May 15: Writing Prompt #135-Memories for Sale

On a weekend road trip, far away from home, you stumble upon a garage sale in a neighborhood you’re passing through. Astonished, you find an object among the belongings for sale that you recognize. Tell us about it.

I really wasn’t sure about it at first….I mean, it had been so abused in the years since I had seen it that it was only a shell of its former glory, but underneath the dust and grime, you could still see where the sunlight through the windows of our living room on Westmoreland Street caused the stain to bleed and made that coppery red color stand out around the inlay on the top. 

I had once been so attached to this antique (now really antique) grand piano that my parents had purchased together when we were just babies.  Everyone who ever saw it from guests at our homes where the piano traveled with us and was stored over the years to movers and piano tuners commented on what a beautiful instrument it was and how they had never seen anything like it.  And I had the privilege of learning how to play on it and practiced daily (well, maybe not EVERY day, but for sure weekly) making music on its perfectly tuned black and white keys for over 7 years during the days I was taking lessons.  I already loved music, but learning how to play everything from children’s songs and church hymns to classical and popular music of the day, I gained a new respect for music and broadened my horizons about the world through the tunes played.  I learned how just sitting and playing could bring peace to my soul and help me work through emotions or bring joy to others and myself.   

The piano moved with my mom and I from the house on Westmoreland to our smaller home where it stayed until I left for the islands. A couple of years after I moved overseas, my mom ended up moving too and into a smaller place that wouldn’t fit the piano. She knew I didn’t want her to sell it, so she kindly “gifted” it to me, and I had to find a place to store it. My in-laws at the time were sweet enough to put it in their home, but a few years later, I had to move it again due to my divorce. This time it went into my temperature controlled storage unit and stayed there until we moved back to the states. 

My parents kept it at their house for awhile because it would cost so much to ship it to me across the country, but finally I let go of it, told them that I didn’t foresee ever having a place to put it and considering I didn’t even really play much anymore, it really wasn’t practical to keep it.  It was of only sentimental value then.  My parents ended up selling it to someone, and we lost track of it, so I was shocked to identify it at a garage sale! It’s sad to see that others didn’t treasure it or understand its unique value like my family did, but I guess that’s how it works with sentimental value anyway. Those who don’t know the history of a thing and have no attachment to it won’t take care of it like those who love it. 

May 14: Writing Prompt #134-The Interview

Interview your favorite fictional character.

This is the part of the year where it gets tough…It’s 9:30 at night, and my alarm goes off at 4 am for my last day of work this week, and my mind is not into this prompt tonight. I even thought about it last night, and I honestly couldn’t think of a favorite fictional character. I tend to read non-fiction more than fiction anyway.  In order to do this prompt justice, I would, literally, have to go back through books that I have not yet given away to find a fictional character that I liked a lot when I read it.  Wouldn’t necessarily be my favorite, but one that I really like, and I don’t have the energy.  I do enjoy fiction books for sure, and there’s very few books that I come away with and don’t like.  I enjoy reading all kinds of genres, and I attach easily to characters in books, so it makes it hard to choose a favorite. They are all my favorites within their own stories.

For example, the little girl is The Book Thief would be an interesting character to interview as would really any of the character in The Invention of Wings. These are the two most recent fictional books I read. Of course, these were both a loose version of historical fiction because they were each based on possible real situations that could have taken place (i.e. stories of families in Germany during WWI who helped hide Jewish friends and the story of a slave mother and her daughter in the South written from their perspectives).  I would really love to interview the Native American family in The Round House (which again is based on real situations and historical facts about tribal culture and struggles in America).  Most of the rest of my most recent reads have been non-fiction entirely, not just historical type fiction. And if I was able to choose a favorite, I guess it would have to be a real “Barbara Walters” tear-jerker of an interview because I already know all the basic facts and many of the internal thoughts, emotions, and struggles of the characters from reading their story.  It’s like I’ve already interviewed them really. 

Maybe you all can do better with this one…do you have a favorite fictional character you’d like to interview? If so, why?

May 13: Writing Prompt #133-Unconventional Love

Over the weekend, we explored different ways to love. Today, tell us about the most unconventional love in your life.

 For a Southern girl born in the 70’s who grew up in small town Alabama, I would say my most unconventional love is that of travel and experiencing other cultures.  I got the bug to see and reside in the world (not just the southern US) when I lived in Spain for 3 months my second summer in college.  My eyes were opened to life outside of my small, small world, and my heart was filled with joy and excitement about who and what else was out there. I LOVED it!

Once I moved to Kwajalein, I feel in love not only with the opportunities we had to travel to other places from there (that we probably never could have afforded or had the time off to go while residing anywhere else), but I also feel in love with getting to know the culture of the places, and over time I enjoyed discovering ways to give back to them the joy they give me by just sharing their lives and their part of the world with me.   I miss that part of living overseas and being immersed in the cultures of the earth, although working on a military base is always nice because the “cultures” come to you, so to speak, in the form of the spouses and others whom I have the privilege of taking care of our military kids with. 

