Sunday, June 12, 2011

A properly punctuated life

When my sister was diagnosed with breast cancer and soon died, it spinned me 360 degrees 5 times over, and it was the turning point in my life. But unlike the English writer Lynne Truss after her sister died, I didn't publish a book bemoaning the problem of poor punctuation in today's world. Eats, Shoots & Leaves is the title of her book and she illustrates it by telling a story of a panda who enters a cafe, orders a sandwich, eats it then pulls out a gun and starts shooting. When a waiter asks the panda to explain his action, he hands him a poorly punctuated wildlife guide and asks him to look up the description of a panda. It reads: "Panda. Large, black and white bear-like mammal, native to China. Eats, shoots and leaves."

You see why proper punctuation can mean life or death? When I was young(er) I used to thrive on deadlines and I was constantly operating on an exclamation point, never knowing when to pause or stop. I know God meant for us to use every punctuation ever invented; every dot or tittle in any sentence or in real life is meant to have a purpose. But getting older with my now tired bones, I tend to apply the period sometimes too much..... in other words, I have become too lazy. Too lazy that I often have difficulty re-punctuating, especially a sentence like this: "Not getting any better. Come at once."

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