THE GESTATIONAL PERIOD FOR A "PUBLISHED" WRITER

There are some subject matters that are just plain "taboo" when mixed genders are gathered around the fireplace, the dining room table or at the local Hockey Rink.

I find that Hockey Moms (and others of their ilk) of my acquaintance tend to feel they can break the "rules of convention" in the conversational area in today's more liberal or relaxed society wherein Hockey Dads, on the other hand, band together, (hey, when a Hockey Mom is immersed in record keeping, supplying drinks, cookies and band aids to the team, scheduling family outings around future hockey games, who has time to do that four-letter word "cook"?), to discuss how to fix the Thanksgiving turkey in one of those new deep-fry contraptions you can find at your nearby Kohl's or, perhaps, ask around who has the best recipe for Creme Brulee, and, yes, the best use of duct tape?..like across the  Hockey Team's  Mom's mouth when her kid is taking a beating at the end of an opponent's lethal hockey stick. (You ever see a Mother Bear in attack mode? Kinda like that...)

When I was active in PTA and other stuff when my own three kids were of school age, it was considered beyond the dictates of good taste to ask, especially in a chiding tone: "Is that really a Paula Young Wig?" ..."Now tell me, how much do you actually weigh (or drink...or smoke...or gamble...or cheat)?" And the most cutting of questions ever..."And how is that working for you?" Bless you, Dr. Phil, for perhaps the most cogent of all questions of this century.

The question put forth today to the Hockey Moms gathered at the Riverside Ice Rink really put me to thinking. The question: "What animal has the longest Gestational Period?" A Dad piped up (these are erudite family men, to wit: a doctor, an advertising executive, an Internal Revenue civil servant, two teachers among others) and I think it was the rocket scientist who offered: "690 days for one of Ceyla's six baby elephants!" Of course the Hockey Moms (and others of their ilk) were duly impressed and upon returning home, I looked up on Ask.com, just to be sure, and sure enough the wannabe naturalist was right. And for purposes of this Blog and just for fun, I looked up information for the "Blue Whale" and found the Gestational Period to be one year, three months longer than  that of any of the Hockey Moms who would have you believe their Gestational Period was...forever!

The point I am trying to make here is that these blessed events take time, these "new births at the end of Gestational Periods." Just for comparison's sake, for me it took a "Gestational Period of some 75 years" to realize a dream come true, a dream that was conceived when I was ten years of age and submitted an Essay on one Abraham Lincoln, the Young Backwoodsman, the Rail Splitter, the Young Man Who Walked Miles to Return Forgotten Change, The Young Lawyer from Springfield, Illinois, the 16th President of the United States, and he had a little something to do with the Emancipation Proclamation! A good ten pages, handwritten as I did not have access to anything but a No. 2 pencil, and sheets of Woolworth's notepaper upon which I poured my deep and undying love for this Backwoodsman!   I did not notice the facial wart until much later, but I doubt that it would have made any difference in my degree of affection for this man...less than 20-20 eyesight can be a good thing sometime! Even today!  (I personally doubt that his wife, Mary, had for him the kind of adoration I held buried secretly away in my humble heart until today!)

If you have been to Facebook lately, you will have noticed directly across from my name in bold print and a picture that could use some updating, the URL that will lead you to the website maintained by PoliticsDaily.com whose Editor-in-Chief is Melinda Henneberger, the one directly responsible for my entry into the world of "published writers" and my emotional condition as of today's date which is, also, the end of my own personal "Gestational Period."

A lot of writers my age are retired, should be retired or no longer among us, and here Melinda finds me at the age of 85 and gives me something that no one else could: space in her online newspaper! I love that woman, but not as much as I love Abe, but she will understand: there's just "something" about a Rail Splitter!


75 years spent in writing letters overseas to four brothers during World War II, writing the humor column and human interest stories for the AHS's newspaper, The Needle, letters to young classmates of the year 1943 who were in the Service, to Mom in Atlantic, Iowa, after Del and I moved to California, stacks of church and preschool newsletters at my place of employment, 20 years of publicity news releases and newsletters for three PTAs, a year's worth of "Portrait of a Teacher" column for our school district (and listen to this, at least two teachers told me they were promoted within a short time of their "Portrait" being printed in the local community paper) over 67 years of personal reminders for Class Reunions and two self-published booklets spotlighting their lives, the annual Family Christmas Letter...this "on-the-job" training probably is just about the equivalent of the four years of Journalism at the University of Iowa I so dearly wanted to pursue following graduation. But, as I have mentioned before...Life has a way of happening, and I am just really pleased with the way Romans 8:28 spells it all out for me!

Melinda told me once that she knew of someone dear to her who, late in life, pursued her dreams with great success. Hardly knowing me at all except for an occasional post, in telling me that, Melinda encouraged me in the only way that I could wrap my heart around...just keep writing, pursue my dream. I had found a dream earlier in the form of http://countrygalcitywoman.blogspot.com/ where I aimed to write "from the heart with an attitude of Thanksgiving" as long as there are people like my wonderful Facebook Friends and family and friends in Iowa who try to keep track of their Auntie in this manner....and am "pursuing" as fast as I can!

Those two years of Journalism taught by Grace Busse, bless her heart, at AHS is finally paying off and the check soon to be sent by Politics Daily represents the first cash payment for any of the stuff that has come off this keyboard and all those manual keyboards of so long ago! I am going to take a digital picture of the check before cashing it and frame it so that my descendants in the year 2090 will know what their Granny was up to in those "good old days."

If there is a lesson or moral in this Blog that "says" something to you, take it from me, who took it from Melinda Henneberger...pursue your dream. It is out there waiting for you. Have patience...not all Gestational Periods are the same. I refer you to the Prolific Bunny Rabbit - 33 days; Minnie and Mickey Mouse - 20 days (each); Gilbert (Alan and Molly Cranston's  lordly cat) - 62 days; and Sadie - ruler over all my domain - 65 days, but, again, who's counting!

All those cute little Hockey Moms I know personally have managed to fit in from one to six Gestational Periods...and as long as those handsome Hockey Dads serve up a nicely caramelised Creme Brulee, I don't see that changing any time soon!

Personal aside to Dana...a Hockey Mom who really does understand all those complicated Rules and Regulations of Hockey: Now do you know why I (one of those of like ilk) asked that "Gestational Period" question?

This Blog is for you! Love, Mom