I was around 9 years old when my parents decided to build a home just a couple blocks from our existing ranch house in our little Wisconsin town. We would spend many hours scoping out the lot, watching the progress, even helping out… Well – my parents would help out, deciding to take on the … Continue reading 20 Minutes: A First Date
growing up
20 Minutes: A Childhood Fear
One of my mom’s favourite hobbies was shopping. She approached the art of shopping almost like a sport, hunting for the best deals and finding treasures at department stores, always scouring the clearance racks. From my small hometown, we would drive 45 minutes to a bigger city with a mall and spend the entire day … Continue reading 20 Minutes: A Childhood Fear
Mini-Slice: A Betrayal
Inspired by my 20-minute writing exercise today around the theme: “Detail a situation where you felt betrayed.” Betrayal: the sense of being harmed by the intentional actions or omissions of a trusted person. Luckily betrayal isn’t an emotion I’ve felt often. In fact, to start this writing exercise, I even resorted to looking it up … Continue reading Mini-Slice: A Betrayal
20 Minutes: My Childhood Room
#1, Eisenhower Street: The first thing I recall about my bedroom is the wallpaper. It’s a vintage, nursery print with sepia brown tones that remind you of those old time photographs you can pay to get taken in tourist traps like Wisconsin Dells or Niagara Falls. The pattern features a rocking horse, a teddy bear, … Continue reading 20 Minutes: My Childhood Room
20 Minutes: Earliest Memory
When I was just over three years old, my parents introduced me to my newborn baby sister, Melanie. I have a faint memory of sitting on the concrete front porch step with my grandma, watching for them to drive home from the hospital. It was early July and I waited with longing – mostly just … Continue reading 20 Minutes: Earliest Memory
Mini-Slice: An Accident
Inspired by my 20-minute writing exercise today around the theme: "Recall a time when you've been in an accident." It was the summer before I started university and I was working at a resort in a small town about 20 minutes from my childhood home. The resort and town were very evocative of Dirty Dancing … Continue reading Mini-Slice: An Accident
20 Minutes: Letter To a Younger Self
You are enough. Always. I know you want to make your mom, your teachers, your dance instructor, your friends, proud with your accomplishments, but they will love you regardless (or even in spite of) what you achieve. And if they don’t, then that says something too… Because the thing with real love is that it … Continue reading 20 Minutes: Letter To a Younger Self
20 Minutes: A First Love
I've recently struggled with inspiration (and time) to write, what I would consider, more "complete" Moth-style, slice-of-life stories. I found a list of memoir-writing prompts and made a commitment (to myself) to take 20 minutes before starting my day to write. Starting at the top of the list, I've been making it happen (for at … Continue reading 20 Minutes: A First Love
Concerts from the Van
I had a bit of a love|hate relationship with my ballet school. My competitive nature and eagerness to please could leave me feeling either on cloud 9 – like the day I was the first in my age group to be tapped for the esteemed upgrade to pointe shoes… or in the gutter, like the … Continue reading Concerts from the Van
True Confessions of a Valedictorian
Inspired by The Moth Radio Hour (August 16, 2022); theme: Confidence - Too Much, Too Little? I was the type of kid who knew how to give people what they wanted: teachers, piano instructors, coaches… even parents – not that I always gave them what they wanted, but I knew how to. This characteristic was … Continue reading True Confessions of a Valedictorian
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