The Why

I have decided to post portions of the book I am writing as I write them. I am interested in hearing the feedback, comments, and CONSTRUCTIVE criticism that folks might have, not only on the subject matter, but also on the content and writing style. This particular blog holds the preface to this book entitled "Love and Other Bruises".

Preface

I’m not really a writer in the truest sense of the word. I am a poet and a songwriter, and have penned the words to many a song and poem. Having retired from the music industry, I began bouncing around the idea of writing a book. However, like most things we dream of doing, I could never seem to get around to it.

Nevertheless, recent events in my life stirred me to sit down and start writing.

The first significant event was the birth of my only son to date. His birth stirred a part of me that had been buried for years, and the impact of his arrival is something that is continuous and on going .

The second bit of inspiration was turning 38. There was something about it, something surreal. I remember my parents when they were 38. I recall thinking of them as very important, put together. They had seemed so confident and so stable.

I don’t think I have ever felt that way personally, but here I was the same age they were back then. There was no escaping it; I could no longer ignore the fact that I was approaching middle age.

Beyond that, turning 38 marked 25 years from the very day my life irrevocably changed forever and true innocence was lost.

Some people have wonderful stories of their childhood and of their formidable years growing up. Other people have stories of triumph over the most daunting of odds. Still others possess tales of success built from nothing.

This is not one of those stories.

Having said that, this is not a sad story. This is a truthful story about what happens to people when love is used as an excuse to inflict hurt, to abuse and to manipulate. It is a story of loss, confusion, and abandonment.

Most of all, it is an account of the continuing journey it takes to put together the scattered pieces that make up the heart, soul and spirit, and figure out where a persons true worth lies and what real love looks like. A love that doesn't leave bruises or scars on us individually because they have already been born by somebody else.

It is my hope that writing this book will not only contribute to healing within myself and others with similar life stories to mine, but that it will offer me the opportunity to give my son an insight into his father that he may never get any other way.

More importantly, it is my prayer that he, and you, will get to know better a Father who bore our bruises as the greatest act of love ever known.