I just wrote the “Warning Page” for Whitney & Freddy a Boyfriend Dilemma. I know we have to have these warnings, but Freddy knocking his drunk father down to protect his mother seems tame when you think of the horrors of life. A person in the world dies every 3.4 seconds from hunger.
It seemed hard to write a teen book without any “triggers.” In my blog “What Worries Me, I confessed to not going to school a single day from Thanksgiving to Christmas during my freshman year of high school. We didn’t use the term “bullied” in 1961. Oh, we had bullies. I suppose I was traumatized or was suffering from PTSD. I mean, the doctor gave my mother a prescription for Miltown. If you had asked me, I wouldn’t have said anything. Now I can tell you, I was scared.
I don’t know if the Miltown helped. I didn’t become dependent; I just bucked up and made it onto the school grounds. You may wonder if that was the end of it—and it was not. Panic attacks have been my “friend” all these years.
About a year later, I was standing in PE, all of 80 pounds by then, when a huge lug came up behind me. We were listening to the coach in a double semi-circle. The guy jerked my left arm up behind me, about to my neck, whispering, “Say anything, and I’ll break it.” It felt close already, about to break or tear something, and I didn’t say anything. I suppose his life wasn’t all that great, either. Or maybe he was just a jerk.
I didn’t start missing school again or taking more Miltowns, but that moment hasn’t left me. But, I was in high school, and while some of it was great, other parts weren’t.
Whitney and Freddy are crazy about each other but have a hard time getting together. And they have problems. So, I suppose the book contains bullying and other triggers. As a kid, I just didn’t know any better, and now, I can’t imagine high school or life without some garbage splattered here and there. It’s a shame, but everything isn’t roses. Maybe some kid will read the book and see themself in its pages. If so, I pray tomorrow is a better day.
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