Dear Fifty,

I have had to fight my Mother's voice even from the grave. I was told my writing was a stupid waste of time and I'd never amount to anything anyway. She has been gone for 18 years and I still at times am troubled by words she spoke so long ago.

I never was good enough for her. It was always, "why couldn't you have done this/that?"
Not until she was dying was she able to express any true love to me. It takes a long time to heal, the journey is long, but the end result is worth it. I not only have published one book, am regularily featured in my local newspaper, but my first novel is being considered for a made for TV movie and it hasn't been published yet. I hold those things close to my heart and tell myself my Mom was wrong.