The Spirit

Summer is in full brown, here in Arizona.  We continue to water our plants, even though we know they will all succumb to the heat soon.  Monsoon season is here, which means temperatures over 110, dew point of 55 or more.  Hot, humid, dusty, followed by the blessing of torrential rains.
 
Last July was the last time Lynda came out for a visit.  She stayed 2 weeks.  She had completed all of her chemo and knew she could just chill, read, play games on her Kindle.  I worked some of those days, but she was perfectly fine being alone.  Dave would come home from work, put something on the grill and sit in the pool, allowing Lynda to do whatever she pleased.


I was able to take some days off work while she was here.  The first week we just hung out, got in the pool, chatted until bed time.  We ate a  lot of yummy food Dave had prepared.  Lynda was slowly regaining her taste for food.  She even like the stuffed jalapenos I made.  She was never one for spicy food, but I made sure to remove all of the seeds and ribs so the jalapenos would be pure flavor.  


The second week we finally got down to doing some writing.  We woke up Jo and Susan so they could hang out with us.  They told us about their new adventure.  We knew what had happened to them up to this point, but they spoke to us and lead us to new discoveries. 


Lynda created a new addition to the little group of explorers.  Her name is Elizabeth Victoria Webb.  Named after Queen Victoria and Elizabeth Taylor. Oh, how Elizabeth and JoEllyn butt heads in "Guam Adventures - The Darkened Light".  I never had fights when I was a kid, but Lynda was a scrapper, so Elizabeth was  far more likely to come from Lynda's imagination.


Every day I contemplate the details of the rest of the story.  I know exactly where the girls are heading, and have a vague idea of how they get there.  I can picture their surroundings to the inth degree.  In fact, I have a true vision which I could never clearly illustrate for my co-author.  Not that I didn't try.  We both drew pictures of the scenes described in the book.  It was funny how differently the two of us had imagined everything. 



In our partnership, I was the one who spent hours and hours doing research, digging into the history of Guam.  Lynda took the facts, spent many hours and days contemplating how to meld fact with fiction, and magic happened.  The most rewarding part was writing a story that sounded so feasible the reader could never tell what was real and what was fiction. 


In reading "Guam Adventures-Mystery of the Cave", our sister, Traci said she was constantly wondering what was real and what was fiction.  That is exactly what we were hoping to achieve.  For those who lived at Andersen AFB on Guam, who went to school at Andersen Elementary School, our desire was for them to wonder about whether or not Jo and Susan really did enter the jungle, what of what they discovered was real.  When we lived on Guam, we knew the jungle was a scary place.  We heard of wild boars and Japanese Soldiers who called that dim, humid, exotic, mysterious place their home. 


Even decades after leaving Guam, the mystery of the Island and the jungle enticed our imaginations.  It was, after all, the most exotic place we ever lived.  Although you would think our memories of a place we lived when we were in elementary school would have faded into the deep recesses of old age, it became true to us that, as one gets older, memories of long ago become clearer than what happened yesterday.  Of course, our memories may be a little skewed.  Who knows?  Pretty soon I may start to believe what we wrote, not able to distinguish our lives from those of Jo and Susan.  Dementia could be just around the corner.  I do, after all, have a 40 year old son. 


Many of our cherished memories are displayed in both books.  We had magnificent childhoods.  Moving to Guam from Castle AFB, California, was a culture shock to us.  Tarague Beach, palm trees, the Pacific Ocean were like Heaven to us.  Through our Dad, we came to know some of the Chamorro people who are native to Guam. 


In "Guam Adventures - The Darkened Light" we introduce a native Guamanian to our readers. 


So, hang in there, all of you who have read "Guam Adventures - Mystery of the Cave".   I have actually written a couple new chapters. Slowly, but surely, the desire to set pen to paper and allow the story to flow from my hand, is returning.  I try to imagine what Lynda would add, listen for her voice.  She came up with some pretty unexpected ideas over the years. 


I ask only for your prayers.  Pray that Lynda's creativity will meld with my logical, factual way of approaching things.  I am the bones of the story, she is the spirit.


If you haven't read "Guam Adventures - Mystery of the Cave", it's available at www.createspace.com/4008187.   It isn't too early to purchase a copy for Christmas for that 'tween reader in your life.

Our Liberty

Today is Memorial Day.  It isn't just a day to remember our Military members who are deceased, but a day to reflect on the cost of freedom for all Americans. 


There is something special about our country.  It was founded by those who were tired of tyrants running the show. During the Revolutionary War, the hope of freedom was a burning desire for those who lay down their hoes and cycles and left their loved ones to fight for something they knew in their hearts was achievable.  They wanted a better life for their children, and for us.


Most of us take our way of life for granted.  We are comfortable living in a country that has always stood for liberty and justice, for all.  Sometimes we become so complacent we fail to think about the lives lost to purchase our liberty. 


Our service members fought for us all over the world.  They continue to do so.  Today, I'm sure some of them fight in places we don't even know about.  If you were raised in the military, as I was, and as were my children, you know there are things we can't know or speak of.  There are secrets.  Those secrets serve to ensure our freedom.  There are untold millions who would love nothing more than to destroy our country.  Those people shout out their hatred for the United States of America.  Why?  Are they afraid there are too many people in their own countries who dream of being free?  They must surely believe the word "freedom" should be wiped from the earth. 


I hate that we still have fathers, mothers, husbands, wives, sons and daughters who are in harms way every single day.  There would be nothing better than to have them all safely here, at home.  But if we don't fight the fight away from home, we will, inevitably, be fighting it here, at home, in our own state, city or neighborhood. 

