Where the Tree Falls the Forest Rises

Charlene Elderkin

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Where the Tree Falls, the Forest Rises: How the death of a loved one seeds new growth in the bereaved Do you have a story to share?

About the book
One change that death brings to the bereaved is rarely discussed--the power of death to generate new life in those who loved the deceased. I am a different person than I was before the death of my mother, Arlene, who died of chronic lymphocytic leukemia. Her ability to face death without fear and with a great deal of practicality had a profound effect on me. Within a year I became a hospice volunteer. Two years later I co-founded the Threshold Care Circle, a non-profit organization that educates and empowers families and communities to care for their dead at home. New traditions are emerging in the small rural community where I live, as mourners gather in the family home instead of the funeral home, as they sing their goodbyes while the departed loved one is carried in a hand-decorated coffin to the family van. My mother's death planted the seeds for that change.Where the tree falls, the forest rises* will be a collection of stories offering an intimate glimpse into the personal renewal experienced following the death of a loved one. Each a unique voice in varied circumstances; these first-hand accounts illustrate how ordinary people find a way to integrate the death of their beloved into a forever-changed life.This anthology will be organized by relationship categories: mothers and fathers, brothers and sisters, sons and daughters, spouses/sweethearts, little ones (a special chapter on infants and toddlers), extended family, friends, community. Where possible, it includes photos of the storytellers with their loved one. * Title is a line taken from Wendell Berry's poem, The Rising.
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Submission Guidelines
The Mothers and Fathers category is now full. Submissions are still being accepted for all other categories. Guidelines for Submissions (click link under the photo to download)One change that death brings to the bereaved is rarely discussed -- the power of death to generate new life in those who loved the deceased. Where the tree falls, the forest rises* seeks story submissions that offer an intimate glimpse into personal renewal following the death of a loved one or community member. Without denying the experience of grief and loss, these first-hand accounts illustrate how ordinary people find a way to integrate the death of their beloved into a forever-changed life. How this integration unfolds and when is as varied as the people writing their stories. For example:When her baby brother dies, ten-year-old Kate discovers new life in the power of words and poetry.Doreen writes a letter to her husband on what would be their 25th wedding anniversary, realizing that she has now lived without him for almost as long as she had lived with him.For Nancy and Becky, the seeds of the change take root as they support their sister-in-law in her dying process. John, a funeral director, sees his work with new eyes when his own father dies.After a prom night car accident kills a teenage boy, the community discovers a strength they didn't know they had in helping his family care for his body at home.Scroll down by moving the small brown circle at the top of the thin line. The anthology will be organized by category of relationship: mothers and fathers, brothers and sisters, sons and daughters, spouses/sweethearts, little ones (a special chapter on infants and toddlers), extended family, friends, community. You may submit a story for more than one category.Possible questions to consider when framing the story:How did the death of my loved one transform, awaken and/or bring renewal to my life?What did I learn about them, about myself, that only through their death I could fully comprehend?Was anything left unresolved at death that now seeks resolution through my life?That said, do not just write the answers to these questions and submit it;– tell the story that illustrates how the death of your loved one (where the tree falls) seeded and/or sprouted into new growth (the forest rises). Write your story in the first person. Make sure that you introduce the character(s). Stories can be written from your religious or spiritual perspective if someone outside your denomination will understand your terminology, –but do not proselytize. All stories will be edited for content and clarity. Do not submit a sermon, a tribute or eulogy, an "as told to" story written in the third person, or give advice to others on grieving. The Mothers and Fathers category is now full. Submissions are still being accepted for all other categories. Story Specifications1. Submit your stories via email to: deathstories_gmail.com 2. Stories must be first person non-fiction and between 1200 - 3000 words.3. Save your story as a Microsoft Word document, with your name and the story title in the header of every page and paginate. Include your contact information.4. Be sure to keep a copy of the story you submit.5. Please submit only stories that have not been previously published, unless your work has appeared in a publication with a circulation of 5000 or less.6. Deadline is Feb 1, 2011 The following conveys the spirit of the book. Please become familiar with it. * Excerpt from The Rising, by Wendell BerryThere is a grave, too, in eachsurvivor. By it, the dead one lives.He enters us, a broken blade,sharp, clear as a lens or mirror.Like a wound, grief receives him.Like graves, we heal over, and yet keepas part of ourselves the severe gift.By grief, more inward than darkness,the dead become the intelligence of life.Where the tree falls, the forest rises.There is nowhere to stand but in absence,no life but in the fateful light.
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Submission Guidelines WTTF.doc

About Charlene

About the author

Charlene Elderkin volunteers for Vernon Memorial Hospice Care and is a Home Funeral Educator. She cofounded the Threshold Care Circle (2006), one of the the first home funeral educational organizations in the Midwest, and is a member of the newly founded National Home Funeral Alliance .

Charlene is currently marketing manager for the Viroqua Food Cooperative in Viroqua, WI. She is responsible for the publication (including editing and design) of the bimonthly newsletter, Pea Soup and regularly contributes to the VFC blog . She has written numerous articles and given public presentations on local food and cooperative history as well as more specific promotional material related to VFC. She is the former editor/publlisher of In the Light magazine.

Charlene is an experienced public speaker with audiences ranging from a handful to hundreds. Most recently she spoke on home and green funerals to the Wisconsin Coroner and Medical Examiners Conference and the Chicago Memorial Society.

In her off-duty life she sings with the RidgeTones, wanders the shores of Lake Superior with her husband Nathan, and spends time with her adult children and grandchildren.

Previously published works on death related topics include:

Mondays with Mom, a story about her mother's death appeared in the 2010 premier issue of Essential Inklings, a publication of the Franciscan Spirituality Center.

The Call: A Community Coming Together for Viroqua Teens , was written for a special Death and Dying issue of Lilipoh, Winter 2011

My Final Wishes is an advance funeral-planning book; all sales support the work of the Threshold Care Circle.

Contact

Where the tree falls, the forest rises

Email Charlene at: deathstories_gmail.comFollow charkin on Twitter
call for submissions WTTF.docx Submission Guidelines WTTF.doc