Lane von Herzen: My Gratitude

My Third Novel's Conclusion, My Heartbreak

My heart begins to break when I think about completing this particular book -- because this narrative has sustained me like no other story I've known. It's both more personal and more universal than my other works. But beyond memory and archetype, it's a cri-de-coeur about needing to become the person one is destined to be. And in the writing, I have met my own life's work, my own fated journey -- having the sense all the while that the pages are suffused with a resonance, an energy, an electrified field that defies explanation. Writers hope and pray to be overtaken by a work in this way -- to be conscripted into passionate service of a profound story. To experience it even once in a lifetime seems a great privilege. I still have several months before this novel is complete, and this constitutes my reprieve. Because I'm not ready for the beauty to end.

Friday, January 6, 2023

My Gratitude

January 6, 2023 at 9:34 AM

I need to express my gratitude to all those who safeguarded my family last night.

Your efforts shielded us from a circumstance against which we ourselves had no defense.

I thank you most profoundly for your responsive intervention and your watchful presence.

The person who conveyed information to me yesterday about the deployment of the Air Force Hot Shots may lose his life as a result of making that choice.

So, it is necessary for me to express that I comprehend the gravity of that decision.

I intend to be worthy of it.

The spoken truth serves as a necessary foundation for all free nations. So, I intend to speak it.

The genuine word serves as the proof of our honest engagement in the noble course of self-governance. So, I intend to tell it.

This honored principle makes possible our compassion for our neighbors, and, along with it, our defense of their inalienable human rights. So, I intend to honor it.

Our country deserves no less than this heroic commitment to the spoken truth, even at great risk to ourselves. To all of you who have demonstrated that commitment alongside me, I extend my abiding gratitude for your choice.

My promise to dedicate the entirety of my gifts to the cause of our democracy is further magnified because of your courage.