Showing posts with label son. Show all posts
Showing posts with label son. Show all posts

Monday, 4 July 2016

Daddy Blogger: Scrabble with my Son

Inspire. Create. Write.TM


This is Daddies & Mommies week on The Blog Tag.
So let me start by saying #MadRespect to all the Daddies & Mommies out there! For all the love, support and magical wisdom you provide to your kids. 

The writing prompt is...
Most Memorable Mommy/Daddy Moment
So today I will be sharing an excerpt from Chapter Seven of my upcoming novel, The Cured: Rebirth
The premise is as follows:
Teen discovers a Cure for Cancer & has to make the Ultimate Choice. Save his Love or Save the World. 
The scene background consists of: 
William Scott, now diagnosed with stage four lung cancer and his dad arriving at his hospital room during visiting hours.
********




Chapter Seven
{Continued}

Will's dad showed up at 8PM with a big green box, he had dark circles around his eyes and his curly hair looked disheveled but he had a broad smile painted on regardless.

"Look what I brought from the attic, when last have we played this?"

"Wow it's been eons. We use to play scrabble all the time dad. What happened?"

His dad gave him a knowing look, "You grew up kiddo. So what do you say? Game time?"

"Game time."

Will was the reigning champion at this game ever since his dad taught him but playing his dad was no easy task. He would always come out with these long forgotten words like a dark horse and get really close to winning. This was the only activity they did together, it bonded them somehow.

As they began picking their letters, "What's on your mind son?"

"Just wondering if you and mom will have another kid after I'm gone."

"Hey now don't talk like that. Sorry bud that ship has sailed, you're everything we wanted and then some."

"Dad you asked, I'm just saying it as it is. Look be realistic, I'm not getting any better in fact I overheard the nurses saying it's a miracle I've survived this long. Doctor Gerhard is no closer to perfecting the formula. I just, I have to know that you and mom will be ok. I know it's going to suck, hell if I lost either of you. I'd be a basket case, I just couldn't deal. But I mean after time you know, promise me that you'll heal dad, that you won't only focus on how bad I got in the end. Focus on all the great stuff we did together like that trip we took to Kansas City."

"You know funny enough your mother and I were discussing this the other day. She was going through some of your old stuff and found that second place trophy you won for the speech contest." His dad was already lost in the memory.

"Wow yeah I remember that Carina won because she talked about having diabetes and I was so mad that I didn't talk about my asthma." Will's dad chuckled. Something he hadn't heard from him in a while.

"No no that's not the point. The point is that when we looked at it, it reminded us of all the amazing memories we've created and how proud we've been of you. I mean I remember the day you were born, I had been stuck in traffic frantically trying to find a faster way to the hospital while your mom was on the phone screaming my head off for not being there. When I finally did get to you they handed you to me after your mom's turn of course. I couldn't understand how we had created this perfect little thing, you were so small you fitted right in between the fold of my arm. Then you did the darndest thing, you squeezed the tip of my finger with your whole tiny hand. It was just this amazing sight to see your little pink fingers over the tip of my index finger. And I knew that day Will, that I would never let go, ever. So as much as I understand your wish, I just can't. Surprisingly it was your mother with the strong wisdom. She said we might have to deal with losing you. She kept me anchored and told me there's only one William, we need to celebrate that." 

They were playing the game, laying word after word at an almost unconscious level now as their conversation went on. He couldn't remember a time before this that they had talked so much. It was an amazing feeling.

"Wait, are you sure you're talking about the same mom here? The one that cried her eyes out yesterday because I threw one of my socks in the bin. She spent half an hour clutching that smelly thing, balling all over it. There's no way."

Will's dad grinned, "I don't know what to tell you kiddo. It's true, maybe it's because she lets it all out that makes her the stronger one. She's always been my anchor especially when my father passed and she adored the man. Maybe that's why it's harder for us, I mean we bottle everything up until that breaking point and I know that we both have a hard time letting things go, especially the things we love the most."

His dad just then played the word Grime, hitting him a high triple word score. "Oh snap." Will snapped his fingers. They played a few more rounds before Will spoke again.

"At least one thing good did come from all of this."

"You mean besides getting a girlfriend and you potentially curing cancer?" The question was rhetorical but Will grinned with his father anyway.

"Yeah, of course those things too. Justin came to visit today."

"That mean kid who looks like a rhino? What did he want?" His dad eyes were holding a lot of anger behind them.

