Hey Joyce! there's a lot more I can tell you about Ruth! I will email you this week will full details. If you don't hear from me, please shoot me a message. (my memory gets fuzzy these days)
The misty muddy fields that were walked across to rescue those kids left a lingering, cinematic impression. Nicely done. It's interesting too--- it's like you're re-birthing this story, giving it life after so many years. it almost feels like it waited for you.
I really, really appreciate this. Thank you for “seeing” this story. I’ve had a hard time communicating the value of it to a wider audience, but it’s more of a personal journey I suppose! I hope I get to read some of your work soon?! Can you please link it if you have a chance? ❤️🙏
I've been thinking about the "working class story" label and how to extend it, since identities can be limiting. There's the rural landscape, the people born there, and then there's the ones who appear on the fringes. Belonging becomes a state of mind, and those outsiders have their own special lore.
As an Iowan, I can say that the wholesome image the Midwest projects to the world is not completely false.
My childhood in Spencer and Des Moines was idyllic, until it wasn't.
The truth of the Midwest is infinitely complex, like anywhere else. Not many people want to go poking around in the dark places.
On a somewhat related note, it occurs to me that one reason why working class stories get no traction in MFA Land is because those stories deal with things that the affluent MFA students have never experienced and can't relate to.
The stories, from their standpoint, are too raw, and therefore in need of softening.
But the rawness is exactly what you would expect in stories from a war zone.
I connect a lot with what you're saying here John (just like I seem to connect with everything you say!) I've grappled a lot with exactly what you talk about: the "sunny" side of iowa and the darker, less explored places. It's a tension and dichotomy that kind of plagues me. I think that's why I try to untangle and suss it out in writing. My childhood was incredibly bucolic and pastoral and we lived in an Old Order Amish community. But all of that is juxtaposed with a sordid family history. Agree with you about the rawness of these kinds of stories, too. I couldn't make this shit up if I tried, ha! :)
I'm so sorry your grandpa had to live like that. I'm glad you were there to see him before he died. This is beautiful writing, and as somebody who grew up in nebraska, I feel everything you're talking about, except for the rain! The part of Nebraska I grew up in, the Northwest corner, over the panhandle, never gets rain. But everything else really brought me into Nebraska and the traumas my own dad faced ther. Thanks for sharing your story.
Thank you so much for your super kind words, and I’m very curious to hear more about your story and life in NE!!! 👀 I can imagine the loneliness and silence of the landscapes where we grew up is similar. I’m from deeply rural Iowa. Lots of liminal rural Midwest experiences / traumas / grief-passages / ghost stories / go overlooked so I’m very happy to connect with you as you’re writing in this terrain and exploring this territory too!
Rereading this piece I'm loving the pace, it's very distinct and on-location. The woman's story must be told of course. I love the weaving way it travels.
Very good Julia. Is there more about the mother? Has Ronnie commented? My email: jrhannas@comcast.net (Joyce)
Hey Joyce! there's a lot more I can tell you about Ruth! I will email you this week will full details. If you don't hear from me, please shoot me a message. (my memory gets fuzzy these days)
The misty muddy fields that were walked across to rescue those kids left a lingering, cinematic impression. Nicely done. It's interesting too--- it's like you're re-birthing this story, giving it life after so many years. it almost feels like it waited for you.
I really, really appreciate this. Thank you for “seeing” this story. I’ve had a hard time communicating the value of it to a wider audience, but it’s more of a personal journey I suppose! I hope I get to read some of your work soon?! Can you please link it if you have a chance? ❤️🙏
https://pompomreyes.substack.com/p/the-blush-of-ignorance?r=7fhgyv&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web&showWelcomeOnShare=true
I've been thinking about the "working class story" label and how to extend it, since identities can be limiting. There's the rural landscape, the people born there, and then there's the ones who appear on the fringes. Belonging becomes a state of mind, and those outsiders have their own special lore.
All of this has been on my mind lately too. We must be on the same wavelength 🌊
Great story.
As an Iowan, I can say that the wholesome image the Midwest projects to the world is not completely false.
My childhood in Spencer and Des Moines was idyllic, until it wasn't.
The truth of the Midwest is infinitely complex, like anywhere else. Not many people want to go poking around in the dark places.
On a somewhat related note, it occurs to me that one reason why working class stories get no traction in MFA Land is because those stories deal with things that the affluent MFA students have never experienced and can't relate to.
The stories, from their standpoint, are too raw, and therefore in need of softening.
But the rawness is exactly what you would expect in stories from a war zone.
I connect a lot with what you're saying here John (just like I seem to connect with everything you say!) I've grappled a lot with exactly what you talk about: the "sunny" side of iowa and the darker, less explored places. It's a tension and dichotomy that kind of plagues me. I think that's why I try to untangle and suss it out in writing. My childhood was incredibly bucolic and pastoral and we lived in an Old Order Amish community. But all of that is juxtaposed with a sordid family history. Agree with you about the rawness of these kinds of stories, too. I couldn't make this shit up if I tried, ha! :)
I'm so sorry your grandpa had to live like that. I'm glad you were there to see him before he died. This is beautiful writing, and as somebody who grew up in nebraska, I feel everything you're talking about, except for the rain! The part of Nebraska I grew up in, the Northwest corner, over the panhandle, never gets rain. But everything else really brought me into Nebraska and the traumas my own dad faced ther. Thanks for sharing your story.
Thank you so much for your super kind words, and I’m very curious to hear more about your story and life in NE!!! 👀 I can imagine the loneliness and silence of the landscapes where we grew up is similar. I’m from deeply rural Iowa. Lots of liminal rural Midwest experiences / traumas / grief-passages / ghost stories / go overlooked so I’m very happy to connect with you as you’re writing in this terrain and exploring this territory too!
Rereading this piece I'm loving the pace, it's very distinct and on-location. The woman's story must be told of course. I love the weaving way it travels.