Stringing Pearls as You Write

Today's post is a repeat, one that I wrote quite a few years ago but is still relevant today, especially when writing your family stories.

We do not remember days, we remember moments

I read the quote above at the bottom of a Happy New Year greeting I once received. It fit perfectly with the topic I'd selected for today's post. I wish that the person who wrote this quote had been named. Sadly, it is anonymous.

We do remember the special moments in our lives with a clarity that I find amazing. I've had special moments that have stayed with me for the many decades I've walked this earth, and it's been those moments that have created memoir stories that seem to be perfect for many anthologies.

Each one of those special moments is like a pearl, and as writers, we can string them together to create a memoir of our lives. The individual moments shine in our memory bank like the pearls on a necklace. They gleam and step forth clearly so we can write about them.

One of my favorite pearls is a story I wrote for a Chicken Soup Tea Lovers book. My grandmother and I had afternoon tea at the famous Walnut Room at Marshall Field's department store in Chicago when I was four years old. Only a young child, I still remember it as clearly as if it happened yesterday. Because the memory remained vividly in my mind, I found I could recreate the event well enough to have the story published.

Another is a story about a valentine box my dad made for me during my second-grade year. I believe I remember it so well because a revelation hit me while Dad and I spent time together making the box.

Yet a third special moment memory that produced a publishable story is about the first time I had surgery. I was four and staying in the hospital proved frightening until a beautiful and compassionate nurse eased the experience for me. She set me on a path of service to others for the rest of my life.

The events that impressed us the most are the ones we remember as though they happened only yesterday, not years ago. Those moments are the individual pearls that we string together.

When an event occurs in our life that has some importance in shaping our character or signifies love and family, the memory becomes more important than the mundane things in our days. The memories are stored until we pluck them out and add one more pearl to our life's necklace. All it takes is a little trigger to bring the memory forth. Once it's there, it's up to you to write the story.