☕ Grab a warm cup of coffee, tea, or cocoa, and let’s chat. Today, I want to tell you a story about second chances—the kind that help you rediscover something you never realized you lost.
Losing—and Finding—Your Voice Again
When I moved to Montana, I walked away from everything I had known. My husband’s mother and sister had passed, and the family needed someone at the farm. We left behind friends and familiarity. We also left the sense of security that comes with knowing exactly where you fit in the world.
We live in the house and community where my husband was raised. I didn’t know a single person—and, for a while, it was isolating.
It was a daunting change, and there were many opportunities (like the time our pipes froze mid-shampoo) I questioned whether I had made the right decision.
Then, one day, I found a note from my sister-in-law.
She wanted to write stories like Sex and the City, set in small-town Montana.
Finding that note felt like a message.
It was a little reminder that life doesn’t just take—it also gives.
I had given up my sense of where I belonged, my security, friends, and knowledge of resources. (If you go into the archives of my social media, I share some of the what was I thinking stories)
That note was a lifeline. I didn’t have to give up everything. I still had a dream I’d carried since childhood.
Maybe I could find my way back to my voice—this time, through storytelling.
Four months after moving to Montana, I wrote my first novel.
(this is in a whisper voice…I veered from the note a little. I write sweet and mostly clean romances. The Ashbrook series are closed-door, like the Cary Grant, fade-to-black romances)
The Power of Words: How Poetry Changed Everything
I wasn’t the only one who lost and found my voice.
James Earl Jones and Maya Angelou—two voices that comfort and inspire me—both spent years in silence.
James Earl Jones developed a severe stutter as a child. It was so severe that he hesitated to speak by the time he was in school. For eight years, he barely said a word, believing his voice was more of a burden than a gift.
Maya Angelou’s silence came from trauma. After a heartbreaking moment in her childhood, she went nearly five years without speaking. She wrote that “she observed, but she did not speak.”
In his autobiography Voices and Silences, James Earl Jones credits his English teacher, Donald Crouch, with helping him find his voice. Crouch encouraged Jones to recite poetry from memory, providing a rhythm and structure that helped ease his stutter.
For Maya Angelou, it was Mrs. Bertha (Beulah Lee Sampson) Flowers, a woman she describes in I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings. Mrs. Flowers gently addressed young Maya’s silence. She introduced Angelou to poetry, telling her that “words meant nothing if they weren’t spoken aloud.”
So, Mrs. Flowers gave Maya poetry to read—and had her recite it.
And with each poetry reading, Maya Angelou started speaking again.
James Earl Jones and Maya Angelou had teachers who saw the potential their hesitations had hidden. It is rather poetic (heh, heh, I love it when I can use double meanings) that poetry was the bridge that brought them a voice that would delight millions of people.
The Journey of Self-Discovery Via a Second Chance
Most of us know James Earl Jones as Darth Vader and Mufasa. We recognize Maya Angelou as the voice of wisdom and resilience. But both had to trust the encouragement that helped them reclaim their voices.
They’re not the only ones. They just happen to be the two people we can relate to this month.
James Earl Jones and Maya Angelou both found their voices again.
So did I.
And maybe, just maybe, it’s time for you to find yours.
Is there a part of yourself you’ve silenced—Something you’ve always wanted to try, but self-doubt crept in?
Your Turn: Try That Thing
If you’ve been waiting for a sign, consider this it.
There’s something you’ve been wanting to try, isn’t there?
A dream you put on the back burner? A goal you told yourself you’d get to someday? A small, quiet part of yourself you’ve been ignoring?
Mistakes, doubts, and wrong turns don’t mean you’ve lost your chance.
As one of my characters, Kate, says in 452 Memory Lane:
“Mistakes are proof that life gives us second, third, and often fourth chances to grow into someone we can be proud of.”
So, what are you waiting for?
I’d love to hear what your second chance looks like. Share in the comments, and let that be the second step toward making that dream come true. Or if you know someone who needs a little nudge. Share this note with them.
💛 A Daily Reminder of Second Chances—Just for You!
Want a little encouragement at your fingertips? I’ve created a set of free phone wallpapers featuring some of my favorite second-chance quotes.
✨ Download the graphic as a reminder that life doesn’t just take—it also gives.
✨ Want the full set? My newsletter subscribers get exclusive access to all of them! Sign up here to grab yours: https://merrimaywether.com/newsletter/
☕ May your coffee be warm, your heart be open, and your second chances be endless.
Until next time…