THE INSPIRATIONS BEHIND THE YEARNING

YES, THE STORIES ARE TRUE

Well, at least the inspirations behind it were.

Writers write for a different purpose and mine was always to bring a change where I could, an awareness where needs be, other than of course the joy of simply putting words to paper and creating new universes.

I didn't plan out to write "The Yearning". It just came about like most of my other books- through real life experiences.

I once read an article about a pregnant woman suffering from brain cancer. This was her first baby and she didn't want to terminate the pregnancy. As expected, it didn't aid her treatment and unfortunately, she passed away a little after the baby was born.

Yet Another Unfortunate Case of a Pregnant
woman with Cancer- Cara Coombs
Image Source: http://fox2now.com/2015/12/08/mother-chooses-to-have-baby-instead-of-cancer-treatment/

I was most certainly affected by the story because I spent a lot of time long after that wondering what had become of her husband and child and the grief her husband had to bear during her illness and after her death. I had even cried a little as the woman spoke about her cancer and coming to terms with the fact that she might never see her daughter grow or share the joys that came from watching her turn into an adult.

I filed the story away somewhere in the corner of my mind, never thinking much of it except to sometimes sympathize and wonder how the baby was doing now. A few weeks after that, I read another article on a woman who discovered her husband was having an affair with a woman only after he was shot down by his lover's husband. She spoke about how she was devastated as the police reported their findings. This was certainly not how she wanted to know about her husband's infidelities. She suffered from psychological trauma as a result since she never really found closure.

It was then I found prospects in a possible story. Here was a widow with a tragic past and there was a widower with another tragedy in his life. These were not stories I plucked out from twenty or thirty years ago. These were recent incidents that actually happened in the past five years. I felt these would be experiences readers would relate to in this day and age. But for some reason I hesitated, believing that there was still a backbone it lacked.


And that is when I discovered the plight of the ranches in Arizona, particularly Cochise County where farmers were struggling with smugglers trespassing through their properties. There have been many reports of ranch owners being hassled, robbed and even murdered by traffickers. And yes, there were rape trees reported as well. Whether the rapes were actualized is unclear, but there definitely were trees littered with female undergarments for the sole purpose of intimidation and invoking fear into anyone who saw it.

A Rape Tree
Image Source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s5-q3vQZ38o

And here I found my purpose to write this story. I can only hope that this problem will be resolved as soon as it possibly can. I can only pray that all those who are affected by it are safe and protected.