100 Days of Writing - 35
I'm fascinated, and totally terrified by sinkholes.
There's a story I'm trying to write involving one, and I'm using it because it's so fantastical (and so rare) that it kind of creates a buffer between the survivors and the "sinkers."
Many years ago I dealt with a very sad death of a student. I was involved in the grief counseling among his peers and the school memorial service thereafter. It's a terrible event, and one that luckily many kids evade but death is a very real part of our existence and kids are not immune to its effects.
This death had a profound effect on my life, and it is still something I draw upon when thinking of childhood. Most kids may experience the loss of a family pet or a grandparent, but rarely of someone so close to them.
The absence - the empty desk, the missing laughter, the shoes that kicked a soccer ball that linger behind.. it's a weighted space that no longer exists but yet is present.
Kids are resilient, thankfully, and their hope for the future prevails for the most part. That doesn't take away their sense of loss, or their ability to grieve, but it certainly tweaks their time for a while.
And everybody's different. Some kids might be more sensitive to death, but more distant to the person whom their grieving.. some kids might not want to process it at all and that gets them by. It's a fascinating, painful part of life, and the variety of ways people cope is incredibly unique.
These are the thoughts that sit with me, as I contemplate the appropriate voice to bring to the story.
Peace and love,
Katie
There's a story I'm trying to write involving one, and I'm using it because it's so fantastical (and so rare) that it kind of creates a buffer between the survivors and the "sinkers."
Many years ago I dealt with a very sad death of a student. I was involved in the grief counseling among his peers and the school memorial service thereafter. It's a terrible event, and one that luckily many kids evade but death is a very real part of our existence and kids are not immune to its effects.
This death had a profound effect on my life, and it is still something I draw upon when thinking of childhood. Most kids may experience the loss of a family pet or a grandparent, but rarely of someone so close to them.
The absence - the empty desk, the missing laughter, the shoes that kicked a soccer ball that linger behind.. it's a weighted space that no longer exists but yet is present.
Kids are resilient, thankfully, and their hope for the future prevails for the most part. That doesn't take away their sense of loss, or their ability to grieve, but it certainly tweaks their time for a while.
And everybody's different. Some kids might be more sensitive to death, but more distant to the person whom their grieving.. some kids might not want to process it at all and that gets them by. It's a fascinating, painful part of life, and the variety of ways people cope is incredibly unique.
These are the thoughts that sit with me, as I contemplate the appropriate voice to bring to the story.
Peace and love,
Katie
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