Hi sweetie,
Yesterday I wrote like a person possessed, all kinds of stuff !K writing exercises, a soap story (exactly 250 words) about us to Soapet, lots of posts to the Widownet board, some fanfiction !K and today I have done little to nothing. It!|s pitiful being such a lackadaisical writer. The exercises are helping me build confidence though. Now I just gotta move my ass. You were right !K I CAN write. Now I have to apply myself.
I have the writing exercise in a separate journal because it has nothing to do with us !K it!|s more about my parents and I didn!|t think it would be good to have you and my parents in the same journal. ?? Here is what I submitted to Soapnet:
!?Don!|t you leave me,!? my husband and soulmate said to me in a choked voice, clutching my hand tightly. His eyes filled with tears and he looked more frightened than I!|d ever seen him before. My appendix had ruptured and we were spending a few last moments together before I was taken for emergency surgery.
!?I won!|t,!? I assured him, and I didn!|t. Instead, he left me although he did not mean to or want to.
We!|d survived already HIS heart surgery, in 1987. He developed congestive heart failure at 27, and the doctors discovered he had cardiomyopathy (an enlarged heart) due to a genetic disorder of connective tissue called Marfan Syndrome. He was stable for so long, I guess we just got used to living with the Sword of Damocles over our heads. At first a doctor told me not to make any "long term plans with this man." Like that? He went on and said don't have any more children, don't buy a house together, he won't be around in five years. So much for the doctor!|s advice !V five years later, I was having our third child and Rich was still in stable condition although he had occasional bouts of !?skipped beats!?.
In April, 2001, Rich fainted; his heart was beating too fast. In the emergency room, I found myself saying the same words to him: !?Don!|t you leave me.!? He didn!|t then and came home. He died on May 23, and half my heart was taken away.
It was really really hard to keep THAT to 250 words, Rich!