My Writing Journey

When I was a little kid, I wanted to be a mom, an author, and a dancer when I grew up. I am not really sure where the dancer part came from as I never took dance lessons and always felt pretty self conscious dancing, but the desire to be a mom definitely stuck and writing was always something that I enjoyed. I kept a diary as a middle schooler and enjoyed my writing classes as a high schooler.

I ended up pursuing science in college, and enjoyed the writing and editing I got to do for my classes. I got the opportunity to study for a master's degree and write a thesis about some research I did as a tiny part of a huge research project that took place in Rhinelander, WI. Half of my thesis was published with me as the lead author in the scientific journal "Plant and Soil". Not really what I would have envisioned writing about as a kid who loved to read historical fiction! After I completed my Master's degree I spent about six months working for two professors in Missouri while my husband did some training with the Army. I did some field work for them, and I also helped rewrite some research for publication. All told, my time there resulted in me being listed as a co-author on five more journal articles, in publications like "Herpetologica" and "Aquatic Sciences".

After my husband was done with his training, we moved to our first duty station, which was in Alaska. I worked for the university there for two years, but didn't have the opportunity to do any writing. And then Oliver was born, and I became a stay at home mom. Later when we decided to homeschool, I was able to think about writing again from the perspective of a teacher. How do we write? How do we help others write? Is there only one way to write well or a variety of ways? From the various writing programs I used, blogs I read, podcasts I listened to etc., I learned about tons of different ways to approach writing, and I can definitely see how I integrated them all into the writing I now do for this blog. Maybe I will write a geeky blog post about that some day. I also had several opportunities to lead Bible studies in my own home, at the various churches we attended, and with organizations like Protestant Woman of the Chapel and Bible Study Fellowship. These opportunities helped me develop my writing style as I practiced teaching, communication, organizing, leading, and speaking.

When MaryJo and then Oliver passed away, I felt like I lost all of my words. While I know some people use words to process their grief, I felt like I didn't have any words. I had a hard time reading for months after Oliver died and I often misspoke, saying the word pin when I meant pen, for example. About two years after he died I finally felt like I might have words to say, but it took another two and a half years before I actually started writing them down. And it turns out I do still enjoy writing, and it has been so helpful to process things in this way. It often feels like a release to offer these words.

It is fun to reflect back and see how the dreams of a little girl who loved reading "Little House on the Prairie" books came true in some unusual and unexpected ways. It gives me a little hope for some other dreams I have which haven't come true yet.