Friday Speak Out!: At My Age, I’m Still Wet Behind the Ears, Guest Post by Becky Povich

At My Age, I’m Still Wet Behind the Ears

by Becky Povich

I never realized I was a writer until I was almost 50 years old. Sure, as a young girl I loved to write letters and had pen-pals all over the world. I was also passionate about reading, due in a large part to my paternal grandmother. Nothing thrilled me more than Bookmobile Day at my grade school. Climbing up those vehicle steps and entering a world of adventures was magical. I always exited with an armload of books.

As a young adult, I still enjoyed writing letters to friends and family. While some women swooned over shoes or purses, I’d be in the local Hallmark store, caressing beautiful stationery, trying to decide which box to buy.

Later in life, my jobs were usually in a customer service capacity. I took it upon myself to type newsletters to the sales crew and office staff, which was the brightest point of my week. I never considered any of this as writing, but since my genre is personal essay and memoir, I realize now it was the groundwork for this journey in my life.

I consider I officially became a writer in 2001 when I received a phone call about my estranged father. Hearing he had a grave illness and may not live caused deeply hidden emotions to surface. I once again felt love for him and wasn’t ready to completely let go. It hit me so unexpectedly, I felt compelled to get to my keyboard and the words just flowed. It was incredible. I titled it “Thoughts on Love & Forgiveness” and because of it, I obtained a position with the Opinion Shapers in the St. Peters (Missouri) Journal. A few years later, an edited version of it was accepted and published by Chicken Soup for the Soul, in their Divorce & Recovery anthology. I believe it’s the only story in the book written through the eyes of an adult child affected by a parents’ divorce.

Thanks to the superb encouragement from other writers near and far, my writing has definitely improved over the past ten years. I love my writing groups and the countless websites and blogs geared toward writers, especially Women on Writing and The Muffin! I’ve been fortunate to have other works published and I’m currently writing my memoir. My publisher is a small press in Missouri, High Hill Press. I’m living a dream I never realized I had!

I’ll end with one of my favorite quotes:
It's never too late to be who you might have been. -- George Eliot


* * *

Becky Povich began her writing career in her late forties. She’s been fortunate to have stories published in Chicken Soup for the Soul, Thin Threads, Patchwork Path, and other anthologies. She is the current president of Saturday Writers in St. Peters Missouri, and also a member of the Missouri Writers Guild. She is the co-author of the Saturday Writers blog: www.saturdaywriters.blogspot.com and maintains her personal blog as well: www.beckypovich.blogspot.com. She’s currently writing her memoir and hopes to finish it this year.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Would you like to participate in Friday "Speak Out!"? Email your short posts (under 500 words) about women and writing to: marcia[at]wow-womenonwriting[dot]com for consideration. We look forward to hearing from you!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~