Reason Eighteen: Why I'm Retiring

To Cassie, Who Danced

Like other writers, I’ve got a few manuscripts lying in the bottom of a desk drawer. One in particular is calling to me. To Cassie, Who Danced, is the story of a young girl diagnosed with autism when it was still a rarity in the United States. Ironically, I began to write this before my own son was diagnosed! Cassie has languished for many years now, and it’s time to dust her off and bring her out.

Cassie especially liked stories that included dancing. She would twirl dervishly, arms outstretched to the fingertips. Her skirt—Mama always insisted Cassie dress for “school” every morning even though she had no place to go—would billow around her like a music box ballerina’s. I would make a courtly bow and offer my hand. Cassie would touch her elegant, tapered fingers to mine and imitate a perfect curtsey. It was at these moments that I realized just how beautiful Cassie was. Her large, dark blue eyes were riveting inside her pale face. Mama always said it was hard to know just how much Cassie understood; looking into her eyes was like falling into another universe, one with deep secrets.

What reasons would you have for retiring or making a change in your life?

A SPECIAL SHOUT OUT TO MY FRIEND KAREN WHO SAVED THIS COPY!