Category Archives: children’s imagination

My Long Recovery From Kindergarten (The Wall Street Journal)

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For a long time I puzzled over how I managed to go from a hopeless screw-up in school to a hardworking, disciplined writer as an adult. After considering it for 50 years or so, I came to the realization that I had been a very hardworking little girl. In fact I was a workaholic, striving, in my 4-year-old way, to decipher the mysteries of the universe and the meaning of life. What was real? What was illusory? Sometimes, in the middle of the night, it seemed as if nothing was real, that sunlight and houses and stop signs were pictures painted on a curtain. Behind the curtain was a black hole—nothingness. We kids weren’t supposed to know about the nothingness. Late at night, when we were asleep, the grown-ups touched up or repaired any wrinkles or tears in the curtain so that we wouldn’t suspect what lay behind the seamless surface. Even my consciousness, my essential being, might be part … Read on

Pamela Jane is the author of over thirty books from board books to memoir. She is also a writing coach, freelance writer, and public speaker. Learn more about her by booking a school visit, perusing her blog, or reading her memoir, An Incredible Talent for Existing: A Writer's Story.

My Husband Died, but I’m No Widow (The Wall Street Journal)

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From The Wall Street Journal (December 2017) Recently I called my investment company to make a withdrawal. The representative, who sounded quite young, introduced himself as Matthew and reminded me that we were on a recorded line. “Let me look up your account,” I recall him saying after the preliminaries. “I see your husband passed away recently. I’m sorry for your loss.” After I murmured something noncommittal, he said he would change my marital status to widow. Something in me balked. “Don’t change my status,” I responded. “I’m not a widow.” There was a puzzled silence on the other end of the line. “I’m sorry,” said Matthew. “But my records indicate your husband passed away.” “He did,” I said, “but I’m not a widow.” Matthew mumbled something unintelligible. I knew he had no idea what I was talking about. To be honest, neither did I. But I didn’t want a stranger on the telephone to tell me what I was. … Read on

Pamela Jane is the author of over thirty books from board books to memoir. She is also a writing coach, freelance writer, and public speaker. Learn more about her by booking a school visit, perusing her blog, or reading her memoir, An Incredible Talent for Existing: A Writer's Story.