Sandi de Laski on Writing, Resiliency and Inspiration

The words of Benjamin Franklin give a sense of purpose to the Brandon Christian Writers, the group that today, Oct. 8, is hosting the Florida Inspirational Writers Retreat at the Cedarkirk Retreat and Conference Center in Lithia.

The writers’ group, which meets the third Thursday of the month at St. Andrews United Methodist Church in Brandon, notes on  its website that, in the words of Franklin, one should "either write something worth reading or do something worth writing."

Sandi L. de Laski, the treasurer for the retreat, which was founded in 2008 by Debora Coty and Ruth Ellinger, takes these words to heart in discussing her passion for inspirational writing.

A child of alcoholic parents and the wife of a husband stricken by Parkinson's disease, de Laski said through her writing she hopes to help others through times of their own distress and to be for her grandchildren an example of resiliency.

She spent a moment talking to Brandon Patch as the conference got under way. The conference is open to the public, at 1920 Streetman Drive, and runs through 5 p.m. The cost is $95.

BRANDON PATCH: What’s the purpose of the Florida Inspirational Writers Retreat?

• DE LASKI: It’s to help inspire upcoming book authors, people who want to know how to publish something that they’ve written, how to get edited, whether to get a book publisher or to do it themselves.

BRANDON PATCH: Tell me about the genre of inspirational writing.

• DE LASKI: Typically, it has to do with personal experience, at least for me.  I personally have a husband who has Parkinson’s disease,  so I wrote a story of how I lost my husband to Parkinson’s. He’s still alive but he’s not the man that I married.

BRANDON PATCH: And so you tell a story . . . .

• DE LASKI: I basically tell about the things that we did before the Parkinson’s. I didn’t really dwell  too much on the Parkinson’s itself. I tell about the things he used to do. He used to golf and play tennis and work in his garden all the time. He had his own business. The inspirational part is the fact that we had all these things that we did together, that really sets the bond in your relationship, so now going through the difficult times . . . I won’t say it makes it easier, but you deal with it. You deal with it with a little more dignity and grace because you’ve already set the groundwork for a strong relationship based on Christian faith.

BRANDON PATCH: In a sense, then, that is what sustains you.

• DE LASKI: Right.

BRANDON PATCH: Is writing your therapy?

• DE LASKI: I’ve always been journaling. I’m the only child of an alcoholic family. Both my parents are deceased. I’ve always wanted to write inspiring stories. I never had the chance. I never had an opportunity. If you have that seed in you, that yes, you can survive, that’s what I wanted to put on paper. I wanted my grandchildren to read this. If it ever got published and was an inspiration to push someone else who is going through a difficult time like that, that’s fine.  First, now, I’m trying to put all my family stories together of all the struggles I went through as a young child and how I survived.

BRANDON PATCH: What sparked your inspiration to write, to become resilient, to not become an  alcoholic yourself?

• DE LASKI: I always had this seed planted in me. I remember crying out to God, “If you’re really there,” and it wasn’t like bargaining, “just get me through this and I promise you I will not live like this and I will not raise my children like this.” I have done everything I can to stay away from alcohol. I have no desire for it. I don’t want to be around people who are drinking. It’s not judgmental. I loathe it. And it brings me nightmares to smell it.

BRANDON PATCH: You did survive, you should pat yourself on the back.

• DE LASKI: I have grandkids, so I all I try to work at is being the best person I can. I try to be the best nana I can for them. If I can set a good example, then that’s my inspiration to them, to be a good example.

BRANDON PATCH: How can the public get involved if they missed today’s conference?

• DE LASKI: The Brandon Christian Writers Group meets at St. Andrews United Methodist Church on the fourth Thursday of ever month, from 7-9 p.m., except for November and December, because of the holidays.

BRANDON PATCH: What does the group do at its meetings?

• DE LASKI: It’s sort of a Writer’s Digest version of what the conference is all about. We have keynote speakers and if anybody has a story they want to read and share, they can and the whole group will offer some constructive review. We also have a website, www.brandonchristianwriters@blogspot.com, which gets updated all the time and that notes different writing contests.

BRANDON PATCH: What is the power of writing?

• DE LASKI: The power of writing is telling your story.  Everybody has a story that’s in them.  It helps you to get it on paper, instead of having it in your head. It helps you to share it with other people.