While I wait for beta reader feedback for my first novel, Transitions: Through Hardship to the Stars, I have a little extra time on my hands, but a mind that is still fully immersed in the story... and thinking "What's next?" So I started outlining Book 2 - Recovery.
Recovery picks up where Transitions left off, and one of the storylines involves Tara's father passing away and her family gathering in Arizona for his celebration of life. Tara learns that her brother, Brad, was named after a family member who played baseball.
In early drafts I had imagined this namesake Brad being a major leaguer — someone Brad's father admired from afar. Unfortunately, I couldn't find a real life Brad that fit the timeline so I decided that the namesake would be a beloved older brother who played minor league ball and was a hero to the man who would become Tara's dad.
Which reminded me that my own uncle played minor league baseball in Sacramento.
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| Sacramento Solons - Uncle Ron is in the first row, bottom right |
So I looked him up. Just to get a little more detail, a little texture for the story. I found his obituary and read. I stopped midway.
My uncle's nickname was Ironman.
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| Proof for when someone thinks I made this up just for the novel |
He was given this nickname because he could pitch both games of a doubleheader and win. Our family's first endurance athlete.
I sat with that for a minute.
I have completed multiple IRONMAN triathlons. I have crossed finish lines with that word on the banner overhead. I have worn that word on my hats and shirts. Hot Stuff even bought me a Dooney & Burke IRONMAN purse. IRONMAN has been a very visible part of my identity for years. And my mother — his sister — never once made the connection. Never even mentioned it.
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| One of my favorites gifts from Hot Stuff |
I scanned the obituary again for any more family secrets and stopped cold for a second time. My uncle's birthday... April 30... the same day I was reading it. Chills!
I sat floored at my laptop trying to process what I had just learned.
I didn't know what to do with that except write it down and share it. Some things are too weird to be coincidences. Some stories were always going to find their way to the surface. Maybe the outline was never really about Book 2. Maybe it was just the excuse I needed to go looking.
Happy birthday, Uncle Ron. The original "Ironman" in our family.
