Back Down Memory Lane

June 24, 2014

I still subscribe to my hometown newspaper The San Juan Record. It is a peek back to a place that I love dearly but rarely get to see. This week there was an article about the elementary school being torn down. My 6th grade teacher (Mr. Boyle) put an appeal each of us who had attended to write down a story to share about our times there.

I got to spend the weekend remembering. I thought about our fantastic school lunch—even the hamburger buns were homemade! I loved the chili and cinnamon rolls and even loved the beef stew—though I dutifully pretended not to because everyone else complained about it.

I still laugh when I think about Mr. Allen (the librarian) getting after kids in our class for talking. One of the boys astutely noticed I had not been singled out though I was talking too. Mr. Allen replied, “Well, I don’t think she can help it.” I haven’t stopped talking. Mr. Allen was right!

Take a few minutes and do some remembering of your own. You don’t need to write your whole life story. Just take one experience and write it down. Don’t worry about punctuation or spelling, just write what you remember. Here are a few questions to get you started. Try picking one and writing just a paragraph about it.

  1. What was your first job? What did you like/dislike about it?
  2. Who were your friends growing up?
  3. What were your parents like?
  4. Did you have nickname? How did you get it?
  5. What’s the best compliment you ever received?
  6. Who has been the kindest to you?
  7. What was something your family liked to do for fun?
  8. How did you meet your spouse?

What memories did these questions spark? Hopefully, they were good!

Until next time…

– Lesli Smith, College Transitions Instructor

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