I’m participating in a Boomer Blogging Extravaganza which will take place every Friday. It’s a way to bring attention to the new genre of books called Boomer Lit. Click here, Boomer Lit Friday to go to your one-stop shopping boomer lit blog which will feature snippets from a variety of boomer lit novels. It’a a good place to get a taste of what boomer authors are writing about.
Perigee Moon is the story of a man who has a life crisis, who comes to realize that he must be true to himself and makes the changes necessary to remove himself from a ruined marriage and the ”should do” world in order to have the lifestyle he craves.
This is another section from Perigee Moon that I especially like. I have blogged about it before, the idea that events happen at a certain time, in a certain order, and cause our lives to be changed because of them. Like Abby and Luke seeing each other at the high school reunion. Luke hadn’t been to a reunion in 35 years, and Abby had never been to one, yet they meet up at their 45th. The excerpt is from Abby’s POV and she thinks of all that happened to cause their paths to cross. I think of this myself sometimes. What if I’d done this instead of that? It’s an interesting thought process.
They are at the Friday night casual event when this takes place. Luke has just asked Abby if she will return with him the following night for the dinner dance, which is a more formal affair.
He wants to come with her, he wants to be with her tomorrow night. She thinks about her Aunt Maude – who’d been dying for the last thirty of her ninety-eight years (or so she’d told anyone who would listen) – and how Aunt Maude had picked this particular time to succumb. But of course, Aunt Maude hadn’t picked the time of her death, it had just happened that way. And what if she, Abby, hadn’t been here tonight? She would never have seen Luke Koslov again and would never have talked to him, and here he is asking if they could go together to the dinner dance tomorrow night. It makes her think that somehow events are planned to coincide and intersect in such a way that it alters the course of a life, or what’s left of a life, as if the person or persons whose life might change because of a chance meeting might be in the eye of an almighty somewhere and deemed important enough that He has designed it for the sole purpose of having them reconnect.
Interesting thought. She likes to think of it. What if. What if Aunt Maude had died last Tuesday, a week ago, and not this Tuesday? What if she hadn’t come for the memorial service? What if she hadn’t arranged to meet up with her cousin, Anne, for lunch at Applebee’s on Thursday? What if she hadn’t run into her old friend Dorie Wester, whom she hadn’t seen in decades, just as Dorie was pushing her 90-year old mother in a wheelchair past the table where Abby sat? What if they hadn’t recognized each other? What if Dorie hadn’t mentioned the reunion? What if Dorie hadn’t suggested she come? What if Dorie hadn’t insisted that she come? What if Abby hadn’t said she would come?
But Dorie had said, “Delia will be there too. It’ll be fun, Abby, you should come, I won’t take no, you better be there, what have you got better to do, anyway?”
She’d finally badgered Abby into saying yes. “Well, okay,” she’d said. “I guess I could go to the Friday night thing.”
And most important, what if Luke hadn’t come? He’d said he rarely came, the tenth was the last, and here he was thirty-five years after that and here she was too.
A memorable section! And it does happen … two of my classmates reunited at the fortieth reunion and came to the forty-fifth as husband and wife.
Yes, I have heard of it happening too. Not often, but it does happen.
That’s a lot of “what ifs”. I hope it works out for them. LOVE Aunt Maude!!!
Abby is a bit of a character. Only she would come up with all those what if’s.
Life is made up of so many ‘What ifs.’ It can be mind-boggling to think how different our lives might be if different choices had been made or different coincidences had occurred.
I know. This is so true. I’d do a couple ‘a things a bit differently. But that’s hindsight. Which, as we know, is (I won’t say it) very good vision.
Nice way to skirt a cliche. 🙂
Loved how you brought the reader into the character’s heart and mind. Nicely done and defintely a kep scene. Thanks for sharing.
Thanks, Michael. This character is easy to get into. She is not too complex.
Another boomer lit goldmine…the second chance story. Love the premise, and you’ve captured the lingering teenage angst that lives on in all of us! Nice work!
Thank you, Frances. I guess it is a second chance story, and I think there must always be angst, at any age.
What if? I often think that way too.
Beth, we could drive ourselves nuts with what if.
At this point in the story, I’m saying, “Yes! Yes! Yes!” I like the way you bring these two people together. Nicely done.
Thanks Sandra. Yeah at this point these two need to get together. But still, it will be a while …
There are no accidents or coincidences. Just go with the flow, Abby! Good inside look at what goes on inside a character’s head 😉
Thanks, Shelley. She was an easy character to write. Not complex at all.
Like Shelley, I don’t believe in coincidences, but since you’ve read my book – you know that, Lynn! I believe that so much more is connected than we can have any idea, our brains aren’t big enough to see the whole picture! I thought this was a fantastic excerpt and I am so looking forward to reading your book – it’s the next one in line!
Marsha, I think Abby knew that. There were too many things which could have happened to cause the meeting to NOT happen, that she wonders if there isn’t a higher power orchestrating the whole thing. I loved the Abby character.
Love it! When coincidences add up to destiny…Great thought, so well presented, thanks for the excerpt, can’t wait to read the book!