Reminder of first MWSA Book Discussion Forum this coming weekend
March 23 - 25th.
The book to be discussed is Marcia Sargent's terrific memoir, "Wing Wife: How to to be Married to a Marine Corps Fighter Pilot." The book is fun, rawkus, charming, philosophical, and heartbreaking. It's definitely a must-read. Here's some more information about it: http://www.mwsadispatches.com/sites/default/files/null/WingWifeMarch23_0.pdf
And here's an excerpt from the review I did of it:
"As a young wife of a Marine Corps Fighter Pilot and the sister of another, Marcia smells danger every day. At first, she comforts herself with facts that she accepts without question. The young men are excellent pilots. They fly high performance, well-designed aircraft. They are supported by excellent crews. They have wives and families - they are serving their country. They stare catastrophe in the face in the morning, and moon it at drunken parties that same evening. Accidents might happen, but they happen to other people - to the unwary and to the careless. Her guys are savvy and careful. Ergo, it won't happen to them - to her.
For all Marcia's youthful surety and resilience, a series of distressingly common tragedies blasts holes into her life. In a fighter pilot's dangerous world, people die from the smallest miscalculations -- their own and anyone else's. At a time of life when women are naturally "nesting," Marcia lives in a world controlled totally by others. Where she lives, who she knows, what she does all depend on the military. She cannot be sure that the man she sends off to work each morning will return to her for lunch. And if he doesn't, there's no room for her in their little community any more.
With a rising rock n roll beat, tragedy scars the families around her. Marcia's grief-fueled stress rises - because she can't do anything about it, because it comes with the territory, because there's no donut without the dough - and he's the dough. Still, until her beloved brother is killed, she never asks her husband to change.
Most women under those circumstances would seek another life - another man. There are a vast array of sexy, healthy, intelligent men out there who DON'T risk their lives and "the nest" every day. There are families who live in the towns THEY choose in homes that they want. But at the lowest point in her emotional life, Marcia reacts with something more fundamental. Love. Too often, women's definitions of the marital bargain are narrow -- ending at sexual exclusivity. Marcia evaluates marriage at its most primeval level -- a partnership. When she realizes that there is nothing she could change that she would change, she commits the rest of the way and becomes a "Wing Wife." She is the person her husband can count on -- for support, for help, for growth. She takes care of the things that she can so he can focus on the things that he must. She doesn't forget about her fears, she just uses that energy to back him up and ensure that during those dangerous runs, he is in the moment doing what he was built to do. She ensures that if their time together is to be short, it will also be joyous."
The forum will begin at 6pm on Friday night and end at 6pm on Sunday. There will be two threads -- one discussing the art of writing a memoir, the other discussing the issues that Marica brings up in her book -- life, death, marriage, and the military culture. You can find these threads under Active Forum Topics on the left hand Navigation Menu. They are: Wing Wife: How to be Married to a Marine Corps Figher Pilot: Content and Message -- and Wing Wife: How to be Married to a Marine Corps Fighter Pilot: Writing Techniques.
Come by and see what's cooking throughout the whole weekend. Leave a question, state your opinions, contribute to the conversation. If you are considering writing your memoirs or if you are in the process of writing them and would like to share the pain, this is your chance to discuss the issues that are foremost in your mind. If you write in other genres, you will find Marcia's perspective particularly interesting since she is also a novelist for young people. And of course, if you've lived the military experience -- either as a participant or the family of someone who goes in harm's way regularly -- join us.
Joyce Faulkner