IF YOU READ NOTHING ELSE ONLINE TODAY, READ THIS!
Last week, I am sipping a pint in the Slater’s Arms in Corris, Wales. On my residency, I visit the pub every evening to get online. We don’t have wifi at the residence. As I’ve gotten to know village people, I get my work done and visit before heading out.
FaceTimes with MTM are a big part of my nightly pub trips. But when I forget to plug in my headphones, his ringing disrupts people at the next table. I smile and apologize. Loud Americans. When I hang up, the man at the next table says, “Are you at the artist residency?”
“I’m an author there, yes,” I reply.
“What have you written then?” he asks.
“Several things. I’m known for my memoir about walking the Natchez Trace.”
He gets up, moves over to sit next to me, and says, “ I’VE READ THAT BOOK!”
Jim then proceeds to tell me all about it, proving he read it. His wife Tessa is outraged that she hasn’t read it and demands to know why he didn’t tell her about it. Pretty funny.
They’re in Corris from the east of England because his sister bought the Braich Goch Inn at the top of the hill last year, and she’s dying of cancer. They invite me to sit vigil with a dozen family over dinner, including Moira, an Irish woman whose mother was a Maher and is probably related to MTM. We call poor MTM yet again for her to meet her distant family (after pints and wine!)
DO NOT BE AFRAID OF THE WORLD.
I am so weary of reading the news and seeing nothing but fear, fear, fear driving people to do abominable things to other humans. I’m glad Jim started talking with me at the pub, and I’m relieved I put my computer away for a chat. He and Tessa didn’t stereotype me as a typical American, and I understood when they teared up talking about their sister. No stiff upper lips or stoic faces.
This is how to Make a Memory. It made my whole 2018. I never imagine anyone much reads my work, but to have it spouted back to me by an Englishman in a tiny Welsh village……..well, that’s heaven to me!
POST UPDATE:
Jim’s sister Rose died on Saturday. Please keep the family in your thoughts and send them prayers and positive energy.
11 Comments
We are a global community. That is a comfort and a strength in the Profit-Above-All-Else era.
I try to be a decent world citizen.
Now THAT is definitely cool!
Never happened to me before.
we are all one. this proves it once again. beautiful –
Yes.
I just LOVED reading this, Andra. What an incredible connection that surely gave Jim and Tessa as much joy as you received, and somehow from my own little perch far, far away, this delights me! It is so true that wherever we are, we have the opportunity to be a part of others’ lives, and what we do with that opportunity is on us. What a gift!
Funeral is tomorrow. I’m going to be there.
I’m sure your new friends really appreciate how much you care.
I live in a suburb of Atlanta and work in an elementary school where over half of our students are from cultural backgrounds that are not usually associated with the southeastern U.S. Everyday I see little girls whispering together with absolutely no awareness that they are not supposed to care about the same things. Little boys love Star Wars or discuss their preferences for Marvel or DC not realizing that the world expects them to be different. I have been lucky enough to travel and see that children everywhere do karate kicks and carry princess lunch boxes. If everyone would look to the children, they would see how things are supposed to be.
Yes. Children care about the basics.
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