A Cruise in A Different Kind of Boat

I love metaphors and similes and anything else involving comparative language, which is why I’m talking today about a cruise in a different kind of boat.

I’m a romance author. Mostly contemporary, although I did jump into a rowboat once and write a historical. I’m pretty sure it’s sold a couple hundred copies by now and I still love it, but no matter how hard I pulled on the oars, I just wasn’t cut out to write historical romantic fiction. (Now, if you want to talk about reading historicals, I go right from the rowboat to the ocean liner as far as expertise goes.)

For even longer than I’ve been published in romance, though, I’ve written a column called “Window Over the Sink.” I’ve written it for newspapers, for a magazine or two, and in several spots online—including my own blog. It’s my favorite thing to write, so my husband asked me to compile some favorites into a book. I agreed, and 15 or so years later, I did it.

The reason I published Window Over the Sink when I did was because the romance boat was becalmed. I’d gotten a rejection that threw me for a much bigger loop than it should have, and I needed something to pull me back toward shore.

It’s been interesting and fun. I love the book’s cover. I love that I did what I promised my husband I would do.

I love that a ride in a different kind of boat gave me time to refurbish and overhaul the engine of the romance-writing boat. It also reminded me that it’s always good to try different vessels now and then.

EXCERPT

TURKEY, JOY, AND A SMALL GLASS OF BEER

“Let us be grateful to the people who make us happy; they are the charming gardeners who make our souls blossom.”

~~ Marcel Proust

Aunt Nellie was my great-aunt. She was born in 1892, loved and married two men, and never had any children. She was the other side of the coin from my grandmother, who’d undoubtedly been the Good Daughter, and even though I loved them both, I worshiped the ground Aunt Nellie walked on.

My mother’s side of the family were all teetotalers, but when my brother-in-law asked Aunt Nellie if she’d like a beer, she said, Yes, she wouldn’t mind a small glass. I don’t know that she ever drank beer again, but she did indeed enjoy every drop of that “small glass.” Where Aunt Nellie was, there was always laughter.

We used to go to her house for Thanksgiving. I’m not sure how many of us were there. It seemed like dozens at the time, but the number was probably closer to 25. She lived in a pretty little Cape Cod house on a pretty little street in Goshen, Indiana, and she had…oh, even in memory, it thrills me…she had a step stool you could sit on and the steps pushed out in front! She also had a finished basement with its own kitchen! In the living room part of the basement, there was a cabinet Victrola with a stack of records. They were tinny and scratchy and it was hard to get them going the right speed with the crank, but there was such safety lying on the rug listening to Bing Crosby and Dinah Shore.

Even though I grew up on a small farm, the only time we ever had turkey was on Thanksgiving. I’m pretty sure I ate my weight in it every year. I loved eating whatever I wanted and never having to touch the squiggly red stuff that slid out of the Ocean Spray can. The dessert table was impressive, to say the least, and it was pretty much stripped by the end of the day. Even then, leftovers went home with each family, and the feeling of fullness and warmth would go on with turkey and noodles the next day.

I imagine being poor was a key player in my satisfaction with Thanksgiving, but that’s really neither here nor there. What matters are the memories and the lessons Aunt Nellie left behind. She was somewhere in her 80s when she died. She’d been packing for a trip to Grand Rapids with friends when she passed away. Grief created a hard, empty place in my chest at the loss, and I just knew I’d never get over it. However, at the funeral the officiating pastor mentioned her preparing for her trip and said she’d been just as ready to go to heaven as she’d been to go to Grand Rapids. My grandmother, who’d loved her younger sister even more than we did, said she thought if she’d had her choice, Aunt Nellie would rather have gone to Grand Rapids. Laughter softened the grief and added one more rung to the memory ladder.

Aunt Nellie was one of the first people I thought of when I became a Harlequin Heartwarming author. She’d have loved the line’s premise, its joy and sense of family, and its humor. She’d have also told everyone at the beauty shop all about her niece, the author. Knowing that reminds me again of how lucky I was to have her.

Happy Thanksgiving to all. If you have that small glass of beer, be sure to enjoy every drop.

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Retired from the post office and married to Duane for…a really long time, USA Today bestselling author Liz Flaherty has had a heart-shaped adult life, populated with kids and grands and wonderful friends. She admits she can be boring, but hopes her curiosity about everyone and everything around her keeps her from it. She likes traveling and quilting and reading. And she loves writing. You can reach her at lizkflaherty@gmail.com.

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