I am writing my memoir with the help of a talented writing coach. The theme is my infertility journey, which was in the mid-1980’s. Today we needed more detail on what might be names of adoption services back in 1985. Although I kept a journal at the time, I did not recall names. I dig through a pile of mail and find a 2019 yellow pages phonebook that still has the plastic cover on it. I tear off the plastic, open it up to the first page, and below the letter “A”, the very first listing is “Abortion Alternatives”. I let my index finger scroll down. Three clinics are listed and the third in bold print reads, ROMANA PREGNANCY CARE CLINIC.
“Romana! That is my mother’s name. She went by Ramona most of her life but in her later years she returned to the original Spanish pronunciation.”
“Your Mom is here. She wanted to come by and say hello – tell you she is with you on this journey.”
I gasped, felt my heart swell and placed my hand on my chest.
“Sometimes they pop in during the writing process.”
My mother was able to birth many children, so when I suffered pregnancy loss, I was worried that she would not understand. I wrote a scene about this called, “A Woman I Never Met”, which has just been published in Shaking the Tree. short.brazen.memoir. The theme of this third volume is, “I Didn’t See That One Coming”. This anthology of short vignettes by thirty authors is put out by SDMWA (San Diego Memoir Writers Association). If interested, you can order at local bookstores or Amazon. https://amzn.to/3hgEtSi .
My mother was always strong, stable and busy. I’m pretty sure she still wears an apron in heaven, stuffing clothespins in the pockets, cooking over a hot stove and helping everyone out. I am pleased she found an opening in a cloud and took a moment to look down and bless my writing efforts today.