I’m a collector of details that people tell me. Here are two
stories that served as seeds for To Love
Andy. I met a newly-married gentlemen in his 70’s who told me that when his
first wife died ‘her sister thought that
I’d marry her but I didn’t want that.’ The second story is of a woman dying who said
of one of her helpers ‘that woman is
after my man.’ (FYI – she was
correct. After her death her husband
made the helper his second wife.) When I
added in my long time admiration of those who provide palliative care, and the
possibility of life in review for the patient, the story evolved. To Love Andy provided technical
challenges in its triple view points of the younger sister, the dying sister
and the dying sister’s dreaming self.
And while I met some of those challenges, I absolutely appreciate the
editing skills applied by staff at Persimmon Tree.
The publication of this story is pending. Watch for the link. Update - March 17th. Persimmon Tree has a new issue of their online magazine and To Love Andy is no longer available to read online. I certainly do not regret the time my story spent with them, but for you to read it now, you'll have to get in touch with me personally. Or wait until it is included in a collection form. Thanks goes out to everyone who read it. I hope you enjoyed the piece as much as I liked writing it.