"He surprisingly enough wanted to apologize for everything he's done to me and the other kids at school. He felt horrible for picking on me when he heard about my condition and it took time to muster up the courage to come see me. He said I was his favorite nerd." Will laughed at that part of the memory remembering Justin's facial expression.

"Wow that is surprising, So what did you tell him?"

"Well this and that but I told him he could make up for it by not beating on anymore kids, he agreed. The most important part was that we had our first real conversation ever. You know guy to guy."

"When did you get so wise kiddo? I can barely give any of my friends advice."

"Well you did always say it was easier to hate someone than forgive them. I've been choosing a lot of the hard roads lately haven't I?" Will thought about what he said to Emma.

When the final bead was played and the score tallied up, Will's dad won by seven points. Will loved that his dad had beaten him, it just felt right for him to get a win. 

Will's mom arrived with dinner a few minutes later announcing that she'd forgotten the drinks which his dad was only too happy to go get. She went around the room tidying up the place, "My God Will, are you determined to make this place look like your room? There's clothes everywhere! Do you want the other patients to think I'm raising some barbarian?"

Will seemed to look at his at mother in a way that he'd never taken the time to before. He realized how much the posture of her stride contributed to her strength of character. He'd only ever seen her as mom but now she was something more, this force of nature that would do anything to protect him even if it meant letting him go.

"Have you thought about it yet?" His mom's question caught his attention.

"Thought about what mom?" He inquired.

"Oh, you know about how the world is going to look once cancer is cured? That's a big thing for the history books."

His mother's statement threw him for a loop, he'd never stopped to think about that. His parents always talked about consequences to the actions we take whether good or bad, they must be faced regardless. He spent the rest of the night pondering on what such a 'Cured' world would look like.

>> Found the PERFECT song for this, Watch/Listen to it Now or while reading!


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This was a very memorable moment for me because of the sincere moments shared between father and son. The undeniable bond that developed between them during their many games of scrabble.

Enjoyed this? You can also read another excerpt of the book titled: The First Date 

Noticed the Big Sign/Badge on the right-side of my blog, did ya? Yes, The Blog Tag. An amazing community that supports & encourages bloggers by providing them with weekly themes & daily writing prompts in reference to those themes.

Here's a card I did for my dad on Father's Day:

~Be Kind to One Another~ Ellen Degeneres

Thursday, 26 May 2016

The Bi-Polar Bear in the Room

Inspire. Create. Write.TM

"You are allowed to be both a masterpiece and a work in progress, simultaneously."

Photo Cred: AlfonzoWords

Watch Overcomer - Animated Short 

wow!! so deep & moving!💔

Video title: Overcomer - Animated Short 
Filmed by: Hannah Grace / The Land Below
Ownership of the video goes to Hannah Grace

Gilded shadows pool on the floorboards, swirling in the ambient moonlight filtering through from the window. A man sits quietly to the left, watching the patterns forming in fascination. Amazing things really can be found in the quietest of moments, he thinks.

The man sits at his desk, a page out and a pen in hand, he tries for the life of him to form the words he knows need to be said. That familiar nagging tension stands locked within his shoulders, creeping down his spine. As if subtly trying to avoid his attention. Time was inching towards its inevitable climax and he had but one chance to get this right.

The man squares his shoulders in determined dominance, poised over the paper, with a firm grip on the pen. The tremors were thankfully, at a calming pace today. He takes a deep pull of oxygen to re-energize his brain and begins his writing.

Dear Seth

As I write this, you are asleep in the very next room curled up with your favorite teddy, all exhausted and seven kinds of adorable.

You have been born unto a very different time indeed. Humanity now has tolerance & acceptance for things that in my day, were of the ultimate blasphemy. Technology has almost entirely invaded every aspect of our lives and more and more people are becoming "self-taught". With the information all out there on the Internet webs at the touch of your fingertips. People no longer have the excuse of ignorance, when the information is now as easily accessible as just tapping away at their mobile phones.

Yet I feel, as your father, I owe you what needs to be owed. An account, an explanation and a plea. For even in such a world, preparations must be made.

Firstly, understand that your story may not be mine and I sincerely pray to all the gods that, I haven't believed in, that you aren't one of the afflicted in the way that I am. The experts as experts go tell me that you might just be like your old man after all. So it is with a heavy heart that I must convey this to you, in hope that you make a better go of it than I ever have.

