This week was beyond hectic for my colleagues and me. All of us spent the week reviewing everything for our students’ finals next week. Most of us have more than two grades to teach and, in turn, review (I had three, but my Twelfth Grader graduated). That alone is enough to drain us mentally. But, alas, I’m not just a teacher.
I don’t have anything to talk about in regard to my life. However, I do have a good amount to say about what I’m planning to do with myself for the rest of this year. I’m pretty excited about it all.
“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.”
― 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.
It’s a parent’s duty and priority to love and care for their children. A child even expects this from them. What happens when a parent is too busy to give it to them? But what happens when a child is deprived of it?
It is available for Amazon Kindle.
“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.”
―
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.
Babies are the greatest joy that a couple can ever ask for. But what happens when a deserving couple is robbed of that wonderful miracle? What option do they have when they’ve exhausted all of their options?
It is available for Amazon Kindle.
“The worst part of holding the memories is not the pain. It’s the loneliness of it. Memories need to be shared.”
― 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.
It’s a father’s dream to walk his daughter down the aisle and now that day has finally arrived. But there is trouble brewing in the hearts of the two of them. Will they be able to handle it before she says, “I do.”?
It is available for Amazon Kindle.
“When I was with my mother, I sometimes thought of myself of a trophy—something to be flaunted before friends. When out of public view, I sat on the shelf ignored and forgotten.”
― The Flock: The Autobiography of a Multiple Personality
The duality of narcissistic mothers
This post will talk about two short stories that actually take place right after each other. It was a decision I made only after I got done writing the first one. See, I wrote My Perfect Son after listening to the nonsense of a, particularly toxic parenting style. You know what I’m talking about. The type of parenting where a child is forced to do activities that the parents want so they can brag about it to other people. Worse yet, if the child fights back, they are disciplined for “not respecting them”. So, I wanted to explore that.