Sunday, November 22, 2009

Me and the Author

My name is Sandy, and as an author, I write under the name of Sandra K. Marshall. Under my façade of laughter and fun, I’m mostly a serious person; therefore you’ll find that most of my stories deal with serious issues.

As a child, I often wondered about people and what their lives were like. For instance, in the eighth grade, I often watched a friend of mine and wondered what she was thinking as she stared out the window. There was something about her that caused me to worry about her even though I didn’t know why. She was a cheerleader and very popular, but she was very kind and not one of the mean cheerleaders you hear about today. We moved to another town that year, and I learned a few months later that Barbara had been diagnosed with Leukemia. Had she known? I believe she had a premonition that she might not be on this earth long.

Going back to that small town for holidays, I would call Barbara to talk to her, and she would talk about her visits to the hospital for treatments. The last time I talked to her I could tell that it might be the last one, and I was right. A couple of days later she was taken to the hospital and did not come home. Her family distraught over their loss moved away a year or two later.

When I started working for an airline in 1962, after a couple of years of spreading my wings and having fun, I decided there were more important things to do than have fun. I thought about the type of volunteer work I would like to do and decided I wanted to work with orphans. Not knowing of any orphanages, I looked them up in the telephone book and found one not to far from where I was living, east of main street. I called to make an appointment to visit, and when I went there I learned it was an all black orphanage. The man who ran the orphanage asked if it made a difference to me. I said, “no” as I’d had a close black friend in high school.

I got involved with reading programs at the orphanage, took the girls on excursions to movies and museums in an attempt to show them there was more out there than what they had experienced so far. I was able to teach these kids a lot, but they knew so much more than I did in certain areas of life. Many of these kids had been abused sexually, beaten physically and mentally. These kids didn’t open up immediately; in fact they challenged me, wanting to know why a white girl would come into their lives. All I could tell them was that I was meant to be with them for a time.

It turned out to be a short time too, because not many months after that the riots started in our city. One day after they started I was at the orphanage, the guy who ran it pulled me aside to tell me, he didn’t want me to come back. He felt it was too dangerous, and he couldn’t be responsible for me. I had had a good day with the girls and didn’t want to tell them good-bye, so I told him I would be back one more time in order to explain to the girls why I wouldn’t be working with them any more. However, I never got a chance to explain because of something that happened when I left there.

At a stop sign, a few blocks from the orphanage, a group of men stood on the corner with angry faces. They started toward me and a couple of guys started pushing my car, and I hurriedly stepped on the pedal and took off. Some of them chased me, and it made me fearful to go back.
(One of these days, I'm going to blog about something pertaining to this section of my post, but it's controversial and though it's on my mind I've been putting it off. I'm sorry for being such a chicken).

None of these things have deterred me from wanting to do something to help others. Now, in my stories, I hope some day to make a difference. I will always write about topics that concern me.

Okay folks, you’ve learned a little more about what makes me tick. Have a good week, and I’ll see you next Sunday.

Remember as always, all comments are welcome even if you disagree with any of my opinions.

Sandy
http://www.YouTube.com/watch?v=e684nldayz0

20 comments:

Elle J Rossi said...

Hi Sandy,

Thanks for sharing such an important part of "you" with us. And don't worry about being a chicken...we all are in many ways at many times. But when we're ready, and only then, will we be able to open up and share and even bigger part of ourselves.

Happy Sunday,
Elle

K.T. Bishop said...

Keep it real is what I say, the main thing I like about you.
I try to tell people about how fortunate we are to live in the USA. Whenever I see a homeless person or orphan, I put myself into those person's feelings. Even now where I am often alone, it's nowhere bad not knowing where your next meal or roof over your head coming from.

Sandy said...

Thank you, sweet Elle. I felt like a chicken for allowing anyone to scare me.

Have a great Sunday.

Sandy said...

K.T.,
But for the grace of God, we could be the next person on the street. It's sad to see whole families living in a car.

Thanks for coming by.

Ashely Blade said...

Wow Sandy, I have to think of the riots we experienced in South Central and those of Watts and hope it was not the same for where you were. How brave are you!

Compassion is the greatest gift could ever be given and you're a wonderful example of what being compassionate means.

I'm honored that you would share with us your life, also when you are ready to relive your experience, we will be here for you!

Ash!

J Hali Steele said...

Sandy, I'm glad you weren't deterred from helping others. You're a special person.

Sandy said...

Thank you, Ash.

I wrote about this in order to give people an idea of what I'm about. Many people I worked with considered me an air head, a ditz or something other than I am. I have to admit I always hid my true self.

It's important for my readers to know that I write about things here that matter to me and those things will spill over into my stories.

Sandy said...

Thank you, J.

I think everyone has a part to play on this earth. We just have to decide what it is. We can't just exist here, we must do something.

Linda LaRoque said...

Sandy, I'm sure that situation would have scared anyone and you were young. If the man who ran the orphanage asked you not to come back, he had good reason and feared for your safety. It's a shame that there is so much prejudice and violence in our society. Good for you for doing what you could.

LM Spangler said...

Sandy,

I've said this before but you are a very good person and I feel honored to know you.

Liena~

Unknown said...

Hi Sandy,

You are a true angel. Helping others is good for the soul and unstoppable. It's a shame you were never able to return and explain to the girls. I think in a way they understood, if not back then, eventually as they became older they understood.

Thank you for sharing this Sandy.

Sandy said...

Thank you, Linda.

I think I was only 20 or 21 at that time. I really would like to have known what happened to those girls. I was working with three of them. To this day, I regret that I never went back.

Sandy said...

Thank you, Liena.

The purpose for this post is not to tell how good I am, but to let people who come here know I'm going to talk about issues and my stories are always going to have elements of these issues, too.

Sandy said...

Thank you, Charisma.

I hope when they were old enough they understood. It would be a shame if they became bitter because I didn't return.

Z(Aasiyah/Nolwynn) said...

Sandy, let me just say that it takes guts and an awful lot of heart do do what you did! Hats of for that, and for staying true to yourself.

I'd have been scared out of my wits in that car were I in your shoes, yet you handled it all so well. Your story about Barbara really made tears spring to my eyes.

Huge hugs for a truly special and wonderful person.

Z(Aasiyah/Nolwynn)

Sandy said...

Thanks for commenting, Z. Barbara was the special person. She should have lived longer than fourteen years.

Stacey Joy Netzel said...

Interesting post, Sandy. Thanks for sharing with us and giving so much.

Sandy said...

Thank you for coming by, Stacey.

Dawné Dominique said...

Written from the heart and soul, as usual, Sandy. I love reading your blog.

Biggest hugs,
Dawné

Sandy said...

Thank you, Dawne. How sweet of you.