My Story

For people who know me these writings may be a surprise. But the truth is I have always been a poet and a storyteller. I began writing sonnets and limericks my sophomore year in high school. The rhyming poems were about silly things we experienced at that time in our life. They were witty and funny to the fertile minds of my fellow fifteen-year-olds.

The following year I took a creative writing class. The assignment was to describe something in detail. It could be anything. It was given on Monday and due on Friday. I had four days to complete it so, like any teenager I got started on Thursday night. Procrastination was my jam!

Later in the evening, I contemplated quietly. What am I going to describe? After a few minutes of deliberation, I had my idea. I would describe a dancer, more specifically a ballet or a contemporary dancer. I saw her in my mind. I was focused. I went quietly inward. The pen began to move across the page. It was like I was in a trance of sorts. Not even aware of the words written, suddenly I was finished.

I read it through and thought, wow that is pretty good. I hope I get a decent grade. I turned it in on the due date and waited. Excited to see what the teacher’s thoughts were, I was actually very proud of my work. When I got the assignment back, I had received an A, but in parenthesis was the word “CHEATER” all in capitals.

I could not believe it. The teacher assumed I copied it from somewhere and turned it in as my own. I went over to her after class to explain that I really did write this. She looked at me, rolled her eyes, and said, “Right, sure you did Lauri.”

In my mind, I thought, ‘this is messed up. After that reaction, I was discouraged and put the pen down.

Forward to 1998, it took seventeen years for me to rediscover the writing process I experienced in my youth. But this time it was different. I would wake up in the middle of the night, grab a pen and let the thoughts flow. They were like lava pouring out of a volcano, manifesting as inspirational poetry. It was a very creative time in my life.

I began making candles. I made bubble bath infusing it with essential oils and packaged it in wine bottles. I also began to sing and found someone who helped turn some of the poetry into music. Not really knowing what to do with the writings, I set them aside.

A few years later I met an amazing man named Tony Howell who truly helped me find my voice. We were married in 2003 and we were blessed to have a child when I was forty-four years of age.

It is now 2018 and my daughter Clara Bow is eight years old. Still happily married, I am living an amazing life. Both Tony and I are involved in music. My husband sings in a three-piece alternative band while I am part of a singing duo called The Satyn Dolls. We dress pin-up style and perform forties jazz standards. I love my life.

It has been twenty years since my poetry days and once again I have picked up the pen. Now I write short stories about lessons I have learned and situations that have shaped my life. So again, the process begins.

This time, however, there was an intense revelation. After I finished a story and edited it, I realized there is a poem I wrote twenty years ago that directly correlates to it. And so, it goes…. every story I write today has a connection to a poem from my past. It is a pretty unbelievable scenario. I always wanted to share my insights but just did not know quite how.

The other night I read my daughter one of my stories. Afterward, I had her read the attached poem aloud. When she got to the bottom of the page a confused look appeared on her face. She saw the date the poem was written and said, “Wait a minute mom, you wrote this twenty years ago?”

I replied, “Yes I did.”

Next, she asked, “How did you do that? It’s like you saw the future!”

I shook my head and explained that I don’t know the how or the why, but that’s what has happened. With that, she smiled and stated, “Mom, it’s magic!”

About a week later we went to dinner with my neighbor Stephanie and her daughter Addison. Coincidentally, the restaurant is called Magic Mike’s Pizza. My daughter Clara Bow was busy drawing multi-colored hearts on a piece of paper. She then proceeded to cut each heart out and paste them around a message she wrote on another piece of paper. When she was finished, she handed it to me and said, “You are my Magic Mom.”

On the paper, written in green marker were the words “Dreams Come True. Now the past melds perfectly with the present. There is no question in my mind the poems from my past are linked to these present stories. It is now for the reader to decide…

Life transpires exactly as it should. If it is meant to be, then so it shall.