Since
developing as a writer I’ve done a lot of reflective thinking about stories. I’ve
discovered that my personal story, that is my life journey has a lot to do with
the books I connected strongly with and resonated
with me. More than that, it began in childhood.
I also was born with a medical condition
that surfaced around age ten. This meant I had, what seemed to me, very long stays
in the hospital. I suffered acutely the separation from family life and started to wonder if I would ever get to go home again. My only link was my mother’s daily
visits. During those, she read Johanna
Spyri’s ‘Heidi’ out loud to me.
I
quickly became enraptured in the story of the Heidi, Grandfather, Peter, and the
little goats. Although I was stuck in a hospital bed, while Mum read I was
running barefoot on the grassy slopes with my new little friend.
I
was so sad for Heidi when she was taken away to live with poor Clara. She had
to live in the city away from everything she’d grown to love so dearly. There
was a happy ending of course and Mum must have chosen this book with care,
because Heidi eventually went home, better equipped for life than she was before.
There
were lots of story points that resonated strongly with me and still do. I’ve
reread it many times over during the years of my life, always gaining something else or
being reminded of something important. After I was divorced and enduring an extreme
sense of loss of my home and family, I read it again, taking solace in the
message that struggle is often a gift, something hard to be learned or endured
so that life can change and evolve. And taking comfort from spending time with my childhood friend, Heidi.
I
have a new home and am married again. I have someone to
love and I’m loved in return by a kind-hearted man. We’re friendly with my
ex and are able to celebrate family occasions altogether. When I got
divorced, this was the dream I hung on to and it has come true. During the
struggle between happy times, I held it in my heart that difficult times pass. I’ll
always be grateful for the story of ‘Heidi’, read to me when I was a little
girl who wasn't allowed to go home, because the story showed me I had reason to hope.
I have since learned that this hope has lasted all my life. I think it's why I'm drawn to writing romance novels, they are about hope which is expressed through finding a person love and who loves in return. It's about the creation of a new family and home filled with love.
Dora Bramden writes heart-melting, passionate, romance.
10 comments:
What a beautiful lesson, Dora, albeit, hard-earned. And yes, the tie-in with hope and writing romance is exactly why I write and read romances.
Thanks Deb. I love that about romance writers. We're a hopeful bunch.
Thanks for sharing your story, Dora. One of the best things about reading is living vicariously and because of that learning some of life's lessons. Having hope for a better future is critical in these times of a global pandemic and unrest. So glad you found your HEA!
Stories are such wonderful gifts! I love walking in another's shoes and learning from their experiences as well as my own.Reading is so collavorative: the writer writes her vision, and the reader brings her own experiences and desires to the story and makes it her own, as you did with Heidi. And hope is a wonderful gift to give our readers.
The story of Heidi is certainly an amazing story. I must admit, I first came in contact with that story through a movie made about it in ???. It wasn't until much later, as an adult, that I finally read the original book.
Your comment about "taking solace in the message that struggle is often a gift, something hard to be learned or endured so that life can change and evolve" is so true and a central theme in Heidi. I also believe that if we can embrace that struggle it gives us a chance to change for the better. If we fear the struggle or deny it exists, we become stuck in a place that grows smaller and smaller until we no longer know who we are or what we believe.
I'm so glad you found your way through your own struggles and are continuing to grow and learn.
Loved this blog (and I had forgotten "Heidi," though I certainly loved it as a child) -- I'm also holding out for another love and finally a HEA, so your personal story and message resonated with me.
Judith, I think when times are harsh it does help to escape for a little while to somewhere lovely. I certainly have benefited from that. Hope is such a powerful thing. So much has been achieved where first there was only hope.
Sarah, I wouldn't be without stories. I adore hopeful ones with happy endings.
Maggie, thanks for your thoughtful comments and kind wishes. Love that you connected with Heidi too. I love your comment about getting stuck in a place that grows smaller the longer we take to understand its lesson for our growth.
Eleri, Love that you have the Heidi connection. I'm sending my wishes for your HEA. Hugs.
Post a Comment