Dissociated Thoughts

Aging Inspiration

Yesterday I happened to see my college creative writing professor. Even after all these years, she still looked the same. I can't say the same about her mind though. However, there were glimpses of the woman I once looked up to some twenty plus years ago. It was difficult, seeing the fierce, articulate woman who had once inspired me to write beyond my comfort level having lost much of her mental capacity. It was even harder to hear that she had not been doing what she loved above all else, writing. When, in her tiny shaky voice, she asked me if I still wrote, I told her I had to write for my sanity and she understood. She seemed pleased that one of her students was still writing after all this time. She told me she hasn't written in a long time though, but maybe she needed to start writing again to keep her mind from going away completely. I told her, "It sure helps me." Hopefully, she will write again, sharing her unique view of the world with everyone once again. I hope, maybe, that I might have inspired she who once inspired me, to pick that pen back up and allow her soul to sing once again. Such lovely voices shouldn't be snuffed out by age, time, or anything else for that matter. But even if she decides not to write, her legacy will continue on through the inspiration she instilled in me and those other classmates who found their love of writing while taking her classes. And all of her creativity and the vivid memories of her youth will live on in those books and poems she had published through her years of writing.