Everyone Has a Story
Contributed by Marilyn Bennett
What is your story? Whether you think you have had an interesting life or not, you can gain insight into your own life by writing it down. Life in the western world has changed so completely in the last 50 years that it helps us to appreciate how far we have come, by reflecting on what life was like when we were young. I find it very interesting to hear about the different events that people have lived through. Our country has gone through so many changes during my lifetime that just writing down simple ordinary stories of my childhood amaze my grandchildren. They cannot imagine how I could have lived through an entire childhood without either a television set or a cell phone.
There are many reasons for writing your story, but probably the most important is that no one else really knows your story. Have you ever sat down with a sibling and recalled an incident from childhood? Often the story you remember bears little resemblance to what he or she remembers. In going over my childhood I have often been amazed that the things that I thought were very important were hardly remembered by my brother.
What propelled me into writing a memoir about my life in St Paul, Minnesota during the 40's and 50's was when I related a story to my granddaughter about getting my hand caught in a wringer washer. She asked me "What is a wringer washer?" That made me start thinking about how life has changed. We not only had wringer washers, but washing the clothes was an all-day job. After washing the clothes in the machine, each piece was separately put through the wringer and then put into rinse water. They were then put through the wringer again before being hung outside on a clothesline. That was not the end of the job as almost everything needed to be ironed. This meant the laundry was a full-time job for two whole days. I have often thought while doing my laundry now of how different my life is from the one my mother had. Whoever invented our current washer and dryer is the man who really liberated women from the drudgery of the dreaded "laundry day".
I told the above story only as an example to show how the everyday life has changed so much in just our lifetime. This fact is what makes any ordinary life story extraordinary to the members of the current "cell phone generation". Life without indoor plumbing, air-conditioning, microwaves, computers, television or cell phones seems so long ago. Remember when we sent out Christmas cards, wrote letters and typed on a typewriter that did not autocorrect us? I have no wish to go back to those days, but I do think it is important to write down our stories to record the tough times and the fun times. It can help us to reflect on how times have changed for the good and for the bad. Sometimes we can get so involved with life as it is happening that we forget to appreciate what we had and also what we have today.
If you are in the process of writing a memoir or are just considering doing so and wonder how to get started, you are at the right place. We have a memoir writing workshop starting up again after a summer hiatus. The workshop is held at the Palmer Senior Center the 1st and 3rd Mondays of the month from 12:30PM to 1:30PM. The first workshop will be on October 7th. At each session we listen to excerpts from each of our writings. I promise you it is a fun group and is a great encouragement to all of us to write more. The main reason for the workshop is to create a non stressful environment to help define ideas for writing down each of our various histories.
Everyone has a story, and no two stories are the same. My life probably was not as exciting as yours, but we all have lived through a tumultuous time in history. Just relating what happened in the places you lived is amazingly different than what happened in my back yard. Come and join our group. We meet in the Golden Heart Room on the 2nd floor of the Palmer Senior Center. Drop in, even if you only want to listen, you will not be sorry. If you would like more information, you may e-mail me at marilynjbennett@yahoo.com.
Looking forward to meeting you and hearing your story.