Memoir Labyrinth, Write Through Series: No. 2

The story you will write, from the maze of your memories into memoir, will come from the truth as you see it. Time and memory transform what and how we remember.

Time is a great leveler. Time levels because it allows us to gain control over our emotions and we mature. Our feelings simmer down after time dilutes the memory of an emotion laden incident. An event we once thought was earth-shattering won’t hold as much power the further we move away from it.

Do you remember how horrified you were when your mother walked into your junior high classroom in “that outfit?” You were embarrassed down to your shiny little magenta toe nails. You wanted to disappear, crawl under your desk – definitely wanted to have nothing to do with that ridiculous looking woman who says she’s your mother. Now you’re older and wiser; you laugh as you remember that incident with fondness and a touch of lingering OMG. You realize she was only there to deliver your costume – the one she’d stayed up all night sewing for you so you’d be ready for dress rehearsal after school.

And now this memory brings to mind her skill as a seamstress. She may have been very good at stitching or you may remember that one shelve of that costume was three inches longer than the other. Either way, you’ll weave this part of your mother’s character into a bio-vignette or longer memoir. Your view today, of both your mother and the event, will be markedly different from that day long ago when she walked into your classroom wearing that “how could you come to my school dressed like that” with your leading-lady dress over her arm.

THE STORY WOMAN ASKS YOU TO WRITE A SHORT, TRUE MEMOIR ABOUT YOUR MOTHER OR ANOTHER SIGNIFICANT PERSON IN YOUR LIFE.