That is something I’ve learned both in the course of life and being a writer.  Nothing really ends.

Oh, you can write The End to a story, but it doesn’t really.  Those characters stay with you and you get to come back to them again in revisions or edits, in reader comments and reviews and sometimes even in another story where you’ve picked up a secondary character to transform into hero or heroine. Nothing really ends.

In life, same thing.  When things seem like they are coming to a close or the end, they will always come back to you at just the right moments. Loved ones live on in memories, pictures and children.   Through remembered words of a wisdoms, songs, sights or smells.  Nothing really ends. 

Even jobs.  From each one you take experiences or lessons that help in the next one.  You find out things you are good at or not so good at, the type of people you enjoy working with and take from all of them a little something for the future.  Nothing really ends.

So even though Mamawriters is coming to an end….the valuable friendships, stories and knowledge we’ve gained from each other will stay with us always….because nothing really ends 

You know that feeling when you reach the last chocolate in the box? Or when you know the movie you’ve waited six months to see is almost over?

Yep. That’s how I feel.

I’m very bummed the blog is closing. I am the newbie in the group, only having joined MW’s back in September. It’s been my pleasure to be a part of such a wonderful site. I was a follower long before I was a blogging member. I agree with Eliza 100%. I hope one day Mama Writers will be back up and rearin’ to go. LOL Of course, here’s hoping that I’ll have changed my status bar from novice writer to pubbed author!

I’m very appreciative of the time I spent with all you MW’s and my blogmates. It’s definitely been an excellent chapter in my life story. One I will always remember with great fondness.

This last weekend I went to the coast with my aunts, gram, and cousins for a gal’s trip. We shopped till we dropped and indulged in tasty treats. We had a blast staying up late chatting, searching for sweet sales, and scoping out the sights. I was very sad to see sheets draped back over the couches and beds, the doors locked, and all our gear loaded up. It kind of drove home to me the meaning of bittersweet.

We were so thrilled to haul our cookies over there. The excitement was tangible and stayed thick in the air right up until the realization that it was time to head back to real life smacked us in face. We were leaving the cool weather, the fantastic company, and good times. It was really hard accept that our time together had finally come to an end. The whole way home, back to the dry heat of CA’s Central Valley, we laughed and joked about the fun we had, but more importantly, we made plans for our trip next year.

Whether it’s the end of a vacation or the closing of a well-loved blog, it’s always going to be bittersweet. BUT– we can’t spend our lives looking back. We’ve got to press onward!

I’ll keep on my journey to finish my MS and get published. I’ll still be posting away at The Lovestruck Novice. December 30th, I’ll begin another chapter when I become a mama for the third time. Like cogs inside a wheel, everything is falling into place. I can see the road ahead of me. Sure it’s lined with speed bumps and delays, but as long as I stay the course I’ll get there in plenty of time.

The same goes for all of you. Stick to your course and stay true to your goals. Doesn’t matter if you’re a writer or a reader, this blog made our paths cross. For that, I’ll always be grateful.

Thank you from the bottom of my heart, MW’s. I hope we’ll all get a chance to meet one day and share a frosty beverage. Keep looking forward, because the best is yet to come.

Dish it up, what has been your favorite aspect of being part of the Mama Writers Blog?

Love and Hugs to you all! May you always have fair weather and a full tank! Sarah

My husband is 46 years old, and he’s never been to Europe. I’m sure that’s not all so unusual. What may be more unusual is that my first taste of the continent was when I was sixteen years old, between my junior and senior year of high school. I was lucky enough to visit again in college when, as a French major, I studied for a semester in both Paris and Angers, France. I haven’t been back since then, but that fact hasn’t kept me from using what I learned in my writing — case in fact being Passion in Paris (The Wild Rose Press.)

As you read this, I’m in England with my husband and two boys, ages 17 and 14. We’ll spend time in London, Paris, Nice, and Barcelona. I handpicked the cities. I’ve been to all of them except Barcelona. Since my seventeen year old son has now had five years of Spanish, I figured we’d make it . I, of course, can take care of the French.

This trip took a lot of thought. We’ll be gone nearly three weeks, and we opted for two rooms in each city to give the boys a little independence (and mom and dad a break from teenage boy mess!) Needless to say, it’s a major expense at a time when the economy is urging us to “just say no.” We’ve never taken a family vacation of this duration before. My husband, a lawyer, has never been away from his work for such a lengthy period.

But he needs this. We as a family need this. And it will be a marvelous educational experience for the boys who are at ages where they can truly appreciate the culture to which they’ll be introduced. The older will be off to college in a year, and soon family trips will be a relic of the past.

And of course it goes without saying that the beauty and wonder of cultures so much older than our own will inspire my creativity.  (Too bad that doesn’t make the whole thing a tax write off!)

As parents and as writers, we sometimes have to take a plunge.  Let that kindergartner walk to the bus by himself.  Try a new genre when our work isn’t selling as we’d like.  And the biggest plunge of all?  Do something just for sheer enjoyment, like spend more money than we should on a trip. 

The memories will be priceless.  I want to see the look on my sons’ faces when they gaze at the Eiffel Tower for the first time, lock eyes with Leonardo’s Mona Lisa.  I want to watch them grimace when they drink a pint of ale at a London pub!  I want them to experience the hustle and bustle of the subways and trains, the pebbled beauty of the beaches in Nice, the raw passion of a bullfight in Spain.

Oh, it will be well worth the money!  And maybe someday one of them might write about the experience.  If not?  They’ll still have the memories of our wonderful voyage.

Are you taking a trip with your family this summer?  Where?