Dear Rita Mae Brown,
Yesterday I began to read Starting from Scratch: A
Different Kind of Writers’ Manual. I thought that reading the more
recent memoir would have given me a more complete picture of you, but I found
the first chapter of this book from 1988 intriguing.
It showcases an earlier version of Rita Mae Brown,
one with fewer layers, but equal depth. I still don’t know why it is that I am
so intrigued by you. It has something to do with your character, vision and
life’s mission whether intentional or by destiny. We can all learn from one
another, but we take certain individuals, those select ones that rise above the
chatter, and examine them closely. We seek to find what made them great, what
made them influence us to be better. That is part of this pull.
Another part is my own character. It may amuse you to
know that the couple of close friends helping me develop these letters and the
blog know you as my latest obsession. Some people live constantly obsessing about
something; others never feel that fire within. Every five to ten years,
something pulls me over that edge.
When it is a person, I feel their apprehension, but
for some reason they put up with me. Every obsession I have ever had has
resulted in something really good. I know this will be an awesome ride, so I’m
all in.
Hopeful this may allay apprehension I’ll note a
couple of past obsessions and their outcome… After sharing some insights with a
friend, she asked me what I had done to develop my intuition. I didn’t know
there was anything I could do, other than read everything I found on it. She
said “You have got to meet Reverend Millie.”
Reverend Millie Landis’ Fraternal
Spiritualist Church
of the Kensington area in San Diego,
became an obsession. After attending once, I was hooked. I went to Wednesday
Night Forum, Sunday services and Thursday night Spiritual Development
classes. The church is Christ based. I
like that.
I found there people who understood me, people who
spoke the same language, who saw or felt things as I do. What others would
consider miracles are everyday occurrences there. Life has since taken my
attention elsewhere. I rarely attend that church now, but am forever grateful
to Reverend Millie for giving me something no one else ever could, a part of
myself that was developed through her guidance and teaching.
Another obsession was a woman I met in my teens. She
was twenty-four at the time. It was not a physical or sexual attraction. I just
knew I had to be near her, slightly behind and to the right to be exact. She
would turn around and I would be there, showing up at her work or home, at
nearly any hour.
Having never been a talker, it was often a silent
companionship. She is not a talker by nature either. One day when she gave me
an odd look that said “Are you still here?” I told her I knew she would thank
me someday. I didn’t know what drew me to her, but I knew one day she would
literally say “thank you”. She gave me a “you’re really strange…whatever you
say” kind of look.
About five years later my status was raised to best
friend. I no longer felt the need to stand behind her. We became equals and
hung out whenever our lives permitted. One day she said something, then
remarked that she had not thought that way before meeting me. She went on about
how I had changed her perspective on life, how she was a different person for
having known me.
She seemed so serious, that I asked “Is this a good
thing???”
Very emphatically she said “Yes, thank you!”
It clicked and I knew that was the moment I saw five
years earlier. I smirked “Great, my work is done, I can move on now.” She was
confused until I reminded her of the kid that told her she would thank me one
day. Laughing, she said she did remember the conversation, including thinking
that I was nuts at the time.
I met her thirty-three years ago. Thirty-one years
ago I told her she would thank me one day. Twenty-six years ago she thanked me
and two weeks ago she was the first person to read the first Dear Rita Mae
Brown letter. She changed my life for the better as well.
My obsessions ALWAYS end with something good! This
will be fun, I promise you.
Yours truly,
Loraine
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