Living Like My Characters

A strange thing happened to me last week. Actually, a lot of really bad stuff happened within the span of five days. The more that was thrown at me, the more frustrated and overwhelmed I became. And I realized that all the trouble I throw at my characters can be truly difficult to handle. Not bad enough that the heroine's granny was kidnapped. Then they learn she doesn't have her heart medicine with her. Then the hero is roughed up when he tries to chase a bad guy. Then his place is ransacked. And so on and so on. But it's obstacles that bring out the changes that point us toward our happy ever after. Er -- our characters, that is.

First, my normally super healthy husband had to be rushed to the hospital with horrible abdominal pain we later learned was kidney stones. The ER took three hours to see him. Did I mention he was writhing in agony on the floor? After spending all night and half the next day in the ER, we came home to a broken air conditioner unit. We live in Florida. So think about Florida in August with no AC. For four days before the repair people could get the cool going again. And of course, it was no easy fix. We needed a new unit. Days later we discovered a leak in the ceiling that ended up being a roof leak that necessitated a new roof. In the course of four days, we had to spend $15,000 on our house. The very next day, I backed into a very expensive convertible in a parking lot. Yup - add that to the total.

When I took a moment to stand back and think about all we'd been through, I realized someone upstairs was doing to me what I do to my heroes and heroines. I throw all the crap I can at them. They always come out the other side better human beings. So that's my challenge. But when someone you love is ill, your priorities have a way of realigning themselves. The money is just money. The car is merely a car. See that -- I've changed through my obstacle course. And my hubby is fine now. Life is good.