I Know I Can't, I Know I Can't

We all have dreams and aspirations. When I was working, I had to come up every year with my “Goals and Objectives.” I could never remember the difference and no one ever checked to see if I had achieved them. Heck, my only goal was to get through another year without becoming totally insane.

No, I mean real fantasies. I long to climb K-2 or live in Provence for a year. Maybe even discover the cure for a minor medical condition. These are safe desires. Totally out of the question. Nobody will fault me for not achieving them.

But there is one hill I could conceivably crest. I could write a book. Not get one published: just write one.

Book writing runs in our circle of friends and family and there has been a lot of activity in the last couple of years. In 2003, we traveled to Holland, Michigan for the launch party for Jack Nyenhuis’ book Myth and the Creative Process: Michael Ayrton and the Myth of Daedalus, the Mazemaker. Jack had just retired as Provost at Hope College and was a former chairman of Ernie’s. At the party we talked with Jack’s daughter, Lorna J. Cook, who announced her forthcoming book, Departures. Hard on it’s heels came Lorna’s second novel, Home Away from Home.

The doyenne of the group is Ernie’s cousin, Joyce Rupp. We have had the pleasure of having Joyce and a fellow member of the Servite community here for dinner. Last year she sent us a copy of her book The Circle of Life and before I could acknowledge it, yet another book appeared. In Walk in a Relaxed Manner, Joyce describes her 450 mile pilgrimage on foot along the Camino de Santiago in Spain, and makes her physical exertion part of her spiritual literacy.

Then there are the in-laws. Marcie’s brother, Joe Williams, is the author of Cheating our Kids: how Politics and Greed Ruin Education, a book which has earned him the cachet to become a freelance writer and speaker and educational consultant. Finally, Jeff’s brother-in-law, Rob Rummel-Hudson, has just signed a contract to bring his experiences as the father of a child with a rare condition from his popular blog (see sidebar) to a book format.

What have they got that I don’t? I’m not sure, but when it comes to writing a book, I know I can’t.