Tuesday, December 11, 2007

"She's a Writer"

Last night there was a special dinner held for the members of my husband's accounting firm that work on a particular client. It was held at a pretty swanky place and I was excited about an evening dressed up and having adult conversation. The appetizer plate alone would have been enough (the best seafood I've ever had), but the hits just kept on coming: filet mignon, cheesecake. Yum.

At our table sat the office managing partner in our city. That makes him the big man at the office. It was my first opportunity to become acquainted with his wife. We were having quite a pleasant conversation when she turned to me and asked if I worked.

"I do, but I don't get paid for it, " I smiled. "I stay home with my two small kids."

Then, with a chime of enthusiasm, my husband added, "and she's a writer."

This seemed to draw attention from everyone at the table. "Really?" they questioned.

This was the first time anyone, including myself, has just come out and defined me as such, and I almost denied it, feeling that of course I don't really qualify. But I stopped, recognized the delicious feeling of being recognized as a writer and smiled. It was a beautiful moment for me. So what if I'm not published? I really am a writer.

It was a great gift from my loving and encouraging husband. Merry Christmas to me.

11 comments:

SzélsőFa said...

Merry Christmas to us all!

You described this coming-out moment so nicely! It must have been a mixture of excitement, denial - uplifting and dizzying at the same time. Wow.

Also congratulations on your Roar Award and on a supportive husband like this!!!

Vesper said...

What a splendid moment! You have a great husband. And indeed you are a writer. :-)

Beth said...

I just read about the anemia. I hope you're feeling better, Hoodie.

I really enjoyed reading this moment. Good for you!

Anonymous said...

That is great! So nice to hear. I don't think I have been called a writer yet, but maybe someday.

Jaye Wells said...

First, great response of the stay at home mom thing. Second, congrats on admitting you're a writer. I've had to ween myself off following that proclamation with "but I haven't sold anything."

Chris Eldin said...

Smooth answer to 'What do you do?' I have always hated that question. As if our self-worth is entirely packaged in the answer we provide.

John Elder Robison's book "Look Me in the Eye" has a great passage where he's at a swanky party and someone asks him that question. He says he's a sanitation engineer. What's that, people ask. He works on a garbage truck (this is all being made up as the conversation moves along). He tells these garbage stories that horrify the swanky people at the swanky party. I was crying from laughing so hard.

Nice hubby. Nice, nice hubby! And you ARE a writer!! A good one, at that.
:-)

The Quoibler said...

So you're "out of the closet" now, huh? It won't be long before you're deeply engrained in a book deal worth multi-millions. Then we can all say, "We knew Hoodie when..."

:)

Congrats! That is a sweet thing for your husband to do. He sounds like a heck of a nice guy!

Angelique

Hoodie said...

Thank you all for your kindness and affirmation. LOVE YOU GUYS!

Sarah Hina said...

We all need to fight that knee-jerk reaction of denial. Of course you're a writer!

And from what I've seen, a damn fine one. :)

Liane Spicer said...

This "I'm a writer" business is so loaded! You're lucky that your coming out was such a positive experience.

Me, I still feel apologetic and a slew of other stuff when the issue of my writing comes up, even among some family members. Outside of the writing fraternity people equate 'writer' with 'rich and famous', and there's a lot of pressure from people's expectations.

Your husband sounds like a sweetie.

Be Inspired Always said...

What a wonderful moment :)



Jillian