Writing goodbye

You know, I'm not very good at saying goodbye. The operative word in that sentence is "saying." I tend to cry when I have to "say" goodbye. I guess that's one of the reasons I write.

Some people may find this an impersonal way of sharing, but for me, it's the best way to express how I feel. The words on paper say so much more about what I feel that what I can actually spit out of my tongue-tied mouth.

For instance....

I was interviewing North Dakota Farm Bureau president Eric Aasmundstad for a news release explaining why he decided not to run again. I think there were three times during that conversation (thank goodness it was over the phone) that I got a catch in my throat. I found myself having a hard time asking the next question.

But it is easy for me to write when I am emotionally invested in the story. And it seems like I do get emotionally invested in just about every story I write. As you can imagine, it can get kind of exhausting when the stories are of loss or injustice. That's probably why I tend to like writing happy stories about the good things people do.

I know happy doesn't sell as well as loss and injustice, but it sure keeps me in a better writing frame of mind!

Dawn