Despite my love for the NW and WA in particular (and being here only a little over a year so far), my travel bug has not lessened.  I’ve already been looking for jobs that would give us the opportunity to go to Japan, Germany, or really anywhere in between. I would love to continue our journey outside of the US at some point in the future. I don’t anticipate it being anytime in the NEAR future, but I do keep my eye out for what’s there just in case it’s sooner rather than later. J 

The reason I say this is an unconventional love for a southern small town girl is because most of the people and family I know who were born and grew up in my home town have absolutely NO DESIRE to ever leave AL or see any other part of the world. When I was getting ready to move to Kwajalein, a cousin asked me, “Why would you want to move there?” To which my heart’s response was (with a bit of shock), why would I NOT want to move there?! It’s a tropical island with beautiful blue-green waters, beaches all around, and a relaxed lifestyle where you have almost as much time to play (if not more) than you do work.  I knew I was not meant to live in one place my whole life when my whole being shivered at the thought of staying in AL or any one place, forever.  I’m certainly not a gypsy. I mean I lived 22 years in my hometown in AL, then the next 17 on Kwajalein, but I see each “tour” being less and less as I get older and older, and time gets closer to running out for me to finish my “Bucket List” of places to visit or live. 

May 12: Writing Prompt #132-Fill in the Blank

Three people walk into a bar . . .

They hadn’t seen each other in over 25 years.  These three people once all lived together on a tiny island in the Pacific Ocean. During their years on the atoll, they became very close as island residents tend to do.  Really, they became family.  These friends all left at different times and for various reasons, but they stayed in touch through Facebook, e-mail, and the occasional phone call, although they had had little opportunity or means to visit in person, so this bar meeting was something they were all looking forward to very much. 

One thing they had all learned over those 25 years apart is that only other Kwaj folk can relate to life there, and ALL former Kwajalein residents have a special bond, set of inside jokes, and immediate list of conversation topics that ONLY those who have been there for some period of time truly understand.  It’s quite fascinating, and I didn’t believe it myself entirely until moving back to the states. 

The other thing these three people realized after moving back to “the real world” is that Islanders are the most generous, caring, and laid back people you’ll ever meet, and it’s extremely hard to adjust to jobs and life in the U.S. after getting used to the “island way” and style of life. 

That said, our three friends from the atoll closed down the bar with their laughter, old Kwaj stories, and catching up on their lives now.  From one former islander to another, remember that Kwaj relationships are ones to be treasured forever and living on an island changes all our lives for the better. 

May 11: Writing Prompt #131-I want to know what love is

We each have many types of love relationships — parents, children, spouses, friends. And they’re not always with people; you may love an animal, or a place. Is there a single idea or definition that runs through all the varieties of “love”?

I think so. Love is about accepting another person EXACTLY as they are.  It’s like purchasing a car, house, or piece of furniture “as is.”  When we make the decision to love someone (because really loving a person, place, or thing requires a conscious decision to put effort forth to love), we love them unconditionally (as is).  At least, that’s my idea of it.  Loving people this way on a daily basis is probably the hardest. I mean, think about it, we love our animals even though they mess up (throw up on the carpet after getting into the trash, not listening when we ask them to come, taking up all the room in the bed and leaving none for anyone else, J etc…). We figure they can’t help it…they are just animals. And we continue to love places even after we discover their downsides…(i.e. living on an island like Kwajalein-I will always love that place, but I don’t always want to live there again because there are things I don’t care for about being there year round-like not being able to get fresh food from a farmer’s market or go hiking in the mountains or even go one day without sweating profusely due to the heat and humidity). 

Loving a person unconditionally requires us to reserve our judgment of each other, to accept our spouse’s or friend’s quirks and even find the positive in their special ways. It means accepting that they are not perfect and remembering that we are not perfect either.  It means waking up each day, no matter what is going on, and making a deliberate decision to love all those who we come into contact with and especially those we know best and spend the most time around. 

And even though I think I understand what love is, putting it into practice all the time is an entirely different thing.  In fact, most nights, when my son and I say prayers at bedtime, I find myself praying to God to help both of us be kind and loving always, to not only each other (because sometimes we are the most unkind with those we are closest to), but also to all those we come into contact with each day. So, I pray, God help us to mirror your love and kindness to all those around us tomorrow.  It’s tough sometimes, but so very necessary in order to live at peace with others and to know that we are doing all we can to follow in the example of the one who makes us perfect in His love! That said…

1 Corinthians 13: 4-7 sums up love (all kinds) better than I ever could with these words:

Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. (NIV)