I grew up in a rural area, there’s not too much to do but daydream, run around in the woods, and write. Though it may sound idyllic, not so much. To say my family was dysfunctional would be an understatement.
Like many dysfunctional family children — especially if you are an Aspie, you either run away or you retreat. I did both. I retreated to my room and read — I gobbled books up. The library was a trip to the theme park for me. Lives and worlds untold. When I would write, it gave me a sense of serenity, normality. I felt it was a part of me, a calling.
Then I ran… to college, where I made a major mistake. Since literature and writing came easily to me, I thought college should be tougher. I went into marine biology.
I loved my writing core classes… especially when they would give us a word or phrase and we had an hour to write about it. To this day I love those challenges and was even part of a writing group which had this as a core component. It’s like a puzzle or a math problem. You have a phrase-now write. What fun!
My major in marine biology started me down a path that took me across the States into different fields of studies, which are stories for another time. It also gave me my solace — being in the mountains or by a lake or ocean. I can find my stories hidden in the creaking of the trees or the whisper of the…
