My Wish is his Command

By Susan February 14, 2023

My Wish is his Command

I was rear-ended a few days ago on the interstate.
Big truck.
Bam.

So hard my scrunching flew off:)

Whiplash.

Over in a flash.

My Vandy doc returned my email with a call: “You need to go to a Dickson walk-in clinic. You should be assessed.”

I laughed, “That’s what my sister said.”

So I hightailed to one.
They took an x-ray just in case.
(Who knew: I have arthritis in my neck)

This image has an empty alt attribute; its file name is 4c4c830a7208f5cb592aedce7277041667381bbff2bffd09a103cfb5feab4c16.0.png — “Southern women like their men religious and a little mad.”*

Tony treated me like a queen, first insisting on meeting me at the clinic, then taping the back light in, while I was with the doc so I’d be safe. Following me home.

My two loves

I’m fine, though a bit rattled at how quickly it can happen. And feeling a bit vulnerable. The ordeal has reminded me how lucky I am to have a man love me so. I take it for granted—nightly foot rubs to ease my neurotherapy, tending to every aspect of the farm, cooking my breakfast, lunch, or dinner. Bringing me strawberry Twizzlers from Dollar General.

Gotta go, Tony just fixed dinner.

Women: “Always wear your invisible crown.”

* author Michael Shaara

Last updated on February 14, 2023

In 2006, researching for my last literature paper at Oxford, I stumbled onto the late 17th-century court of Queen Mary of Modena, consort to James II. I was intrigued because she had so many female writers in her court—rare for the 17th century. Before heading back to the states, I met with my professor, Peter McCullough, to discuss a book idea stemming from that research. Peter had stunned me with his compliment of my paper—“One of the most beautiful Bread Loaf papers I’ve read . . . The work of an artist by an artist.” He was encouraging about my book idea and later agreed to be one of my Beta readers. Rain Dodging follows my quest for a sense of Mary’s spaces, to breathe the same air, to imagine their lives, visiting palaces and manor houses in England and Scotland and exploring their sublime back roads. Rain Dodging is a kaleidoscope of memoir and mystery, a collage of images and events. As I travel through Britain, I take you on a journey through my life and into a 17th-century royal court. You'll watch the connections unfold, from tales of a troubled childhood to wild days of college and young adulthood, the music scenes in Los Angeles & Nashville, and to my growth as mother, teacher, writer, lover, and solo traveler.