The Day it Became True

Tonight I was watching the movie "Before Night Falls" and it came to that part where Reinaldo has won honorable mention in the Cuban national book contest and the literary guy tells him, "We think you were born to write." and the look on Reinaldo's face is one of such joy. That moment in your life when the dream you have for yourself is validated by someone on the outside.

I remember mine.

It was 1985 and I was taking some classes at the local junior college near my hometown. English Comp, Psych 101, typical freshmen courses. In my English class, we'd been assigned to write a descriptive essay. I wrote mine on "Rude Boys." This was the name my friend Shelley and I had given to the pre-hair band rocker boys of the early 80s. I'm sorry to say I don't still have the essay - I can't imagine why I didn't keep it. But you can imagine the boundless opportunity for description my selected subject afforded me. The long hair, the cigarette in the corner of his mouth, the walk like Bon Jovi in the "Runaway" video. I was later surprised at the complete lack of creativity from my classmates when I learned that some of them wrote their papers describing their earrings and their socks.

Shelley was going to school up the road in Hattiesburg. She came home most weekends (or sometimes I went up there). She was back for our high school Homecoming game this particular weekend. She was going to go to my English class with me (I can't for the life of me remember now why she would want to do this) and then we were heading back to our high school gym to attend the Homecoming pep rally followed by the parade on main street.

So we're feeling all cool and full of ourselves going back to the old school, and we're totally dressed more for a night at the clubs than a high school pep rally. Again, it was 1985 people. I believe I was wearing a straight white mini skirt with big pastel flowers on it, with a short lilac sweater, lace anklet socks, some cheap light-colored pumps and several long strands of fake pearls. The entire outfit probably cost less than $70 at the mall. Strange that I can remember so few other details but know exactly what I was wearing.

Shelley & I are just about to enter the classroom where my instructor is standing outside the doorway in the hall, and she stops me and asks to speak to me before I went in. Shelley went on in and my instructor said to me, "I'd like to read your paper to the class today if you don't mind." I was completely taken aback. I told her of course she could read it but the impact of what she had just asked me was only beginning to rise from deep in my gut and slowly radiate out into my consciousness.

"I was very disappointed in your papers," she told the class. "There was one paper that was creative and descriptive in the way that the assignment required. I'm going to read this one paper to you so that you will understand what descriptive writing is and what your papers should have been." And she began reading my Rude Boy paper.

She never said whose paper it was, but after class several people started coming up to me asking if it was mine. I've often wondered since then if I hadn't been dressed like a ZZ Top video if the other students would have pegged me as the writer.

I was on such a high as we drove back to Long Beach. Shelley and I were chattering nonstop as we were wont to do back then, and I don't know if she said it or I said it but at some point that morning, it occurred to me that I was now a writer.