I was born loving a military man, my Dad, William Wilkerson.  He served 3 years in the Indiana National Guard before enlisting in the Air Force where he served another 20 years. He never had to kill a man, thank God.  But he served during the Korean war and Viet Nam war.  He hunted down and secured parts for airplanes. Without him, many planes would have been grounded. 

When Lynda and I started writing "Guam Adventures - The Darkened Light", we spent countless hours doing research on the history of our military on Guam. The above picture was taken the day the United States liberated Guam from the Japanese, July 21, 1944. The mysterious hero in our book was on Guam the day the Japanese invaded that tiny island.  He was also there on Liberation Day.

Respect and awe of our military members run deep in the blood of our family.  Their selflessness and determination made us who we are, free Americans.

I, for one, am eternally grateful.

The Lifting Fog

  After getting my department open and up for business yesterday morning, I got on the computer, as usual.  I kept thinking, "It's the 21st.  What is significant about this day?"  I usually get this feeling and realize it's a family member or friend's birthday or anniversary and I've just now remembered.


It suddenly struck me that it was 2 months ago that Lynda, my sister, friend and co-author, passed away.  An unexpected lump filled my throat and tears sprang to my eyes.  I prayed nobody would come by to talk to me until I had composed myself.


This morning, I have been hearing this small voice saying, "It's time to get busy, Terry.  At least start thinking about what you need to do to get back into the book." 


I've been so incredibly busy at work the book has been pushed to the back of my mind.  When I have thought about it, it's been with dread.  Writing a book is a lot of work.  When Lynda and I started working on Guam Adventures - Mystery of the Cave, we were clueless about the amount of dedication and sweat involved in writing, re-writing, editing, gathering a design team, and pulling the finished product together.  How in the world am I going to do this by myself?  Holy Cow!


At this point, what I really need is prayer.  I need to pray and I ask all of you to pray for me, as well.  I can't let Guam Adventures - The Darkened Light, turn into dust.  That regret can't haunt me for the rest of my days.  I owe it to Lynda to finish telling Jo and Susan's awesome new adventure. 


So, I do feel like I'm beginning to come out of the fog.  Your prayers and support will help to lift my spirits.  I am determined this will be a labor of love, not one borne of grief and duty.   My writing partner will be with me. I pray the voice I've been hearing this morning will inspire me with some of Lynda's creative, quirky ideas. 

Going it Alone

Going it Alone

"Guam Adventures - The Darkened Light", is waiting to be finished.  Lynda and I worked many months creating a new adventure for Jo and Susan.  In fact, the inspiration for the book came to me one evening as my husband, Dave and I watched a basketball game.  Well, he was watching the game, my mind was racing.  I grabbed  my notebook and starting writing down my ideas so I could share them with Lynda.  I didn't want to forget anything.



Lynda signing copies of "Guam Adventures - Mystery of the Cave"

Six years ago, when we decided to write "Guam Adventures - Mystery of the Cave", Lynda suggested we write about a Japanese soldier.  I thought it was a pretty far-fetched idea but I didn't have a better one so we did tons of research, developed our characters, and plunged in.  After tossing out several chapters, doing many rewrites with the help of our amazing editor, Janet, we miraculously finished the book!  Nobody was more surprised than Lynda and I.  Procrastinators from birth, we had managed to publish and even sell some copies.

What a blast we had!  During that time we discovered how differently the two of us remembered our time on Guam. Some things were clear, though.  Andersen Air Force Base, the school we attended, the mysterious jungle we saw every day, our parents, siblings, the weather, etc. were etched into our minds.  We laughed so much!  Memories of the past rolled like a wave through our conversations. What a blessing, after many, many years living so far from each other, to share those years and moments with each other.

The last time Lynda and I worked on the new book was last October when I visited her after her first surgery.  We headed to the park, opened up the laptop, leafed though our notebooks and hung out with Jo and Susan and the rest of the gang.  Lynda was in pain, but she never complained.  She was more concerned about me walking around without the boot the Dr. told me to wear on my ailing foot.  I told her to forget about my foot, it was nothing compared to her situation.  She wouldn't hear of it.  She said, "pain is pain". 

After a year and a half of dealing with cancer, our family gathered with Lynda in the nursing home last month.  When I first arrived at her room, she was sleeping.  At least she seemed to be sleeping.  We knew her time was short.  Very short.  I sat next to her, held her hand, talked to her.  Told her I loved her.  My brother Mark and his wife, Tracy and I sang along with the young musician from the hospice group who stopped by.  He played some of her favorite songs and we harmonized to "Crystal Blue Persuasion", and other songs we'd sung together over the years.  Lynda didn't make a sound, but I could hear her voice, anyway. She was probably inwardly cringing at our sour notes.

She passed away at 7:18 that same evening.  We siblings and our kids had gone to dinner, leaving her husband, Glenn, their sons and wives in the room with Lynda.  Halfway through our meal we had a message saying Lynda was gone.  It didn't seem real then and doesn't seem real now. 

Lynda was my big sister.  The only living person I had known my entire life. When we were little we played together and fought together. Sometimes we couldn't stand to be in the same room together, even though we always shared a bedroom.  When we were in high school, every time a boy broke my heart, she would hold me in her arms and just let me cry.  She was my first friend.

I'm going to finish "Guam Adventures - The Darkened Light".  It will be a lonely job.  Sitting at the table, by myself, I pray I will hear her encouraging me.  My inspiration will come from her.  When the book is completed, I hope our readers will hear her voice along with mine, in the telling of the story of Jo and Susan.