A brisk October morning found Jeri and I at our usual place at the table drinking coffee and enjoying the peace and quiet before sunrise. We would catch up on the previous days goings on, or just chat about what that new day would bring. It wasn’t unusual for me to be on my laptop working on one of my books. This particular morning as I was writing, I could feel those smiling eyes peering at me over my laptop. As I peeked over my computer, Jeri said, "I'd like to write a book."  I asked, "Really? A book about what?" "About my life," she replied, "My memoirs."  I asked, "Have you a title for your book?" "Tattooed Heart," she answered. "You write the manuscript, and I'll publish it," I said.

 

A Promise Made

     I made a promise to help her publish the book. Jeri passed before writing the manuscript...Or so I thought. It was only after her passing that I discovered a series of short stories she had written and saved on our home computer. I recognized her works importance immediately upon finding them and saved them to my laptop.  They are not necessarily in chronological order, but rather when she originally saved the stories to disk. Written by my beloved Jeri, some will make you laugh, some will make you cry, but they will all, tattoo your heart.

     I know it isn't exactly what she had in mind, but it's as close as I could make it. A promise kept.

~ D. Doc Derry