If you read my missive last week, you know I’m in Mexico visiting my friend, Silvia. I managed to attend a few of the Day of the Dead celebrations here in Merida, including the Paseo de las Animas pictured above. Since Merida is in the Yucatan part of Mexico, the Mayan heritage here is strong, and they also call this celebration by its Mayan name of Hanal Pixán and do many things that reflect the Mayan culture.
The night after the event in the photo, I was riding in a car to visit Silvia’s sister, and I happened to open Facebook on my phone to pass the time of the ride. Much to my horror, the news of Matthew Perry’s passing was just breaking. In fact, only moments after I saw the first post in my Facebook feed, my son actually texted me to tell me, and a couple hours later, my daughter sent me a message to let me know.
They both know that I’m a huge fan of “Friends,” but there’s an even bigger personal reason that Perry’s death has hit me hard. If you’ve ever attended any of the times I’ve spoken at my readings, you may have heard me talk about how I “Chandlerized” my writing life when I made the decision to leave teaching and how that decision changed everything for me. It’s still the way I approach my writing life/career almost three years later.
I wrote the following blog post a little over two years ago to explain what this “Chandlerizing” thing is, and I’m still doing the technique to this day. Chandlerizing blog post
It’s been a game changer for me, no doubt. I even brought my current writing-progress journal to Mexico with me to make sure I’d do at least one thing each day while I’m here — however, I also gave myself permission to skip a day or two when there was something more important to be doing with my friend while I’m actually here to do stuff with her. So far, there is only one blank day in the journal from the 12 days I’ve been here. With 9 more days to go, there may yet be one or two more, but we’ll see. Remember, the “one thing” doesn’t have to be something big — it just has to be “something.”
I read Perry’s memoir earlier this year, too, and was amazed and appalled by all he went through with his addictions. The fact that he was alive to write the book was a miracle, and I had very high hopes that he’d finally turned a corner in his life and was on the right track. Thus, his death at an age that is only one year younger than I am and after all he’d done to make his life better really hit me (and so many others) hard. He should have had so many more years to keep helping others who have struggled with addiction and to enjoy the aftermath of his own hard-won battle.
Naturally, I found it ironic that I am in Mexico during the annual Day of the Dead celebration, and one of my very favorite celebrities dies during that time and becomes a “muerto” himself. I’ll certainly never forget where I was when I first learned that my favorite “Friend” died.
If you’re a paying subscriber, I’m sharing the rest of the Part One of my latest novel, “Her Ride or Die” with you this week — chapters 6-8.
If you’re not yet a subscriber, why not give it a try? You’d get to read this week’s subscriber content, and you can go back and access all the other subscriber content in the archives and read the earlier parts of the novel as well as other things I’ve shared with subscribers.
Hasta luego.
Tammy Marshall
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