Mothers Day thoughts
But I can’t help thinking of the women who aren’t feeling so contented today; the women for whom a celebration of motherhood must feel like salt in a wound. Thinking of friends & family who still grieve their inability to have children; who had to give up babies or were not allowed to acknowledge them as their own; who live in fear of the future because their children’s lives have gone inexplicably, horribly wrong, or whose children’s lives have ended in a car accident or in Afghanistan. And those going through their first Mothers Day after their own mother’s death. Some of these women are relatives I never met, some are close to me, but my heart goes out to them all.
If you’re wondering what this has to do with writing… well, everything. The first step in writing is putting yourself into someone else’s life for a while. But even if you don’t want to write, it’s a healthy thing to do once in a while.
Happy Mothers Day, to everyone who’s ever nurtured another human being.
Wendy Orr is a Canadian-born Australian writer. Her books for children and adults have been published in 27 countries and won awards around the world. Nim’s Island and Nim at Sea have also become feature films, starring Jodie Foster and Abigail Breslin (Nim’s Island) and Bindi Irwin (Return to Nim’s Island.) Her latest book is Cuckoo’s Flight, a companion to the highly acclaimed Bronze Age novels Dragonfly Song and Swallow’s Dance. Read full bio
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