Wednesday, March 13, 2013

THE WORMHOLE

For this week's Celebrate the Small Things Blogfest Kathy says: Two memorial services occupy my time this week, but I'm celebrating two lives and I'm grateful that these two people were a part of my life.


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In honor of Albert Einstein's birthday, tell the world in 100 words more or less, what you would do if you had a two-way ticket to traverse a wormhole. 

by Kathy Cannon Wiechman

My husband’s mother died when he was an infant, leaving seven children without their mother. Their father moved them from New Mexico to Cincinnati, where family could help raise them.

Such a tragedy! But if they hadn’t moved, Jim and I would have never met and had our own children. Altering the past changes bad and good.

Through that wormhole, I’d be tempted to eliminate Booth, Hitler, or Bin Laden or save Anne Frank or Princess Diana. But I’d settle for a visit with Helen Wiechman to tell her about her son who became a devoted husband and father.

Helen Wiechman. Taken too young.


52 comments:

  1. That's an awesome choice. Personally, I don't want to go back in the past because for much of it there was no women's rights. I'd probably go to the future.

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    1. The past is a nice place to visit, but living in the present is probably the best choice for me. Thanks for commenting, Natalie.

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  2. As someone who is writing a time-travel novel, I've learned my lesson. I'll stick right here in the present. Still, I admire your choice, Kathy.

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    1. I love time-travel novels! Send me an email & tell me more about it.

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  3. That's a wonderful way to spend your trip.

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    1. Thanks. From what I've heard about Helen, I know she was a wonderful woman. She died before I was born, & I'm sorry I never got to meet her.

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  4. I don't know about eliminating past killers, someone always pops up to replace them and they could be worse.

    Meeting a relative from the past could be enlightening, or very sad. I never got to meet hubs grandmother who was an amazing woman as well.

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    1. It's one of those "What if..." kinds of moments. As long as the wormhole doesn't really exist, we can choose to think on it positively until someone proves us wrong.

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  5. Oh, that's tragic. Seven kids! But what a neat gesture to want to go back and tell her about her son and what a great man he turned out to be. Awesome.

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    1. Thanks, L.G. When I hear people complain about their mothers-in-law, I think about the one I never had.

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  6. What a beautiful Mom she was! I loved your story.

    sandysanderellasmusings

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    1. Thanks, Sandy. She was a beautiful lady & her husband always spoke of her as though she'd died just yesterday.

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  7. what a lovely thing to want to do - let a mother know how wonderfully her son turned out. I'm with you (I've seen plenty of Quantum Leap!) Going back to change the past never works!

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    1. So true. For better or for worse, it's past. We have to move on. Thanks for your comment, Alex.

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  8. Sometimes allowing the smallest moments to happen can cause such wonderful blessings in someone's life.

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    1. You're right, Nancy. Thanks for commenting, & may your small moments bless you always.

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    1. Thanks, Alex. I'm a softie, who wears her heart on her sleeve.

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  10. This would be a very noble act. A very touching post. Thanks so much for participating!



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    1. Thanks, Stephen. It was an interesting thing to think about & tough to not want to change something from the past.

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  11. That's truly beautiful!

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    1. Thanks, M.J. I appreciate your comment, & I hope you'll visit again soon.

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  12. Aw that's so nice! :)

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  13. I love the picture of Helen. It looks like she has a secret. Maybe she'd share it with you.

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    1. I hadn't thought of it that way. It would be cool to learn a secret from her. I have a copy of a letter she wrote to her brother between the time Jim was born & the time she died. It's the closest I've come to hearing from her.

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  14. What a beautiful thing to want to do. I know what you mean about how changing something from the past can have both good and bad consequences, but talking to your son's mother would be such a kind thing to do...

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    1. Thanks, Susan. Changing things would be tempting, so maybe it's a good thing we don't have that power. We have to make the best of our pasts.

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  15. That picture of Helen is so haunting--- that's a good thing you want to do through the wormhole.

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    1. Thank you. I can see the family resemblance in that haunting face, & I wish I could have met her.

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  16. That's the problem with wanting to change things, often times good and bad go hand in hand. Life is never that simple ;)

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    1. So true. As with all things in life, we usually get a healthy dose of both, so we just have to try to focus on the good stuff. Thanks for your comment.

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  17. She looks like a lovely woman! What a sweet choice!
    Nutschell
    www.thewritingnut.com

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    1. Thanks. I sometimes wonder how different her children's lives might have been if they had grown up with her.

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  18. This is a beautiful, beautiful wormhole. Thank you for sharing.

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    1. Thank you for stopping by to read it & for your lovely compliment.

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  19. Going back to change history is so alluring. I guess we've dreamed of it since we grasped the concept of time.

    Lovely idea you have here.

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    1. Just going back to visit is alluring to me, too. I'd love to actually see & feel the things I've only heard or read about. But once there, it would be hard not to tinker with some changes. Thanks for your comment.

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  20. Life celebrations are always wonderful and bittersweet - wishing you comfort and strength!

    And Nice use of the wormhole!

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    1. Thank you. And I wish you comfort & strength as well. Those are things that get us through the tough days.

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  21. What a lovely use of the wormhole, I am welling up thinking of that meeting you describe. And I wish you comfort in the difficult time of attending memorials, and indeed hope you find comfort in celebrating their life.

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    1. Thank you for your wishes. Coincidently, one of those persons who passed since I wrote this post was one of Helen's other sons, my husband's brother. I believe in an afterlife, so I feel that the 2 of them, mother and son, have been reunited.

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  22. Oh that's heartbreaking. But good can come from even something so awful and I'm sure she'd love to hear how wonderful & happy her son's life would turn out.

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    1. Thanks for saying so, Nicki. I truly believe she would. Thanks for your touching comment.

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    1. Thank you. It will be a good journey, even if it's only in my mind.

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  24. I'm so sorry you attended two funerals in one week, but it's great how you're looking at the sum of their lives, not just the melancholy ending. It's beautiful you'd like to assure your MIL that everything turned out well. That's a lovely thought! :-)

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    1. We're all a sum of the lives that touch us. I've been extremely lucky that I've crossed paths with so many wonderful people. And even though I never met my husband's mother, her life has touched me as much as any. Thanks for your comment.

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  25. You are so lovely, Kathy. I am posting a video on your FB page. It's this beautiful video with
    what-would-have-beens if MLK hadn't died, Anne Frank...

    But you are right - we should celebrate the love and lives we have been blessed to know. Big hugs to you!

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  26. Thanks, Juliet. I look forward to seeing the video. We can't change the past, but we can learn from it & adjust the present to better the future.

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