My Musings: Mother's Day Devotional

My Nana has shared many inspirational stories with me throughout her life. I’d like to share one today. It is Mother’s Day after all, so it seems appropriate.

This is one of the true stories about a real-life single mother and ancestor of mine named Angelina Jaques. I have pulled from her life to help develop my working novel, Sins, Hims, and Whims of a Single Mother. 

Angelina is my great, great grandmother, my Nana’s grandmother, who helped raise my Nana after her mother died at a young age. In my novel, which I am currently writing, I incorporate this exact story, portraying it as part of the legacy left to my main character; though in reality it is a legacy left to me.

My Nana typed this story about Angelina. The following is the scanned document she sent me along with a scan of an old portrait of Angelina and three of her children. It is an excerpt illustrating the faith of a single mother, whose life I honor and respect.

I hope you can excuse the typos, as my Nana is not the most computer savvy old woman, though she is full of wisdom and love.

JNP

P.S. Hope it's legible enough. If it seems tiny try pressing Ctrl/Cmnd and + a time or two, which will zoom in on your browser window.

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Just a Little Intro

The fictional part of this blog is still in the works. I figure it'd be wise to get a few months worth of the novel lined up and scheduled, not to mention copy edited--thank you to Editing By Suzy--before I roll with the story telling. After all, I am a single mother who not only cooks, cleans, goes to Parent Teacher Conferences, has a church calling, and works full time; I also Facebook, Tweet, do photography, and--I guess now--I blog. Meanwhile, I stay up late into the night querying my recently completed urban fantasy, or paranormal romance (not sure how to categorize it precisely), and writing my new fictional novel, Sins, Hims, and Whims of a Single Mother (1,784 words written and lots more to go). 

In the interim, I'd like to introduce myself, you know, blog a little about my own life. My single mother roots date back a few generations. My great-grandmother on my dad's side was a single mother of seven. My Nana always tells the most wonderful stories about her mother's strength and faith in God. She was a single mother also though not for quite so long as her mother, and she only had two children to care for at the time. On my mother's side, my grandmother was a single mom, and then my mother joined the club. I suppose it was inevitable that I should also be a single mother.

I respect all the women who walk the lone, thorny path of single motherhood, treading in worn out shoes--like Beyonce sang, "The shoes I’m wearing, I bought ‘em"--so our children can have new ones. I have many friends who are part of this alliance. They all have incredible stories that should be told. Essentially, that's the plan for this blog: Share their stories. 

Week by week (schedule is still in the works) I'll post a piece to a continuing fictional story that is inspired by and based on the musings of real-life single mothers. My desire is for the stories shared to be both funny and emotionally charged. Hopefully, they can be inspirational too. I know I enjoy stories about strong women who battle enormous odds triumphantly. Not every story is about slaying demons and thwarting fantastical monsters, although I love those. Most stories are about conquering personal demons and fighting off everyday monsters. Single mothers are typically engaged in both these battles; simultaneously and relentlessly it seems.

For a long time, I felt like my biggest monster was my ex-husband. Sometimes he still is. I've oft compared him to a recurring rash. I have a friend who served a religious mission in Africa. He got sick there, broke out with some type of rash all over his body, and now, whenever he's exposed to the sunlight for any lengthy period of time; his skin gets red and splotchy, remnants of the old rash. Well, that's sort of how my ex-husband is. Just when I think I can go out and enjoy a bright, warm, sunny afternoon, that nasty rash returns! After ten years, you'd think the rash would stay away, but no.

This post may be a little premature, seeing as how I do only have 1,784 words written for the fictional portion of this blog. But though I may be busy, I am also excited. I can't wait to get the first official post of Sins, Hims, and Whims of a Single Mother up for all to read. I hope you stick around.

JNP