The Story of Sorrow

by Sharon Fitzpatrick

Sorrow McGuire, a 22 year-old redhead, arrived at our door on November 3, 1993--literally born yesterday. She shared a dilapidated apartment with Judas, a mutt I'd adopted a few years prior, and me, and part-time busgirl and a full-time student of "The Great Books" in Annapolis, Maryland. Though she beguiled me for almost five weeks, I exposed to her a version of my self, perhaps the truest. Thanks to her special soul for serving so; I seized her quick intellect and fine spirit in the exploration of my own. She was actually able to follow my speech in its most meandering stages-I actually drop off sentences and leave the room in mid-sentence, but I've edited out that characteristic for the sake of readability. For the same reason, expletives appear at a minimum. Otherwise, I have attempted to preserve characters as seen through my consciousness. A few names have been changed. I offer much gratitude to those who have contributed to the story, especially those who have given use of their names. Of those who have been slighted by this limited portrayal, Judas may have been done the least justice in my failure to describe his actual animation. No events have been fabricated, though I have reconstructed from memory. None of the mystic content has been exaggerated, yet much omitted. The daily finding of a penny, or one-cent piece from heaven, as I thought of them, could not possibly be replicated. This pattern of being blessed with a bronze disc simultaneous with pure or loving thoughts developed during the seven months prior to Sorrow's arrival, on each of the 37 days of her stay, and through the seven months I continued to live in the neighborhood after she was taken away. Handcuffed, sheleft on December 10. In recapturing this friendship initiated by an ad in the newspaper and the hand of God, I have aimed for an honest recollection. Our exchange as young women exemplifies how all of our shattered lives come together in a great mosaic of Power.

414 pages, Paperback

Published June 1, 2005