Amy M. Schaefer
  • Amy M. Schaefer, Writer
  • Blog: From the Front Porch
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From the Front Porch

I am an "accidental blogger". When I launched my writing career in March of 2014, one of the things that I decided to include was my journaling, which I have always found to be a comforting and therapeutic endeavor.  It was a big risk to open myself up in such a public forum, but it has taught me that, for the most part, we share far more experiences than we think. It's comforting to know I'm not alone!  (*the "Button Text" is the link to my first novel)
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Life: The Great & Terrible Beauty

7/22/2015

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Picture
Tattered Heart by Amanda Carrington
My youngest daughter, who is twenty-two, was quietly crying on our sofa as she read the last pages in the last book of the Divergent series by Veronica Roth. She came into the kitchen when she was done, her beautiful, freckled face wet with tears and I pulled her into my arms, hugging her tight. As we talked about the book, the series, and the love story we both wept. It struck me then...what would you do for a love like that, a love that saves the world, but leaves you feeling as if YOUR world has ended? Some people search their entire lives for a love that potent and die never having touched it. Others hold themselves back, keeping a distance from such things for fear of the pain and loss that is inevitable, which is greater than their desire to truly experience love full strength. And then...there are those rare, rare few who get to have that kind of love for a human lifetime.

It occurs to me that my child has gotten a real glimpse into the wonder, magic, and heartache that simply living a life fully invested will bring. It isn't an easy lesson for me to watch on her young face and even more difficult for her to learn, but it's important. She will experience the feelings of frustration, confusion, and sorrow the ending of the books brought to her many times over throughout the course of her life. She must learn how to allow those things to shape the woman she becomes. Do they crush her spirit or inspire her to something great? All of that remains to be seen, but I'm rooting for her every step of the way!

What a beautiful skill set to be able to create something so powerful and accurate merely by the proper selection of words strung together! And what a deep reminder of just how precious a love that is true can be. If we always remembered how finite this life is and how abruptly things can end, we'd treat it more like the treasure it is and go to extraordinary means to protect it.
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    About The Author

    I grew up in rural North Carolina. When I was only nineteen, I moved away and became a military wife. My only aspiration at that tender time in my life was to create an adult life that "fixed" all of the "injustices" of my childhood. Secretly, however, I wanted to reach for the sky! I wanted to be a writer and find ways to "save the world" (my mother used to say, "You have Save the World Syndrome".). Mostly, I wanted to matter.

    Since then, I have learned to reach well beyond what I ever dared to think was possible. I've learned not to allow fear to stop me from whatever future I want to create!

    What keeps me grounded? My Tribe! What provides the wind beneath my wings? A well of reserves filled with unstoppable passion!

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  • Amy M. Schaefer, Writer
  • Blog: From the Front Porch
  • Novels
  • Short Stories
    • Children's Books
  • About the Author
  • Contact
  • Photo & Art Gallery