly what I needed to hear today. While I have tried to write my story, memoir, over many years, it just wasn't going where it should. Now I realize that only with passing time and life events, can I see my childhood and past in a different light and still be true to it. Thank youl.
I’ve read some autobiographies by young people and they seem flat, no perspective.
I also think it’s silly to try to teach much history to children. They have no sense of time passing or their own changing points of view, no way to relate. Until they have some history of their own for reference, it’s all just fiction to them. Traditions are different, it’s still relevant in the now.
I’m under the illusion that I can fully understand my childhood now (70) but it keeps shapeshifting with new information anyway.🤷♀️
Great perspective. I think many writers can relate to your evolution. My writer friend Jamie likens it to gardening. When we’re unable to write for a while, it’s not time wasted. We’re just composting for the next season.
I urge everyone to read the linked essays within "Letter to My Younger Self." Powerful writing. This line struck me: "Even though my mom and I had not lived in the same country for more than two decades and my memories of her were from another time and place, I was unhinged by grief. " The word "unhinged" seems so apt for loss of a parent, even if on some levels they've already left through illness and distance. This essay urges rituals and that itself feels healing. Thank you for this.
Thank you so much, Kirie. Grief is definitely a through-line in The Translator's Daughter.
I loved the Orca and Spider article too. It's so brilliant I can't believe 20 places passed on it. I'm glad you persisted. I live in the PNW and that sad orca calf death was big news here. Weirdly, the day your piece came in, I was looking at pics of a Bigg's Orca mom and her newborn calf taken just in front of my cabin in 2018. The Biggs too are a local pod, but unlike the one where the calf died, possibly from malnutrition due to decreases in salmon habitat, the Biggs eat mammals such as seals, and aren't (as) endangered. Again, thanks for the brilliant essays.
Ah, thank you. I meant to put the link to the whole series at the bottom, which I'm doing now... https://oldster.substack.com/t/letter-to-my-younger-self-series
This essay really resonated with me. Thank you for sharing.
I loved all of this too especially referencing when the lights were turned off when the Obama’s left….& we didn’t elect our 1st female president. The darkness in our nation since then stated so simply. Thank you for your dedication & clarity in your writing to see all the light.
Oh, Grace! Your beautiful piece spoke to me on such a deep level. These last sentences knocked me out: “You know in your bones that you are not late, that you are actually right on time. For you, writing has never been just about the output; it’s also about the process, the mistakes, the learning, and ultimately growth. Writing is the teacher that waited for you and wouldn’t let you fail; it’s the friend that kept you company through all the seasons of your life.”
YES. This has always been my problem with the term “late bloomer.” Late according to whose timeline? I’m a mom with a full-time job and my creative writing happens whenever and wherever I can make it fit. The writers I know like me who are publishing work in their 40s, 50s, 60s, 70s, have been blooming all along. I love the way you said it and celebrate you and your perfect process!
Thank you so much, Leanna! I know you know! For so many of us, writing gets squeezed into the margins of an already busy life, so it's important to celebrate when we reach our goals!
You echo my feelings entirely - we all bloom at different times, and perhaps in the course of a lifetime we can be more than one type of flower? In fact have my cycles of growth and fading. I think some of us need all these life experiencing, no matter how challenging, to be ready. We are always emerging always blooming
So many moments resonated here, but this one in particular: "Your mom, who is the glue that ties you to your heritage and culture, is disappearing bit by bit." Thanks for sharing this.
Love this. Going to read the linked essays now, and then to order your book. I LIKE the idea that it's perfectly okay and right to tend to our lives in many ways, one of which is writing. Thanks for articulating this so clearly. A lovely way to start my day and week.
Yes, me, too.
Thank you for this beautiful and heartwarming writing. I really enjoyed it and I’m working on memoir myself. Your truth on the pages opens my heart with gratitude for you are sensitive and caring.
this is a gorgeous paean to persistence, calling and love.thank you!
Glad it resonated!
Dear Grace,
It’s never too late to be an emerging writer. At 74 I’m almost there with an article published in our national newspaper.
Loved your essay.
Susan
This is so nurturing to all of us writers who feel so lonely in our craft. xoxo
This is exactly what I needed to hear today. While I have tried to write my story, memoir, over many years, it just wasn't going where it should. Now I realize that only with passing time and life events, can I see my childhood and past in a different light and still be true to it. Thank youl.
“ I've looked at life from both sides now
From up and down and still somehow
It's life's illusions I recall
I really don't know life at all”
last verse in Both Sides Now by Joni Mitchell.
I’ve read some autobiographies by young people and they seem flat, no perspective.
I also think it’s silly to try to teach much history to children. They have no sense of time passing or their own changing points of view, no way to relate. Until they have some history of their own for reference, it’s all just fiction to them. Traditions are different, it’s still relevant in the now.
I’m under the illusion that I can fully understand my childhood now (70) but it keeps shapeshifting with new information anyway.🤷♀️
A heart-felt piece which really resonated with me. Solidarity with all the emerging writers in our 50s!
Great perspective. I think many writers can relate to your evolution. My writer friend Jamie likens it to gardening. When we’re unable to write for a while, it’s not time wasted. We’re just composting for the next season.
Love this, Grace. Wish we all talked more about roundabout writing journeys. Congratulations on your memoir and I can't wait to read it
"you know in your bones that you are not late, that you are actually right on time" Thank you!
Look forward to more!!
Grace, I enjoyed reading about your life. I admire your ability to stick to your writing and do what it takes to be published.