I asked the writephoto challenge regulars if they would like to come over and introduce themselves. Today we meet Marilyn Armstrong, who blogs at Serendipity.
Without those of you who write and read the pieces inspired by the weekly photos, the writephoto prompt would not exist. So, if you follow or take part in the weekly challenge, why come over and introduce yourself too?
Being a regular does not mean taking part every week… so why not drop me a line?
I know where I began and I know where I am, but how did I get here?
I think a lot has to do with — you guessed it — my mother. Born in 1910, she lived through World War I and II, then Korea and Vietnam and anything other war until she died in November 1982. She was politically active from a young age. She remembered how the government poured poison over excess food during the depression so starving people couldn’t eat it.
My mother
I thought she was making it up, but it turned out to be true. She was an avowed atheist, though I think in reality, she was angry with God. She felt that if there was one, he had failed us.
She was a bona fide liberal. She hated racism and wasn’t thrilled with any government. She believed all politicians were corrupt, regardless of party. She hated religious dogma and neglected to tell me I was Jewish until I was in second grade. The subject came up in school. One day, I came home and asked my mother: ” What’s a Jew?”
She looked at my father and spoke the immortal words: “We have to do something about this.”
When the Vietnam War (which wasn’t a war, but a “police action”) was in progress, I was part of the college anti-war group. I pointed out to my mother that all that money we used for the war could be used to fix problems at home.
She looked at me and said: “There is always money for war, but there will never be money for domestic problems.”
I thought she was just being cynical.
I had a lot to learn.
My mother was so against doing things the usual way, I didn’t do things the usual way. The only thing I wanted to do was write, so I became a music major. I never took a writing course. I was sure it would ruin my style. Like, at 17, I really had a style?
I did write for a living, but I wasn’t a lonely novelist in a house on a cliff. Instead, I wrote advertising, promotional material, book flaps, and news. The “who, what, when, where, and how” of news writing turned out to be a good set up any subject. After that, 25 years of technical documents taught me to say it simply and skip the adjectives.
I feel like a bit of a sham since unlike most of the other people who have written for Sue, I only wrote one book. Hardly anyone bought it, though someone offered to make it into a movie — except he couldn’t find a backer. I never really expected it to happen, but it was cool that he offered.
For me, blogging is the most natural way to write. I’ve spent a lifetime writing professional with a boss looking over my shoulder. News and features. Always, there was specific material that needed to be conveyed, a character count, and a boss.
The only things I ever wrote for fun were personal letters. I used to write great letters home when I lived overseas. In fact, I’m pretty sure most of my romance with Garry took place via letter.
He wrote. I wrote. He wrote. I wrote. For almost 10 years, we never stopped writing. Once I came back to the U.S., neither of us wrote another letter.
But I remember thinking “I wish there was something I could do which was just like writing letters.” Along came blogging.
Voila!
Blogging is exactly like writing letters to everyone at the same time. It’s what I always wanted to do and I don’t have a boss at my back. The only thing I miss is having an editor to fix typos and warn me to rewrite awkward language. And a paycheck.
About the Author
Marilyn Armstrong is a writer, blogger and photographer. She started writing as soon as she could form letters and has never heard a single good reason why she should stop. Marilyn and her husband Garry, as well their son, daughter-in-law, granddaugher and various intrepid canines, live in a setting of rare natural beauty and gigantic rocks in rural Massachusetts.
Marilyn blogs at Serendipity where she offers “memories via anecdotes, observations, occasional fiction, and photographs.”
Find and follow Marilyn
Serendipity blog Twitter Facebook
Amazon Goodreads Google+ LinkedIn
Fighting the of demons of an abusive childhood and having given up on traditional paths to personal salvation, Maggie decides to find her own path … by building a teepee in her back yard. It’s a peculiar route, but her goal is simple: offload the cargo of her past and move into a future, sans luggage. Armed with a draw knife and a sense of humor, she peels poles and paints canvas until winter passes and she is free.
Sue Vincent's Daily Echo 
Hi Marylin!!! Lovely to read more about you xx
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Hi Marilyn, I thoroughly enjoyed reading this. Your mom sounds like a strong character for a book 😉
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A powerful story Marilyn! To honor your Mother is precious. Glad to meet you!
Jordis
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Thank you. I think it looks better here!
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Reblogged this on Serendipity – Seeking Intelligent Life on Earth and commented:
On Sue Vincent’s site — Thank you Sue! I always feel a bit silly writing about myself because basically, that’s what I do all the time. It WAS nice to make sure mom got her due. She was amazingly supportive at a time when previous generation mothers were mostly confused by we boomers trying to remake the world. We didn’t remake it nearly well enough, but I hope newer generations do a better job!
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I really enjoyed learning more about Marilyn, Sue. Here mother sounds like a very intelligent woman. I would have liked her a lot and I like Marilyn’s blog. It is very interesting.
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Marilyn is always worth reading… she always has something pertinent to say.
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Pingback: #writephoto regulars ~ Meet Marilyn Armstrong – SUE VINCENT’S DAILY ECHO (Reblog) – Serendipity – Seeking Intelligent Life on Earth
I reblogged this, then realized our templates are totally incompatible, so I reblogged is piece by piece so it’s readable. I think it has to do with the different width of the pages of our templates, but it came out really weird. Thank you again!!
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I get that a lot reblogging here, so I try to do a cut and paste job when I can too.
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Basically, that’s was “press it” is anyhow. I think we both use what are considered “obsolete” templates, but I really LIKE mine.
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I like mine too… it does what I want it to do, I am not looking forward to being obliged to change it one day.
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A couple of times, I had to switch. They just stopped working and they had no plans to update them. I always try to find one that is structured the same way. With a little luck, everything falls into place pretty easily.
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No doubt I’ll end up in the same position one of these days.
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The headers stopped working, pictures wouldn’t show up properly. Fonts didn’t show up. Eventually the spacing didn’t work either. Subtle hints.
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I think I would interpret it that way too.
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Ah Marilyn, I love mothers like yours. Shame there isn’t a mold we can use. Mine was a slightly later generation but equally contrarian. So beautifully told too.
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My mother was imperfect in a motherly way. She didn’t have a real “touch” for nurturing, but she was smart, funny … and unique. I think I didn’t really appreciate her until I was an adult.
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Another lovely post! Hi Marilyn! So nice to know more about you ❤️
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Thank you.
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I have really enjoyed meeting you and your Mum, Marilyn. ..You have gone one better than me I have not published anything at all so there! Hugs 💜🍃💜🌹
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