A Profile in Courage - Gabriel
Lee over at Lowebrow is a resident of Germany. She recently posted an item about her son , Gabriel, that I can't get out of my mind. He's a very special young man and she's proud of him. Not much wonder. He has empathy, character, and rare courage. Surprisingly, the 'villain' in Lee's story also seems to have recognized this.
posted by Susan @ 8:46 PM
8 Comments:
I didn't realise Lee was in Germmany! I have just read that particular post and yes loved what it said about her son - and the shape of the man in the boy - even tho' at times the boy gives you nothing but heartbreak - I can identify with that a little, having three wonderful sons of my own, a little in the raw stage still.
Great story, but mostly I just love that the kid ran away to Brazil. Brazil! Why didn't I ever think of that?
Martha,
Gabriel's been 'running away' for most of his life. When he was about five - and I'm not exaggerating - he convinced a boatload of Kenyan fishermen to take him out for a ride beyond the coral reef, and my husband and I spent a frantic time searching for him till some tourists told us they'd seen him get into a boat. How did he manage to escape our vigilance? I thought he was with my husband, my husband thought he was with me, and Gabriel saw the main chance. And so it went for years and years - and still does, in other ways! But equally, I ought to relate the story of how he saved 3 kids, two of them his younger brother and sister, from drowning in the Indian Ocean when he was not quite ten. Perhaps I'll post it one of these days. (There's a reason why I include good swimmers in my YA novels!)
And still you love him Lee, because underneath there is you!!
Martha, just as aside, can I nick your name? It's fabulous, and would fit just nicely into a novel of mine! My great, great, great, great grandmother was a Martha Cornish. I have always loved the name and my car is called Martha!!
Yes, and an anagram of the surname is "Hades" which is what she's given me over my choice of "Martha" for her given name. I love it myself, Minx, but Martha's complaint is that it went out of 'fashion' around a hundred years ago.
Hey, Minx..add my name to the book too and you've got at least two guaranteed sales! Actually, that could be a good sales technique - Name every little rat who scurries across the page after someone who'll then buy the book to see his/her name in print!
Ahh, Susan, this is indeed a cunning plan!
I have a love of older names. My other absolute favourite, Dorcas, is the name of my main character in Coven. I had a riot with choosing names for the book and I managed to get in a 'Mordecai' as well as a 'Morwenna'.
Minx, feel free to use the name -- as my mother notes, I'm not fond of it.
Actually, when I was a kid and looked it up in a British name book and its meaning was listed as "homely," my mother lost all hope of convincing me it was a decent moniker.
Never mind that British and American/Canadian meanings of "homely" may differ, I was horrified, and remain so ;)
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