Billy Coffey
Billy Coffey

The tough lessons of a heart exposed

August 11, 2010  

photo courtesy of Claire Burge

photo courtesy of Claire Burge

It’s often said around here that my daughter got most of what’s on her outside from her mother. Most of the insides come from me.

For proof, I will point out that I have neither blond hair nor a fair complexion. She does. Her eyes are blue. Mine are brown. And if you look carefully, you will see that her fingers are both long and thin. Mine are shorter.

Yet we share bonds. Like her father, she is quiet and reserved. Quick to laugh, yet given to bouts of melancholy. We both wear our hearts on our sleeves and try to roll up those sleeves so we may appear to be tougher than we are, but we both find they do not stay rolled up for long. Sooner or later, we are both exposed to the world again. And we both profess a love of words, both reading them and writing them.

It is this last point that has proven to tether us to something beyond father and daughter and into new worlds with skies that shine with the brightness of story. I will wake up in the morning to find several torn spiral notebook pages on the kitchen table. On it are the scribblings of an eight-year-old who has found the magic in saying something by saying something else. Her tales are full of mystery and princesses. And she will often find at her bedside scraps of paper upon which I have written my own tales, these of wonder and faith.

Ours is a symbiotic relationship of the most rewarding kind. Our words bounce off one another and back to our own hearts…

The nice folks over at High Calling Blogs have invited me to write this piece for them today, so please head over there to read the rest. Unless, of course, you have yet to read Old Yeller. Trust me.

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Comments

  • http://topsy.com/www.billycoffey.com/2010/08/the-tough-lessons-of-a-heart-exposed/?utm_source=pingback&utm_campaign=L2 Tweets that mention The tough lessons of a heart exposed : Billy Coffey — Topsy.com

    [...] This post was mentioned on Twitter by Kathy Richards, marni71. marni71 said: RT @katdish: Guest posting over at HCB today, @billycoffey: The tough lessons of the heart exposed http://bit.ly/cAx6cb [...]

  • http://www.lynnrush.com Lynn Rush

    Very nice!! Write on, Billy

  • http://www.pridelandsmommy.blogspot.com *~Michelle~*

    Ok, I babbled on and on over there…..so I’ll keep it short but to the point.

    Great post!~

  • http://www.ordinarilyextraordinary.com/ Amy Nabors

    What a wonderful dad you are to your daughter. I can identify with you and your daughter. Your third paragraph sounds like you are describing me. Loved this post.

  • http://splittergewitter.blogspot.com Claudia

    this is so beautiful – love how you write about the relationship to your daughter and my favorite lines in this post were
    …we both wear our hearts on our sleeves and try to roll up those sleeves so we may appear to be tougher than we are, but we both find they do not stay rolled up for long…
    This is just so sensitive and i know this feeling so well
    i enjoy reading your posts and will check out the high calling blog as well

  • http://godsheart-heart2heart.blogspot.com Kat

    Billy,

    It’s really breaks my heart when you know something sad is coming and even though you prepared her for it, it will still hurt her anyway. Because it’s through the words found on a paper page that let us into a world we haven’t been before so much so we have a tendency to lose our place in this world for brief moments in time. We get involved with the characters and come to love them and care for them as though we have met them today on our journey.

    Yet that is a part of growing up and learning to love reading. It provides you a safe way to experience things like the death of a friend in yellow fur or one in real life. So glad that she shares her love of reading with you.

    Love and Hugs ~ Kat

  • http://ltelliot@live.com L.T. Elliot

    You are incredible.

    I haven’t commented much but just know that I still come to this place and I always leave it a better person.

  • http://sandraheskaking.com Sandra Heska King

    I’m late. I’m late. For a very important date. Heading over there now.

  • http://newsong40.wordpress.com Jennie Pollock

    What a beautiful post. I love the line ‘the magic in saying something by saying something else’ – captured perfectly for me the beauty of creative writing, both in reading it and producing it.
    Must go and read Old Yeller, now…