The Memories We Keep

Memories, like ghosts, can haunt us.

Ghosts

Ghosts—

the memories

you keep

somewhere

buried,

not in the earth,

but deep inside.

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Those we've lost, live on through our thoughts and those memories can be both bitter and sweet.

Elizabeth Reilly from The Passenger is twice haunted. She not only keeps the memories of her late husband, a casualty of World War II, close to her heart but he also visited her after he'd died. In the excerpt below, I share a part of her memory of that early spring day in 1945 on a nearly empty East Boston beach.

He'd Come to Say Goodbye

When her husband was on his way to her to say goodbye, she’d sweated through the cries of soldiers falling into the mud around her and the deafening noise of battle.

Don’t go there, Elizabeth. You couldn’t help him.

She’d known the only help she could provide was to help him pass on in peace.

Elizabeth had expected Patrick’s ghost to visit her. For weeks, she braved the early spring chill to await his arrival. Bundled in layers, she waited on the beach for him. Their special place. When he finally came, he met her there. Patrick sat next to her on the blanket he’d given her as a birthday present when they were younger. The one with the purple daffodils. When she thought of his final goodbye, she thought of the daffodils she’d stared down at while he talked—as if the color of the flowers were the most important detail of the day.

Yet the broken dead man who sat beside her was.

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What's Coming Next?

On March 22, I welcome Karen Hulene Bartell, Author of Kissing Kin, to the blog. Please mark your calendars and stop by!

The next issue of my newsletter will be out on March 28. If you haven't already, please consider subscribing. You'll be treated not only to exclusive content but special upcoming newsletter member only give-a-ways.

Until next time,

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About the Author

Minnesota-based author, Joie Lesin is a life-long fiction writer and the author of The Passenger. She has long been fascinated by anything otherworldly including ghosts. She loves to write a good ghost story—especially when it includes a touch of romance.