Balancing Words and Humans

During the second week of National Novel Writing Month (Nanowrimo), Jessie came to my mind invasively. She’s a dear friend who I haven’t spoken with for a long while. I was so bent on writing my book, though, I didn’t take the time to contact her. You see, I was hurdling winningly toward being halfway finished with my first novel. I didn’t want to lose my stride. At the beginning of the third week of Nanowrimo, Jessie was in the hospital and unexpectedly died of unknown causes. This grievous event halted me and inspired me to change this article’s subject from one regrettable activity to another.

I was going to address the tragedy of wasting precious time that could be spent writing. Thanks to the impetus inspired by Nanowrimo, I learned that I can produce 1,667 written words per day.

There’s an even greater calamity than squandering our gifts and energy, though, and that’s neglecting our friends and loved ones.

The fact that Jessie died without my having expressed how much she means to me breaks my heart. She was a true friend. In fact, she was like a caring mother to me during the darkest phase of my life.

Jessie and I had in common a love for the Bible and for writing. She once gave me a Bible commentary as a gift, and I’ll always treasure it. She also gave me a copy of a poem that she wrote, and years ago I discovered that I lost it. I’ll never forget that missing poem or the lost opportunity that just preceded Jessie’s departure to heaven. Hopefully these memories will help me keep a proper balance of all that is important in life -- just one more gift from Jessie to me.

(published December 2006)