Wednesday, January 28, 2009

Our Life Is Like an Open Book

Each of us is the hero/heroine of our own story and every day we awaken to turn the next page. Some days we are able to anticipate the path our lives will take just as a skilled author will move her characters from one moment to the next. We too move through a passage of time. The books we read are as different as the lives we live. Every chapter in a book is different than the previous one. Just as our days, weeks, months and even years differ from the preceding ones. Our life is a series of measured moments. In a book we call these moments chapters.
Some chapters are filled with excitement and joyous occasions. Just like the H/H of our story we rejoice in those circumstances. Some books move from one scene to the next with barely a moment of rest for our H/H. At times we humans feel as though life has spun out of control and like our favorite characters we fight to hold our heads above water.
Our lives may not involve exploding car crashes or raging battles where young boys and men die at the bloody point of a sword. There are however, those moments of utter surprise. A singular event, so life altering it knocks the main characters off of their feet. All too often real life heroes suffer and live through tragic events. The threat of a life limiting illness, the sudden death of a loved one or even the loss of a job. Luckily for us, these are just a momentary passage of time, a small chapter written into the bigger story of our life.
Like the H/H of our story we might have to fight and claw ourselves out of the rubble and ash. We might be forced to rebuild and start anew even when there is no hope. Worst of all, no desire. Romance authors are honor bound to find a HEA (happily ever after) for our characters regardless of the struggles we force them to overcome. In the end, they learn and grow. Their triumphs make them larger than life, their struggles make them human. It is the reason we fall in love with them.
Much like the H/H in our novels we too must endure a tragic chapter. How we prevail is entirely up to us. We move from page to page until, at last, we find ourselves at the end of that difficult chapter. Like the H/H of our novels we will learn things about ourselves we never knew. We will grow in ways we never thought possible. Perhaps we will even be the better for it.
Regardless of what interval you are now living, or how difficult it may seem, remember it is only one chapter. A small part of the big book we call life.
Tribute to My Late Husband, Patrick Charles Wood

5 comments:

  1. Love this, Tricia!! Beautifully written.

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  2. Tricia, what a lovely tribute to Patrick.

    It's wonderful to see you blogging! I voted for The Wolf and the Dove. It's my favorite of Kathleen's.

    Helen

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  3. I sent this to Lizzie T Leaf @ CRW. She is going to place it in the monthly Newsletter.

    Thanks for visiting

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  4. The most moving thing I have read in a very long time. Beautifully written and so very, very true.

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