Don’t Forget to Write

by Sara Goodman Confino

And if you married a prince, sure, you got nice jewelry, but you never got to have your own life again. No thanks. I’d much rather rescue myself.

one and a mother by twenty-two. I shuddered at the thought. I wanted to live my life first.

“But apparently you can’t breed out exuberance.”

And it didn’t hurt that he stood six feet tall, with a jawline that would have made Gregory Peck jealous.

Every spare moment, she could be found with a book in hand, often even while standing at the kitchen counter stirring a pot.

You, for example, need someone who will stand up to you. You’ll never respect anyone who caves too easily. And you’ll bulldoze over anyone who gets in your way.”

had never seen a woman manage her own business before.

No one ran a company or managed their own money.

And her age—along with the fact that she had been in this profession for nearly fifty years—made that even more impressive.

And despite myself, I was envious. Yes, I wanted love and passion and excitement. But the idea of being my own person—of doing what I wanted when I wanted and bossing everyone else around—was intoxicating. M...

But my mother—I began to wonder if she secretly wanted me to learn this very lesson all along.

summer of torture was better than a lifetime of mediocre marriage.

Looks fade for everyone—except maybe Ada—but someone who can cook, darn socks, and listen to every inane word you say was forever. “I wish I had half her domestic skills.”

“You catch more flies with honey than with vinegar. And don’t ever let anyone tell you we’re the weaker sex.”

But I never saw them show affection. I had always chalked it up to the era they grew up in. But the pitying look Ada was giving me made me wonder.

Mothers should live forever.

Nothing ages you like children.”

I value my youthful appearance.”

I pictured myself lounging on the overstuffed sofa, a novel in hand, eating fresh fruit from a farm stand. A far cry from New York, but delicious nonetheless.

We can only teach them to fish. We can’t also teach them to cook, chew, and swallow.”

but I would always choose the ocean.

To Kill a Mockingbird. Mama

if I didn’t want to look like a pancake Mama made while reading. She always served them burnt-side down, but they didn’t fool us anymore.

The Goldmans tried so hard to impress everyone that they failed to impress anyone.

“You remind me of her. Nose in a book at every opportunity. Except when there’s a boy around.”

“I told you, it’s children that age you.” Then she pointed at the sky. “And that sun you’re sitting under. When you’re my age, you’ll regret not sitting under that umbrella.”

Freddy never took his eyes off me. The way he watched my mouth as I spoke, as if he wanted to devour my very words. The way he made me feel like the most irresistible girl in the world—the only girl in the world. I couldn’t hold out against that.

I looked at her in awe. I had never known a businesswoman before. I had known secretaries and nurses and teachers. But not someone who fully managed her own finances for a lifetime without the help of a man.

“Was it hard?”

“It still is. But the only things in life that are worth it are hard. It was worth it to maintain my independence. And now I can help others.”

envisioning a day when I would be walking along the beach and seeing people reading my novel. Even if I had no idea where to begin.

And I didn’t understand how these men could claim to be attracted to the fact that I was free, then try to cage me.

“No. It’s never going to be ‘right.’ I see that now. It’s me. I don’t want to be someone’s wife. I want to be myself.”

“When it’s right, you’ll find you can be both.”

would never understand how anyone could enjoy the misfortune of others.

And if not, why did Ada seem happier than most women I knew?

You could be rich as Croesus and still not have

class.

He looked perplexed, which wasn’t attractive. When confident, no one was more handsome. When confused, he resembled a chimpanzee.

brought a notebook to the beach. There was something about lying in the sun, the sound of the waves crashing in the background, punctuated only by the laughter of seagulls, that sparked creativity.

Where I had felt trapped my whole life by society and the expectations of everyone around me, I was free in this world that I had begun to spin around my characters.

“We all have to make our own mistakes and learn some things the hard way.”

But contrary to what Marilyn Monroe would say, this was the ring I would choose, if actually given a say, for my own. It drew the eye more than a solitaire, and the colored stone was unique—I didn’t want something that some nebulous man in my future picked from a velvet tray of nearly identical rings in a jeweler’s shop. I wanted something with character—like me.

“Always say yes to new things,” Ada said. “It’s the only way you’ll be able to write about life—if you actually go out and live it.”

Harold and I—we were her true loves. And the rest? She found her solace in books.

She was wild and free, but she was alone.

And I didn’t know if that was exactly what I wanted or what I was most terrified of becoming.

nodded. “She’s—she’s like me. She’s entirely who she is. And she lives exactly how she wants to.” I thought for a moment. “I don’t know that I want to be alone my whole life, but she’s taught me that I don’t have to be like everyone else.”

Trevi Fountain.

think—I think it’s the same kind of thing. I used to make up stories. My bedroom was a tower that I was trapped in. But I didn’t want a prince to come rescue me. I wanted to rescue myself. And somewhere along the line, those stories became the way to do just that.”