Besame, Besame Mucho
By Mort Laitner
“I can’t write without a reader. It’s precisely like a kiss—you can’t do it alone.”
—- John Cheever
The authors of Healthy Stories write for our readers. Many of them return our gift of words with their own written emotions found in well-crafted letters or emails. We are fortunate to have readers who take our thoughts to heart, give us feedback and using Cheever’s kissing analogy–bless us with their words of encouragement. The medicinal power of these health-giving kisses can never be underestimated.
Therefore, in honor of our symbiotic relationship, we present our story lover’s words in the following kissing and pecking order.
Pecks on the cheek—
“Great story!” or “Your stories are excellent examples for your constituents and I truly enjoyed reading them!”
Pecks on the nose—
“Your story is very well written.” or “By the way I think you need to write more.”
Four pecks on the cheek—
“Thank you for sharing your very touching story. I have forwarded it to friends and printed out a copy.”
Pecks on the lips—
“Bravo!! I am so glad to be on your e-mail list.” or “I was so moved by your story.”
Two pecks on the lips—
“Your essay was somber and touching, and really resonated with me.”
Three seconds of lip contact—
“What a talented writer you are! Don’t stop!! With your skill you can go on forever!!”
Abráceseme—
“I think that the story is so well written and interesting…did you ever think of sending your stories to The New Yorker magazine? I’m sure they would grab some of them.”
A French kiss—
“Okay you have raised the bar. How will other writers be able to compete with this story? Very amazing.”
Finally in Kevin Costner’s (Crash) words to Susan Sarandon (Annie) in Bull Durham in which he says “…and I believe in long, slow, deep, soft, wet kisses that last three days.”
“As we meet different walks of life we find there is a story, whether we tell it well or not well…But for this story, my friend, there are no words that one could express. Peace Be Unto You and Yours!”
And to our loyal and loving readers we respond:
“Besame mucho, love us forever and make all our dreams come true…
Besame, besame mucho”
You are the reason we write.
Roses From Her Son
By Gonny van den Broek
Shoes grind the gravel
to her narrow grave;
his thoughts roam
to a time of ample room
to bury disagreements,
unearth anger.
Eyes grasp the marble
of the cross,
freeze
in the frosty silence;
here,
where cries of quarrels
echo as murmurs
hushed by the quivering roses
in his hands.
