A Wordy Report: A Flashback to 2009

 "I did the best de-cluttering job, ever." I've said this a lot this month.

Not sure what it was about this time that allowed me to dig even deeper into getting rid of things. In all the times I've done this, the biggest challenge has always been paperwork. You'd think in going paperless, I'd have a cleaner house. If this, for a lack of better words, "paper purging project" served no other purpose, it was to find something I'd written in 2009.

No, it wasn't the clumsy, awkward beginnings of a story. It was a detailed report I'd written to send to an attorney. 

We'd immediately sought litigation from a car accident I experienced in the summer of 2008. I fractured some parts of my left wrist, my dominant hand, and had to have a piece of hardware installed.

Before too long, the hardware hurt. That's a good sign, my wrist was fully healed, and I no longer needed it. Only, I couldn't have the surgery right away to remove it; I had to finalize the settlement. My attorney needed to know how much this pain interfered with everything I did--which was everything but writing. A lot of physical (sometimes emotional) labor as a physical therapy tech. 

What I say now about these statements: (1) hard to believe I went through this and (2) I sure am wordy. Had I written novels around that time, how could I have tightened these statements? 

Did I throw this away? No, I'll keep it. It's a reminder of what I've overcome, what my life was like before I became an author.

P.S. We settled this case in early 2010.

P. P. S. On the second page, I tightened some of the writing.

Be There on Time

For as long as she could remember, Lilly wanted dance. Her parents went to plays, operas, and ballets. They had season tickets. Sometimes, they went alone as part of their date night, other times they took Lilly. She didn't want to do anything else but dance. She was always lively whenever some upbeat song played on the radio.

Then in the sixth grade, she was really up for some tests--and they weren't just those few pieces of paper of questions and problems she hoped she'd studied for as much as she could. And that she could remember without being tempted to look at her notes. Sixth grade, the time in a child's life where they have different classes. Every hour or so, that time to transition between classes. 

Be there on time, all the principals, counselors, and teachers had advised during orientation. If she hadn't heard it once, she must've heard it a thousand times. She just couldn't see how she could be at every class on time. What if she was late? She remembered all too well all those people at school saying she'll get a tardy, a time in detention for being even one minute late.

The worst class she was in was science. The teacher was a lot older than the rest. Her policy was if the students weren't in their seats by the time the bell rang, they'd be considered late. One day, Lilly's locker was jammed. She broke into a cold sweat as she tried so many times to open her locker, her pulse racing as the students strode to their classes.

The tardy bell rang--and she was still at her locker. The hallways were empty. The teachers got their classes started. Papers rustled, some conversations between the kids. 

She just had to own up to the fact that Mrs. Hanson was strict and she had to be in detention.

Sometime later, Lilly really got the bug to dance. Apparently, the weekly lessons and rehearsals weren't enough. Renee, her teacher, approached her and her parents after rehearsal on afternoon.

"Lilly, I love your passion and enthusiasm in each move you made in every dance you've been in. We're considering you for the advanced class." She handed her parents some forms to fill out and read. "Please look over this and see if you think Lilly is fit for this." She turned to Lilly. "Lilly, you need to be on time for every rehearsal. If you're late to even one, you'll no longer be considered for it."

"Okay. I'll do my best." Of course, she knew she was at the mercy of her parents' full schedule and the increased Interstate traffic. Her parents always complained about it as they made dinner together. 

After some lengthy discussions, her parents approved of this dance class. Lilly was ready every day after school. She soon discovered how much work she needed to put into these rehearsals. It was soon challenging to keep her grades up. She also learned what she missed out on. Her friends, whom she never saw anymore. Couldn't even go to her best friend's spelling bee. She also missed her older cousin's bridal shower.

A few months after so many hours of rigorous training, and a horrible day in traffic, she ended up 8 minutes late to a rehearsal. Nonetheless, she dashed into the room. As she did so, the music radiated through the hallway, as if it teased her into thinking she was never going to be able to do this again. She walked in. Everyone was so wrapped up in the dancing. One of the other instructors standing at the doorway pointed toward the hallway. Lilly knew what she was going to say.

"I'm sorry, Lilly. You came late today. We can't have you on our dance team anymore. You can wait here until your parents pick you up." She pointed in the direction of the front entrance, where some chairs were.

Breaking a Rule

 Jack Dempsey pushed the end call on his smartphone screen. The show the band he's been a roadie for was now confirmed. In Lexington, Kentucky, at the Happy Place. Opening up for Cat Wild. Every time he heard something by her, he thought of his good friend Laura. She had written a novel which she'd published six months ago. She'd spent so much time on this novel. A year of long, hard hours between the time she worked as a life coach. Laura was a lifetime fan of Cat Wild, a female-fronted band that made lots of albums. In her novel, Laura mentioned their hit song "Here We Go Again." It was a song about complicated love reaching boiling points of insanity. Laura mentioned the song title during a tense part of the book, when things couldn't get any worse with this main character's "It's Complicated" love life. Main character Fiona is in a toxic, unhealthy relationship with Erik, who is verbally abusive. She has dreams she wants to pursue. The one who really likes her, it has taken her a long time to really fall in love with. A laid-back, soft-spoken guy named Craig. Laura wanted to find a way to give a copy of it to Cat Wild herself. She lived near Lexington and wanted to make a point to do this, no matter what.

