Shopper News South

There was a nice little write-up about me in a bonafide newspaper today. I remember those!

STORY OF HOPE

Writer inspired by memories of mother

By Eric Woods

Shopper News

“Heather Ream started her writing journey as a means to preserve the memory of her mother, who was battling sickness in her later years. She began to blog about different experiences from her childhood, and it became a “love letter” to her mother and her family.

 Ream, a South Knoxville native, eventually turned the blog into a memoir called “Lunch Ladies Bought My Prom Dress.” The story kept the form of a love letter but developed into a broader message of hope in her journey through poverty, tragedy and a complex relationship with her faith.

 “As my mom got further and further from herself because of her illness, I was determined,” Ream said. “I did not want the last chapter of her life to be defined by this illness. So I was like, ‘I love my family. I think we have a precious story. I think we have a hopeful story. And I’ve always wanted to write it,’ but that seemed to be the time to start to write it because it’s like it became catharsis for me.”

 As a child, Ream and her family grew up impoverished in a Knoxville that was much smaller than it is today. Her family experienced tragedy and mistreatment by the church because of their financial situation.

It was difficult for Ream to form any sort of worldview due to her circumstances, leaving her feeling alone. She turned to the library as a place to escape, and it helped her learn about the world before she was a part of it.

Through her reading, she learned that she wasn’t alone. Ream could explore interests outside her circumstances such as Miss Manners’ etiquette lessons and pop culture. She also found a way to completely remove herself from her current situation with the worlds that Stephen King created.

No matter what, literature gave her the resources she needed to cope and face adversity. She hopes that her book can have a similar impact on her readers.

“What I want readers to take away from is that no matter what ridiculous season of life they find themselves in, they are not without hope, they are not alone,” Ream said. “My story is about poverty, but I think everybody has an antagonist in their life in some way where maybe the stuff just hits the fan, and they don’t know how to function. And so I just want people to know that they’re going to be OK and that if I could survive it, they can survive it.”

Ream also talks about her struggle with her religious faith in her memoir, though she “only scratched the surface” in her first book and looks to dive deeper in the sequel. She was hurt by the church many times, but she found a way to separate her mistreatment from who she knew Jesus to be.

“All I can do is I can be as bright of a light as I can,” Ream said. “I can affect the people in my, you know, in my small circle or whatever. And I can just hope that by doing that, that strengthens my faith, and it also helps to repair that tattered reputation I think that Christianity rightfully has right now.”

What started as a love letter turned into a story of hope in the face of adversity. Ream is often told that she “makes tragedy hilarious,” which she takes as a compliment because it gives people comfort in their own circumstances. With a sequel in the works, she hopes that her writing can continue to have an impact on those who read.”