Jessica Corral’s first book, being released this month, wasn’t a flight of fancy. It’s the story of her life, in 500 pages.
Writing as Leena J. Byrd, Corral titled her self-published memoir, “The Beauty of Flight.” The title came to her when she was walking off a flight on Oct. 15, 2017.
It was a turning point in her life’s journey.
Corral had flown to California to visit her twin sister, who was going through a divorce. “I knew that flight was the end of my marriage because I wasn’t ‘allowed’ to fly there,” Corral said. Corral’s relationship with her husband had been strained. “I had to grapple with going home and facing my ex-husband that night.”
On the flight back, Corral took off her headphones, and the passenger beside her, Rachel, told her, “I have a message for you from somebody who loves you.”
“I don’t know who you know up there, but he loves you so much,” Rachel told her.
“I just started crying,” Corral said. She knew it was her father, who had died two years earlier. “He just keeps saying over and over, ‘Jessie, let go,’” Rachel said. Only Corral’s dad called her Jessie.
“We had two hours left of the flight, and we talked the entire time,” Corral said.
When Corral landed at O’Hare, she couldn’t remember where she had parked. When she found the car, she didn’t have enough gas to get home. She made it to downtown Gary before she could buy gas. “I kept coasting and coasting. Every gas station along the way was closed.”
She filled her tank for $12.98. Her checking account had less than $15 in it.
Corral’s husband wasn’t there to greet her. “When he got home, I didn’t have to say a word. Everything was done for me.”
Memories like that are told throughout the book.
Corral said she began writing chapters about her memories before the theme came to her. It’s all about birds, hence the pen name Leena J. Byrd. The string of coincidences is eerie. When she agreed to be interviewed about the book, she chose a breakfast meeting at Birdie’s in downtown Valparaiso, not even realizing the name of the restaurant could be ironic, she said.
Birds have been flying around Corral her entire life. “I had birds in every room and didn’t even realize it until post-divorce,” she said.
“When you’re born into the world, you’re born into a nest,” Corral said, woven with the family’s insecurities, love and other deep layers. “There’s hard things to grapple with.”
Her own family history includes being shattered by alcoholism and unfaithfulness fouling the nest. “That continued metaphor of the nest keeps playing through,” Corral said.
The family nest is nestled inside the community nest, which is nestled into other nests as well.
Love, loss and life are three major themes in the book, Corral said.
“It was the greatest form of therapy I’ve ever had in my life,” resulting in 27 chapters across 500 pages, she said. “Could I have written another 500 pages? Possibly.”
“Everything that’s happened in here is 100% true,” Corral said.
One of the poignant memories is about her dad’s last phone call to her. “My dad’s last message to me was on my birthday, and I didn’t answer my phone,” Corral said. “It was the sweetest voicemail I ever received from him.” In it, Corral’s father told her he loved her. “I preserved that special message from him.”
Corral is planning a private launch party for “The Beauty of Flight” Saturday at Journeyman Distillery in Valparaiso. Corral, executive director of the Valparaiso Creative Council, arranged for an exhibit by 13 local artists in a bird-themed exhibit called Birds of the Heir.
The art installation moves to the Valparaiso Artists Guild across the street from the Valpo Creates center after the Journeyman exhibit ends. Ticket prices are at three levels for that launch party.
The public launch is April 13.
Doug Ross is a freelance writer for the Post-Tribune.
