When I talk to Jim at the lumber yard, I don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t say, \u00e2\u20ac\u0153 I need ten 2×12\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s with joist hangers and by the way, my wife thinks I should use eight penny galvanized nails instead of joist hanger nails.”
\nWhen the concrete truck arrives, I don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t say, \u00e2\u20ac\u0153My wife wants a thinner mix, can you add more water.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n
Robert Atwan, the instructor for my Epiphanies writing class, didn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t ask,
\n\u00e2\u20ac\u0153Why did you take my course?\u00e2\u20ac\u009d
\nHe simply said, \u00e2\u20ac\u0153 I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122d like to know who you are, so tell me a little bit about yourselves.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d
\nThere were twelve students and we moved clockwise around the wood paneled, conference room. I was second, after Ann, a pastoral counselor on a sixth month sabbatical who plunged into both writing and painting workshops. Ann was brief and I hadn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t time to fully prepare.<\/p>\n
\u00e2\u20ac\u0153I am blah, blah, and I live in blah,blah, and I work as a blah, and I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m here because my wife urged me to take this course. I wanted to take a writing class but it was she who found the Blue Hills Writing Institute\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s ad. When it came time to choose between Memoirs, Finding Your Voice, or Epiphanies, she said,
\n\u00c3\u00abYou have a voice, take Epiphanies.\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 \u00e2\u20ac\u0153<\/p>\n
Our class format was simple. We all had an opportunity to read our stories, hopefully Epiphanies, which were then critiqued by students and teacher. Everyone followed that format but me. Wednesday morning, when it was my turn, I said, \u00e2\u20ac\u0153I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve read my story so many times that it would help me if someone else read it. That would allow me to hear it. It helps at home when my wife reads my work. \u00e2\u20ac\u0153<\/p>\n
After Robert Atwan finished reading my story, Martha, an Emory law professor, read hers. Titled Starting Over, it is a polished stone about her father and his suicide. For the first time, Mr. Atwan didn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t need to troll for opinions. Everybody had one and like a boy at a fishing tournament, I waited impatiently to throw mine on the scales.<\/p>\n
\u00e2\u20ac\u0153You handed out your story yesterday, therefore I was able to read it several times. The second time I listened as my wife read it aloud. When she finished, I wanted to applaud – she was silent.
\nAfter a few moments I said, somberly,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d I hope I get to read my story first.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d
\nMy wife paused a moment, and then replied, \u00e2\u20ac\u0153 I hope so too.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n
I listed my opinions, quickly: strong paragraph- ending sentences, subtle but powerful content, and a perfect conclusion. \u00e2\u20ac\u0153But,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d I said, \u00e2\u20ac\u0153If there is one thing to change, my wife thinks you should remove the word narcissistic.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n
Worst of all, I was aware of what I was doing but I couldn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t stop.
\nDo I see writing as a female pursuit, something a real man wouldn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t follow?
\nWas this my way of displaying my female side to the class of mostly women?
\nDid I think that Diane, not me, should be taking this class?<\/p>\n
On Friday, during our final lunch and before the certificate presentation, I shuffled along the buffet line in front of Becky, who teaches English at Lawrence Academy in Groton. As I spooned salad next to my steak tips she asked,
\n\u00e2\u20ac\u0153Would you be interested in forming a writer\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s group with me? There is Tim and …”<\/p>\n
Before she could finish I interrupted, \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Yes, I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122d love to.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n
Or that is what I would have said before I became my wife. <\/p>\n
Instead I said. \u00e2\u20ac\u0153When I left home this morning one of my assignments from my wife was to return with a writer\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s group. I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122d be flattered to be part of yours.”<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
When I talk to Jim at the lumber yard, I don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t say, \u00e2\u20ac\u0153 I need ten 2×12\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s with joist hangers and by the way, my wife thinks I should use eight penny galvanized nails instead of joist hanger nails.” When … Continue reading