In the last several days three pictures from my past have been posted on Facebook , each resurrecting a sweet memory from a time long ago, including the one I downloaded yesterday to celebrate my girlfriend, Susan's 63rd birthday. Susan and I have been friends since we were in first grade and often walked home from school together. Susan attended Zion Lutheran on one corner street in Maywood, a quaint bedroom community in southeast Los Angeles, while I attended the Catholic school, St. Rose of Lima , on the opposite corner. After eight years at parochial schools, we both found ourselves starting as Freshman at Bell High, where our friendship would deepen and grow stronger. The picture I posted on Facebook was taken in the summer of 1967 while we were visiting my dad at his home in St. Louis. Susan and I were 16 years old. My little brother, Walt was with us.
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The reason I share about these pictures on a writing blog is to show how photos can help us as writers to recall special times, places and people in our lives. For instance, the picture I posted on Facebook of my friend Susan and I brings to mind how her parents said she could make the trip to St. Louis with me as long as she earned the money to pay for her expenses, and how Susan and I came up with a brilliant idea - to collect pop bottles (in those years redeemable for cash) . Both of us took a grocery cart and walked up and down Gage Avenue - a busy street in our hometown of Bell - day after day for several weeks to search for empty pop bottles, until our carts were filled. Besides checking out the laundry mat, Arvo's Market, the shoe repair shop, Jim's Hair House , and Clingman's Hardware, we looked under bushes, parking lots and trash cans. We became bottle scavengers - experts in our field! No pop bottle was left for someone else to find. We claimed them all. In the end, Susan's cup , or should I say, her cart was overflowing, and exceeded in cash needed for her to make the trip.
There are other pictures I look at from long ago, like the one of my brother, Walt and his girlfriend (at the time), Patty with my husband, Gary, and me. I can almost hear our shared laughter when we would picnic in the park and camp at San Onofre. I think of our marathon ping pong games and playing Monopoly. Seeing those pictures help remind me of who we were, about our hopes and dreams, and from where we came, and who we are now. My mother recently repeated the old adage, " A picture is worth a thousand words". I don't know about a thousand words, but as writers, I do know if we can see those pictures perfectly, through a clean, clear lens we will find a story to tell.
Whether you're writing a story of fiction, poetry or memoir, I encourage you to look at pictures from your past to remind you of people, places and things that help inspire you to write your storytelling adventures.
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The reason I share about these pictures on a writing blog is to show how photos can help us as writers to recall special times, places and people in our lives. For instance, the picture I posted on Facebook of my friend Susan and I brings to mind how her parents said she could make the trip to St. Louis with me as long as she earned the money to pay for her expenses, and how Susan and I came up with a brilliant idea - to collect pop bottles (in those years redeemable for cash) . Both of us took a grocery cart and walked up and down Gage Avenue - a busy street in our hometown of Bell - day after day for several weeks to search for empty pop bottles, until our carts were filled. Besides checking out the laundry mat, Arvo's Market, the shoe repair shop, Jim's Hair House , and Clingman's Hardware, we looked under bushes, parking lots and trash cans. We became bottle scavengers - experts in our field! No pop bottle was left for someone else to find. We claimed them all. In the end, Susan's cup , or should I say, her cart was overflowing, and exceeded in cash needed for her to make the trip.
There are other pictures I look at from long ago, like the one of my brother, Walt and his girlfriend (at the time), Patty with my husband, Gary, and me. I can almost hear our shared laughter when we would picnic in the park and camp at San Onofre. I think of our marathon ping pong games and playing Monopoly. Seeing those pictures help remind me of who we were, about our hopes and dreams, and from where we came, and who we are now. My mother recently repeated the old adage, " A picture is worth a thousand words". I don't know about a thousand words, but as writers, I do know if we can see those pictures perfectly, through a clean, clear lens we will find a story to tell.
Whether you're writing a story of fiction, poetry or memoir, I encourage you to look at pictures from your past to remind you of people, places and things that help inspire you to write your storytelling adventures.
3 comments:
So right you are about photos! Thank you ! They do bring back so many happy memories. You are one amazing writer! jm
You're right, pictures do invoke memories and in the case of these two you've selected such happy ones! Thanks Kath!
I LOVED IT! What a nice tribute to your long-time friend. You both haven't changed much as a few years have been added but those smiles are still the same. :)
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