Smile

When I was a child, my mom would sing the theme-song to COPS, and she was horrible at it. I don’t remember if she knew all the words, but when the chorus came on, she belted out the lines at an ear-piercing volume of a peacock. 

I remember these moments like they were last week. In actuality, they were over thirty years ago. The thing was, my mom knew she was a horrible singer, but smiled and continued singing. My mom’s terrible off-key singing showcased something about her, and that was her positivity. 

There are many positive people in the world, especially moms. The moms who cheer on their kids at events and make sure they have the best education, food, and a safe place to live. Yet, what about the moms facing challenges and smiling through them? Moms who are suffering from a horrible diagnosis, financial struggles, pain, or even fear.

My mom was one of those people. Several years after those times of horrible singing, life continued to decline for her. The singing stopped. Soon she was bedbound, had a feeding tube placed. She was not able to communicate in any way, yet she always…always smiled. 

Nurses and caregivers would comment on how happy she was and how positive the energy was around her. And my mom was on her death bed for many years before passing, so you’d assumed to hear the exact opposite. 

When I set out to write, I Adopted My Mom at the Bus Station, I wanted to take a deep meaning and make it positive, the best way I knew how. As I crafted the story, pieces fell into place like a perfect cup of coffee on a just cold enough morning. Stories don’t often write themselves, yet this one did just that. 

As I completed the first draft of I Adopted My Mom at the Bus Station, my mind was wrapped up in positivity. Somehow I managed to create an inspirational, humorous, and even slightly uplifting story about a motherless child. How could this be?

I looked for my answer the same way I do with understanding my mom’s positive aura. You, me, everyone, can take anything and make it positive if we have one thing. Effort. My mom made an effort to smile every day. And people noticed this. People even questioned this. With I Adopted My Mom at the Bus Station, I also made an effort. In each chapter I wrote, I added something positive, something with heart, something with humor, or something with hope.

Sandy, the main character in I Adopted My Mom at the Bus Station, goes through a lot, both past and present, yet positivity prevails. Sandy, a motherless child, faces her fears just as my mom did. It’s not to say that it’s not scary or the choice we want to make. Often it’s the route we are given. I Adopted My Mom at the Bus Station is a coming of age story about Sandy, and her desire to have what it seems like everyone else in the world has, a mom. Although the story is fiction, there are emotions in the story that I felt as a child—a child who wanted nothing more than for positivity to change fate. 

We’ve learned that life is a mix of what we make it, what we strive for, and what we don’t expect. What’s important is how we handle and adjust our life. We can sing out of tune with a smile, or sing perfectly but miss out on so many beautiful experiences and memories. So during this time, take a chance, smile. 

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Savannah is the award-winning author of the sweet romance, Grounded in January, and the picture book Winston Versus the Snow. She’s also the author of the picture book The Book Who Lost its Title, and Nonnie and I. Her latest novel, I Adopted My Mom at the Bus Station releases on June 24, 2020.

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Tags: featured, women writers

Category: On Writing