There are moments in our lives that keep their place in the center of our hearts and the forefronts of our brains. It seems those moments are there because of the emotions elicited. To keep these moments alive on paper, emotions have to be felt by the writer and reader. Tap into the emotion you feel now as you write the memory. Look back on the way you felt at the time of the occurrence. Why did you feel that way? What was going on around you? What was happening in your life at that time that maybe contributed to the moment.
I remember taking a train trip with my grandmother to get my birth certificate so I could get my first job. She knew how important it was for me to get that job and the certificate was needed. Her knees hurt, her energy was low, but I remember the two of us rapidly moving on a thrown together mission, walking down a crowded Chicago Michigan Avenue. She and I were covered from head to toe in warm, heavy clothing to brave the strong, cold lake winter winds. The winds, the knees, the congestion, train schedules and the mission to be accomplished were all part of the day, but what I remember most was her putting her plans for the day aside and ignoring her hurting knees to share her devotion to me. I had just turned sixteen and she was a sixteen year old at heart in an almost eighty year old body. No "body" was going to stop her from helping me go after a dream. The memory of her dressed in her warm fur like coat sharing a piece of my life is one of those memories that keeps a place in the forefront of my mind. I don't remember what coat I wore, but the warm feeling I had that day is still warming my heart.
Sunday, October 1, 2017
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