To Sir, with love

There are few things that cause my husband, Jared to tear up. He is a rather stoic man at funerals and during movies. Meanwhile, I tend to look like someone suffering from a sudden bout of allergies. The sort of gushing tears which should be followed by the cliche "don't look at me," statement. However, I'm generally blubbering too much to attempt coherent speech. It’s actually embarrassing how little it takes to make me cry, but that’s the subject for another blog.* Last week Jared did get misty eyed though. It was from reading a tweet. Not just any random update of daily life though. It was a message that was posted by Pratchett's assistant Rob Wilkins on March 12 after Terry Pratchet passed away. You may have seen it already. If not, the words in caps locks represent the voice of Death, who was a prominent figure in most of his novels. The tweet was a perfect send off for the prolific and observant writer.

No one in my family ever had the privilege to meet Terry or even see him at a convention. However,like so many I felt like he was part of our little world. Terry touched our lives in many ways with his philosophy, humor and brilliant writing. Before Sir Terry Pratchet passed away, my husband and started reading The Colour of Magic** to my daughter River. They are about half way through now. I am so glad that Jared has this special time to share one of his favorite authors with our daughter. Especially now that the brilliant author has passed away.

The first time I came across a book by Sir Terry Pratchet was when my mom recommended a book called Wee Free Men. It sounded odd and obscure in a delightful way. In fact it sounded quite bizarre. Naturally I jumped at the chance to give it a shot. I do loves me some bizarre books. (Yes that’s how I meant to say that and yes I am a writer who should know better)

If you’ve never read it, imagine a story of a girl going into another dimension with the less than reliable help of a bunch of celtic warriors who were shrunk down to the size of fairies. Their main moral code is about drinking, fighting and stealing. That is a rubbish summary, but hopefully you get the gist of the spunky nature of the wee free men who cause all sorts of havoc and have their own unique code of ethics. I don’t think that there is another book that’s made me laugh harder than that one, or caused me to recommend it to more unsuspecting people. That book was the beginning of opening my eyes to the wonderful world of Sir Terry Pratchet. He understood people and explored various cultures, careers, thoughts and beliefs. His works make me laugh and think.In addition I have always sounded more witty than I am when commenting on a concept from one of his novels. This is my humble toast*** to the incomparable Terry Pratchet

For now I’m off to do something productive. That’s right, I’m going to go lay down with one of his books on my face and attempt to soak up some of his genius though osmosis. Did Sir Terry Pratchet have an influence on you? If so, how do you choose to remember his legacy? Is there another author whose death made you feel as though you’d lost a friend?**** *Not a blog I’m going to write per se. I’m leaving that option open for when my children are older and want to write their “1001 crazy things about my mom” blogs. **For those of you not in the know, that’s there first book of Terry Pratchet’s Disc World Series *** I'm speaking figuratively. Please don’t try to “clink” a glass up to your computer screen. While the centimeter is touching, your keyboard and monitor might be a little less than thrilled by the results. ****I didn’t really have anything to add here, but this paragraph wanted to be part of the moment.