literature

Memory #001: Advice from my Mom

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Published: Aug 9, 2014

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Literature Text

“Why are you so pale?” Max asked with an ugly sneer. “Do you ever go outside?”

I usually sat by myself on the school bus; the other kids on it were hardly potential friends. Most of them were older than I was, and the ones in my grade still remembered me from elementary school as “Crybaby Kaelyn.”

Max shoved my backpack out of the way and plopped down beside me. I warned him that he better move, and he didn’t, so I shoved him with all my might—which, for a preteen girl, really wasn’t a lot. I yelled, he yelled, and the bus driver, a usually quiet and friendly black man with salt and pepper hair, raised his voice and told me to come sit up front.

When I got home, I told my mom what happened. She lectured me for resorting to violence, but then she gave me a piece of advice I’d (mostly) never forget: Everyone has something good about them. She told me to remember that the next time someone was a jerk to me, and they’d have no power over me. And although I never quite figured out what teeny, tiny shred of good there was in Max, that piece of advice from my mom has served me well my entire life.

I'm participating in an awesome project that Nichrysalis came up with called the 100 Memories Project! There's a group you can check out if you'd like to learn more: HundredMemories. The goal is to remember and write down 100 memories about yourself in at least 100 words. I'm trying to keep mine pretty minimal. This one is about 200.

The group includes optional prompts to follow. I'll likely use some of them if they inspire anything and also write some on my own. This one started as just something I thought of recently (when a friend in an online group asked if anyone else was ever teased for being pale) and as I wrote, I remembered the conversation with my mom after I got home from school, which fit the first prompt: lessons from parents.

ALL NAMES except for my own will be changed in my submissions. And I'm going to try not to repeat any names. If a name repeats, it's about the same person who showed up in more than one memory. For example, if I had a brother (which I don't) named Adam, I might change his name to Mark, and any mention of someone named Mark in my 100 Memories is referring to my brother (who doesn't exist).

The goal is to get the creative juices flowing. I'm making a promise to myself to be brutally honest (which is part of the reason names are being changed, I think my good friends would be able to pick themselves out, but characters like Max, I really don't want stumbling upon this online, figuring out who I am, and raising hell, unlikely as it may be). Some of these will probably be painful to write, others will bring back really fond memories of people and places I haven't revisited in a long time.

I will be posting all of these to a special folder in my gallery, and because there are going to be 100 of these little, tiny pieces, I'm going to hold off on publishing more than one or two at a time. If inspiration strikes and I write a dozen, I'll pace them out over a few weeks.

I'm hoping this will get me writing more regularly and give me a way to write a little bit about my past, which is something I've always wanted to try doing, but I feel like I'm terrible at writing memoirs. I love that this format allows for little snippets like this that I probably wouldn't consider important or detailed enough to include in something longer. I also hope that anyone who follows me will enjoy reading these and getting to know a little bit more about me if they're curious. If my memories spark anything with you, please feel free to start a conversation! I really love talking to people here.