Now that that show was confirmed, Jack called Laura. 

She answered on the 3rd ring. She took a deep breath, knowing Jack was always a breath of fresh air every time they talked. "Yo, Jack."

"You sound like you've had a trying day."

"I have. It can't get over fast enough. Isn't it true that if a day seems to go by so slowly, it's only an opportunity to make it better?"

"I guess." Jack shrugged his shoulders.

"Please tell me something good." Laura sighed.

"I will, But first, are you sitting down?"

"Uh--um--I am. This had better be good."

"I can sneak you in to see Cat Wild."

"What! You can? How? When?"

"I'll be at that venue called the Happy Place. I've been there before doing roadie work for other bands. I've always known their super-inefficient management. I can get you in and get away with it."

"Jack, you're the greatest."

It was a blazing, humid late-August afternoon on the day of the show. So humid it was Jack took off his shirt. Laura made sure to be around him. Where that inefficient venue owner was, no one knew. For all anyone knew, he may have stepped out and gotten a cup of sweet tea at McDonald's, a drink he may have gotten addicted to. 

The band Jack did roadie work for always had this habit of getting there late. It was always something, traffic, the lead singer's German Shepherd, or a serpentine belt wearing out all of a sudden. Load in time was supposed to be 4:00. Here it was 4:23. 

Cat Wild had gotten there. Her band's crew was dashing back and forth getting amps and speakers onto the stage. During this time, Laura had to go to the bathroom. When she walked back to Jack, he was talking to Cat. Laura dashed back to the hallway. The copy of her novel was in her hand, her hand felt clammy. Whether it was from the humidity or the anticipation of seeing Cat and finally meeting her--just moments away now--she wasn't sure. She dashed back to the hallway and sat on the floor. She got her pen out and autographed the part of the book where the mentioned that hit song. What she wrote: "'Here We Go Again'--but I here I go again writing another novel. I hope you enjoy this book.

Her heart pounded all through her body. She knew she was going to faint. No, don't fangirl, Laura. You're a professional. She approached Jack and Cat, introduced herself to Cat, gave her the book, told her about her mention of the hit song. Cat loved it so much and thanked her for doing that. She said reading novels kept her sane in all the hurry up and wait she had to contend with while on the road and in the studio.

Reconnecting with Someone

 Unfamiliar. Unknown. That's what Becca had a fair share of when she stepped into the doors of Living Life Community Church. It was a late-summer morning on this Sunday. The early-morning humidity indicated rain--again. Two young men were at the door to greet her and everyone else. When she walked in, a refreshing, cool wave swept over her. At least in that moment, she felt refreshed.

As if the ugly divorce she'd finalized a few months ago never happened.

As if she never saw Danny with that other woman, that one he'd talked about from time to time whom he dated in high school. As if he always wondered what happened to them, what went wrong, and wondering if they could try again. They'd reconnected on social media. On a weekend Becca was out with her friends, she came home to find the two of them sharing lunch together. And she was wearing her bathrobe.

Danny and Becca gone to church, served faithfully in it. Then at one point, he stopped doing it. Then made excuses to not go to church, most of the time because he said he needed rest. Becca went anyway. Then when she and Danny got divorced, everyone she'd known at church judged her, shunned her, gave her one bromide and guilt trip after another.

At this Living Life Church, however, no one knew her. No one, as far as she knew, knew Danny.

She loved how just a few feet inside, she smelled coffee and what she believed was cinnamon. She loved the sounds from behind the counter. One person after another getting their cups of Joe, to wake up and maybe be alert for during the service.

After she got her welcome gift bag, she looked around and tried to figure out who to talk to.

"Becca, is that you?" It was an average-sized woman with black hair and light-brown highlights. She jerked her head to figure out who was addressing her.

"Yeah." Only, Becca couldn't figure out who this was.

"You don't remember me, do you?" This woman came to her, smiling.

Becca shook her head. "No, I don't." And how many time had someone said that to her every time she was out?

"I used to work with you Dr. Millinton's office, his office manager."

"What's your name?" she asked while she mentally played through all the people who could possibly remember her.

"Clara." 

Now, she remembered. When the two of them were working together, Clara had short hair. For whatever reason, she'd grown it out.

Becca hadn't worked for Dr. Millington, an ophthalmologist, in many years. 

Clara continued. "I didn't know you went to this church."

"Well, this is my first time."

"Really?"

Becca nodded.

"You'll love it here. How did you find out about us?"

"I just drove by. I wanted to get out and go to some church."

"I hope you stay. I have so much to tell you."

Back when Becca and Clara worked together, Clara's two daughters where twelve and fifteen. Before she asked about them, she wanted to know if she still worked for the temperamental Dr. Millington. "Yeah, I still do. He's thinking about retiring soon."

"How are your daughters?"

"Fantastic. My older one is now assistant manager at Main Event. My younger one is looking at colleges. I can't believe it. Before too long, Ed and I will be empty nesters. How's Danny?"

Becca tried not to cringe at the mention of her ex-husband. Clara hadn't seen her in a long time, so she didn't know. "We're no longer together."

"Oh, I'm so sorry to hear that. I can't imagine how hard that is."

"I'm getting through it, seeing what more I can do." Only, she wasn't convinced.

"I suggest an awesome grief recovery group. They'll start meeting next month."