Secondly, I would like to tell you just how proud of you I am. Supremely so. Of all that you are and all that I know you will continue be. You are truly the apple of mine eye and I thank all heavens of grace that you come from me.

So without ado, let's get to it.

There will come times when the day is a great, bright myriad of colors full of wonder and sun-touched moments. You will find that in these moments, you are a god in your own right. Able to create the best of experiences with the best of people in the best of exuberant emotional intentions. Such will be your power, such will be your gift. People will look unto thee with renewed motivation and awe. They will flock, oh they will flock.

But alas this is not the happiness that I would give up my soul for you to keep. For their will come times, just as frequent, maybe more so. When the world will swallow you whole, throw you against a mountain of hurt and then spit you back out. Bear with me because this is what I want you to know. You are perfectly normal in this, more so than most. Because what you feel is true and real. Don't let anyone ever tell you different. There were moments in my youth when I was told things like

"Man up."

"Do you just like the attention?"

"I thought you were stronger than this."

You see son, unfortunately, it is easier oh so much easier for people to judge externally than internally. To dish out advice when it is that very same advice their own lives are sorely lacking. It is in these moments that your true self will be defined.

At times, I remained flabbergasted. How could I be so jubilant and flawlessly happy in one moment? Then, like the snap of a whip; feel like all hope had been taken from the world.
The agony of it is almost unbearable, blurring the line between what is sane and what isn't. The anguish and guilt I felt were indescribable. Back then we didn't dare name it, back then we didn't dare justify it. None of it was known for being what was defined as a man. But now, now I tell you this in the wisdom that I urge you to listen to. There are no 1, 2, 3 easy fix steps here son. No magic pill or elegant soliloquy to face this monumental giant of despair for you. The only way through.. is through!

Every day will be a fight, the fight of your life. Every day will feel like an emotional roller coaster with no safety bar holding you down. Stand fast, my son, grip and hold on with maddening anger. For in this life, life itself is the greatest gift.
In the immortal words of John Green, "Pain demands to be felt."

You must, above all else, everything else. FEEL! Feel it all, let it all in. Embrace the darkness with open arms and let her consume you. Find comfort in the abyss, don't wait for that light to shine through or that hand to reach out to pull you through. If you're drowning, learn to swim. If you're falling, build your wings on the way down. Do not be like your old man, bottling it all up until the obvious and eventual explosion.

They will try, oh they will try so very much to "cure" you, change you and otherwise refuse to understand you. Never give this much thought, you are exactly as you were always meant to be. Live in the Helping of others but don't not live For them.
Showing them that there's more than rooted routines and predetermined roles.
It's only the crazy ones who ever change the world.

I am not long for this world now boetie, my journey must continue elsewhere but wherever I am, I want you to know that nothing will ever change. I am your father and you are my son. Such is our relationship that it will even transcend death. I will live on within you, through you and of you.

You have been such a man of the house these last few months, especially when the tremors started. The waking in the dead of night to help me through it all. Taking care of me and your mother without any thought for yourself. I know everyone has been focusing on how your mother is handling all of this. I know that not everyone sees all that you do and all that you are. Because they can't, no one can be with you 24/7. It's much easier, in the hustle and bustle of life, to overlook things. But I do son, I do. I see it all. And that matters above all for I will always be your biggest fan, your biggest supporter. In this life and the next.

Go forth, unto the world, be brave, be you and if you so desire it, help them wake up.

I love you boetie, with everything that I am, I love you.

Sincerely, your father
Emmerson Wailey


A single tear glides down the man’s cheek and falls silently, landing over the word “love”. The ink, not dried yet, smudges the word with deafening significance.

DeviantArt Cred: The BiPolar Bear
By paulhull69

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Authors Note

One of the most important posts I've ever written, what was said here has deep, deep emotional ties to me. 

This was written in complete support to #MentalHealthAwarenessWeek & the #EndTheStigma campaign. The Blog Tag has been truly inspirational this week, helping their bloggers open up and share their amazing journeys in relation to this topic. I have absolute gratitude for them in this. #SharingIsCaring


Show Heart: Click through to the links above to help raise Awareness & End the Stigma surrounding Mental Health. 

Show Courage: If you have a story to tell, reach out. Whether anonymously or not. Or link us up to your journey posts. All are Welcome :-)


"I survived because the fire inside me burned brighter than the fire around me."

Try It: Create a Collage like this of Your Emotions
~Be Kind to One Another~ Ellen Degeneres