Continuing

I am very grateful to those of you who have written to offer compassion, consolation, assistance, advice and prayers. Your kindness will not be forgotten.

What was always a private family matter for many years will continue to be that, at least for me and my family. The only difference is that I've now made you aware of it. There are extremely difficult days ahead for us. Everything I do or say will probably be criticized, but no matter how unpleasant things become, I have to go on.

I recently gave an interview during which I was asked "Has writing changed who you are or how you see the world?", and I answered Writing has allowed me to cope with who I am and the world around me. That's still true. No matter how drastically your life and the world changes, the work is always there, waiting. Writing through the worst times can be a release for emotions that have no other appropriate outlet, and that can turn self-destructive if you keep them bottled up.

I am removing comments from the weblog for the present, but you can respond to content here via the e-mail address at the top of the sidebar.