Today, I read my students a single event memoir by Deidra Riggs. I’m asking them to choose a single event–a single moment of their lives–to narrate for a reader.
The memoir, “Better Than the Ballroom”, takes just a few minutes to read. In this piece, Riggs transports us to an evening spent with her grandfather. A granddaughter takes a walk with her grandfather; it’s a simple walk, but it means so much.
We talk about tiny moments. Can you remember a moment that changed everything? A conversation, a walk, a view of a landscape?
All day, I think about how these tiny moments can shape entire lives. Listening to students talk about “moments that changed everything” makes me deeply aware of my own interactions with folks. I also consider how much I want to be fully aware of the moments of my day–my conversations, my walks, my landscapes–because on this day, that moment might just change everything.
Finally, I recall those tiny moments in my own life that changed everything. Maybe it was finding a turtle as a child or skating on a frozen creek at midnight. Maybe it was reading the poetry of John Keats. Maybe it was eating coconut cake.
Maybe it was sitting down and writing the very first word.
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Can you think of that moment? Have you considered writing about it?
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Some moments stand out more than others.. As I read this I recalled walking along with my son when he was small and tripping and falling on the pavement. Picking myself up and brushing down my dress I looked around to make sure no one had seen. Certain I was safe from embarrassment I took my four year olds hand and continued on. Little did I realise that fall would be the topic of conversation for all to heard as my little one told everyone and re-enacted out exactly how mummy fell on her face in the street. I was mortified about it at the time. Now thirty years later I can see the funny side and laugh about it.
That's a great story!! I just love it!