Thursday, May 8, 2014

PWS Awareness Day 8: Reading at Scribd

My awareness raising happened at a podium tonight.  I was honored to be at the Scribd Author Series event in San Francisco with my fabulous writing group the Write On Mamas, reading an excerpt of my essay about skiing with Oscar.  (The full essay, "Slide Show", appears in our newly published anthology Mamas Write.) 
 
As I practiced this afternoon, reading my words over and over, and trying to coax my voice to convey the right amount of excitement at the proud parts, gravity in the scary parts, and levity at the one almost-funny part, I felt really connected to and protective of Oscar.  In my allotted four minutes I wanted convey to the audience why a seemingly disastrous afternoon of skiing was actually one of my proudest moments.  I wanted them to get it.

Six mediocre read-throughs later I found myself hunting around the house for a picture of Oscar to take with me, to remind myself why I am reading a deeply personal essay to a room of strangers.   Again.

I am doing this -- this writing thing, this reading thing -- so that other parents will feel less alone when their baby is diagnosed. So that other parents will know, that even though raising a child with special needs is challenging, there will be joy and celebration again. So that more people know about this crazy syndrome.

Here's that photo of Oscar. I kept it tucked into my book, and peeked at it just before I stood to read.

7 comments:

  1. Congratulations on the anthology, Mary! I think I'll add it to my list of gifts-to-myself for this mother's day.

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    1. Thanks Andrea. And you made me chuckle -- I too love opportunities for gifts-to-myself. Happy Mother's Day!

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  2. So happy for you and your writing voice getting out there in the world. <3

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    1. Thank you Susan...and thanks for your help (!!) on this writing journey.

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  3. this is beautiful, Mary! I love the final version of the essay--it's so layered, so vivid, and really conveys the complexities and interconnectedness of support and treatment. I know it was no easy feat to tease out four minutes' worth. But you did it! And the story you highlighed was beautiful. I love this picture of Oscar. His purity of heart really shows through.

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    1. Actually, Paul timed me, and it was 4min17s, without intro. But, far better than either of us thought I could do, right?! And thanks to you for helping me grow it, shape it, and then pare it down.

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  4. I'm learning so much from these posts - thank you for writing them! I have never known anyone with PWS, and your eloquence, honesty and grace are illustrating your life experiences so well. Blessings to you and your family!

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