One Penticton writer is hoping her story of forgiveness will pass along the lessons she has learned.
A story by Cecilia Heather MacDonald was recently featured in the latest edition of the longstanding inspirational story series Chicken Soup for the Soul.
MacDonald was living in Prince Edward Island when a friend passed along an Ottawa Writers Guild newsletter requesting story submissions for the upcoming edition of the series Chicken Soup for the Soul: The Power of Forgiveness.
MacDonald has been writing since she was a child, and has been devoted to writing and nothing else for the last three years. She now has her work in an iconic series that is a mainstay on many bookshelves.
MacDonald is definitely a reader of Chicken Soup, but only holds one book in her collection currently, as she is constantly giving books to friends and family when she’s done reading them.
“I was ecstatic. It’s a great feeling to have any written work published and it felt great that they were willing to take it because I think it can do a lot of good out there,” MacDonald said.
Her submission revolves around her relationship with her ex-husband, finding forgiveness between the two of them and how it affected their son. The topic becomes even more prominent during a time of hardship for the family, her son’s open-heart surgery.
The topic is a nuanced one to approach, said MacDonald.
“Like a lot of people, I’ve had the need in my life to forgive other people for what they have done to me and I’ve had need to be forgiven and also to forgive myself. There are so many layers in forgiveness,” MacDonald said.
“I had a story to share about forgiving someone who hurt me deeply and also the story included the fact that I probably hurt him too.”
The story isn’t a lengthy one. Most of the 100 stories in the collection are only a couple pages, but MacDonald’s condensed version covers the repair of a relationship that played out over years. However, her story is one with a happy ending and she hopes that message will get through to those who read it.
“What seemed like negatives, or hardships at the time, turned into an opportunity to do something for others and get this story out to others to show them that even if it gets to that point of difficulty, it doesn’t have to stay that way,” MacDonald said.
She said her ex-husband and their son were both very supportive of the story and they felt the same as she did about the parts that they played, and the happy ending that resulted from MacDonald writing a letter forgiving her ex-husband.
“It’s not like it was a one-time thing. It has turned into great relationships all around. They supported it and they also felt that this is something that could help other people. Writing a letter, mailing a letter, just doing it.” she said.
