Lend me your ears and I'll sing you a song
And I'll try not to sing out of key
I spent a week on San Juan Island in
mid-June. Every morning I sat at a small table in a lovely guesthouse perched
on a hill, with a panoramic view of the Strait of Juan de Fuca, Canada only
eight miles in the distance. Laptop open, I dug deep, at peace in the solitude
and beauty surrounding me.
When my writer friend offered me
this solitary writing retreat, I grabbed at it with both hands, grateful for
the time and place to complete the draft of my latest memoir project. My friend
was the perfect host. She left me alone. I wrote from early morning until late
afternoon, when it was time for a shared dog walk and dinner. By week’s end,
the draft was complete.
The Ex-Mexican
Wives Club is the story of my
ex-pat years in Mexico City in the early 1980s intertwined with the story of reconnecting with the women I once knew there thirty-five years
later. Each of these women is an integral part of the story about a time that
left an indelible mark on all of us. I know I have opened Pandora’s box of
memories, not only for myself, but for all of us by writing this memoir.
From the small table perched on the hill, I sent the
completed draft to seven women inviting each to share any comments, concerns,
corrections she may have. Then, I packed my bags, caught the ferry, and headed
for home. Within days, I had heard from most of the seven and my heart sang
with delight.
As another writer friend told me: That’s what memoir writing is all about. That’s what this memoir is –
the threading together of your life. Her comment made me think of the story
quilts Sue Monk Kidd describes in The
Invention of Wings. The creation of memoir through patches of cloth, images
to tell stories, images threaded together in much the same way a memoirist
threads story and creates images through words on the page.
I may not be able to stitch a straight line or sing in
tune, but I certainly could not get by without the help of my friends.
