Behind The Pen

“All parents damage their children. It cannot be helped. Youth, like pristine glass, absorbs the prints of its handlers. Some parents smudge, others crack, a few shatter childhoods completely into jagged little pieces, beyond repair.”
― Mitch Albom, The Five People You Meet in Heaven

The duality of neglect and parenting

I’m always told that children don’t care about what you’re doing for them. They don’t care about what you bought them or how much money you spend on them. Sure, they notice but it’s not something they are quick to remember unless, of course, they were taught to notice it. However, more often than not, they usually take notice of something else entirely. And, it was that one thing that became the basis for A Child’s Wish.

“There are times when the adoption process is exhausting and painful and makes you want to scream. But, I am told, so does childbirth.”

– Scott Simon

The various ways/side of adoption

So, prior to writing Baby 4 Us, I’ve already made the conscious decision that I’m going to adopt. I don’t know when but I do know that it’s going to be after I leave China and settle in a new country.  Now, this conversation started with me among my group of friends as we were talking about our future plans. We knew that she didn’t want to stay in China but most of us didn’t have a clear idea of what to do next. But, as the conversation developed, it pivoted to the topic of children and childbirth and well…

“No woman can call herself free until she can choose consciously whether she will or will not be a mother.”
― Margaret Sanger

The duality of abortion

People can tell you that I’m not an argumentative person. It’s not what you think. Well, it is but not really. See, I try to avoid having discussions on controversial topics because there’s no real way to have an intelligent conversation about them. If you’ve noticed, people always seem to attach emotions to the conversation. Moreover, people seem to have a habit of “ignoring” facts that counter their chosen reality. Hence why I opted to write the short story, Our Future, Your Choice; it was my way to talk about abortion.

“The worst part of holding the memories is not the pain. It’s the loneliness of it. Memories need to be shared.”
― Lois Lowry, The Giver

The duality of memories

I always love when memories are used as a plot device. Memories are powerful because they are unapologetic in their reality. They don’t lie and, no matter how you resist, they won’t let you fabricate the reality of it all. They will find a way to force you to live it. In every story, memories have played a key role that resulted in an ending that can be satisfying to the audience. Now, can I say that for the characters? Not really. But for Alone With The Memories, definitely.