Endings

Today must be a day for endings. I just just wrote the last sentence of the book I've been working on all summer. (Though mind you, the re-writing, which some people say is the most important part of all, comes next!) The other ending is the end of my official duties as mum. My daughter left home today to start a job in New York City. I didn't think I'd cry, but I did (of course, shetold me stop!!)

One thing about being a writer is you tend to see the world around you in terms of story material. So, because I dropped her off downtown (a friend of hers was giving her a lift to N.Y.), as soon as I got home, I JOTTED DOWN A FEW THINGS (such as that her last gesture was to roll her eyes at me -- it's true that happened after I called out the window, "Be careful!", which she might have considered slightly embarrassing!)

I don't know about you, but one of the reasons I write is to make sense of things.... so guess what I'm going to do now? Start a little personal essay about what it's like when your one-and-only child leaves home... did you guess right? So while we're on the subject, my advice today to aspiring writers out there is: JOT STUFF DOWN. You never know when you'll find a place for it.