In 6th grade, my teacher, Mrs. Miller, pulled me aside in the hall just before lunch. She peered down at me and said, “What are your parents doing about your skin?” I felt my cheeks grow warm and I knew I was blushing. “I just started going to a dermatologist.” My teacher was referring to…
Category: Flash Memoir
Our 34th Wedding Anniversary Tomorrow
Tomorrow, Ray and I will celebrate our 34th wedding anniversary. Below are pictures of 2 of our three weddings. The first is our tiny wedding in Mountain View, Arkansas in the park there with a judge. We had planned on 7 people and 7 more crashed for a total of 14. We were basically eloping,…
My Grandmother and Her Cane
My grandmother, Winnie Waugh, walked with a wooden cane for the whole time that I was a little girl. This cane was made of smoothly polished dark brown wood and was very plain – a simple curve on the end for her hand and a rubber cover on the tip to help grip the floor…
A “Homey” Writing Workshop
I have recently decided to expand my teaching of writing to include small groups for adults (I teach primarily one-on-one and online); so I am offering a writing class in my home for the first time. This will span 5 weeks and will be for 1 1/2 hours every Wednesday from September 25 – October…
Reflections on the Passing of A Friend
Ingrid, my friend of over 30 years, has died. A friend I knew very well a long time ago, but with whom I had been out of touch until January of this year when we reconnected via Facebook. In June I discovered that she was ill, and only three days ago I learned that she…
New Course I’m Teaching: Writing as a Way to Heal
Today is the first day of a class I am teaching through Story Circle Network on writing as a means to heal. We are using the book, Writing as a Way of Healing: How Telling Our Stories Transforms Our Lives by Louise DeSalvo. I have not taught this class before so this will be a…
The Right Way to Say Good-bye
“This old dog won’t hunt much longer,” my father said on that Friday evening I came home from the University of Texas to see him. I knew exactly what he meant. “No, Daddy, that’s not true.” Tears flowed down my cheeks. He lay propped up by pillows in bed, the sheet drawn up to his…
Healing Through Storytelling
Tonight I read my online students’ Week Two flash stories/memoirs and I literally was sitting at my computer crying. The class is tiny – three woman – a perfect size, really, for a class. They are sharing such deeply personal and painful stories with such grace and beauty, I might have to go upstairs and…
The Joys of Teaching Writing: Online and Off
I am sitting here in my living room – night outside – and I am ready to finish up my work for today. I have been busy all day, as usual, but not crazy busy. My “Flash Fiction/Memoir” online class started on Monday through Story Circle Network, so I’ve been occupied responding to students’ comments…
Hurray! Two Publications.
I am happy to report that two of my memoir pieces have been accepted for publication: one in the 2012 Story Circle Network hard copy anthology and the other in the SCN online anthology. The best part is that both of these pieces came from right here: my blog. I wrote them in my 20…
20 Minutes a Day 