Lilacs in Bloom


Oh, the air is sweet! I have a Korean lilac in my backyard, and when the flowers bloom that heavenly fragrance takes me back to childhood to a time when I used to hide among the tall stems of lilac bushes pretending I was hidden to the world. Our backyard was lined with old-fashioned lilacs – Syringa vulgaris – an ugly name for what I thought was a beautiful shrub. The flowers are larger than those of Korean or Persian lilacs, the leaves bigger and bluer. The stems are sturdier, like slim tree trunks, but gnarled. Our lilac border was the perfect place to pretend I was sneaking through a forest, like a deer in the shadows.

Smells, sights, and sounds can bring back memories. If you are working on a memoir – scrapbook, video, or book – be sure to use sensory details to bring the stories alive. Factual accounts are wonderfully colored by the addition of thoughts, feelings, and the use of the five senses.

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The Easter Tree

A few years ago my sister gave me an “Easter box.” Inside were many “ornaments” she had made to use for a Sunday School project. The “ornaments” are actually items, such as a piece of palm leaf or a felt lion or twin babies, that illustrate both Old and New Testament Bible stories. During Lent, one item is unwrapped from its tissue paper each night. A Bible verse is written on a slip of paper attached to the loop of thread that forms the hanger. My oldest daughter now thinks she’s too big for this, but my youngest enjoys guessing the meaning of the item and telling the story behind it – or looking up the verse to remind her. She then hangs the item on some barren tree branches I’ve placed in an old metal pitcher filled with stones to hold the branches in place. Often we forget to do an item each night and end up choosing several in one night. Usually we don’t even get to all the items, but that’s ok – it is supposed to be a fun way to remember the Bible stories, not a chore.

Our “Easter Tree” has now joined our traditions to celebrate the Easter story and rebirth. Someday the Easter box will be passed on for grandchildren to use and I hope they will think of their grandmother, or great aunt, who created it.

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Cherry Blossoms in the Garden


This week I had a speaking engagement in the main building of the Botanical Garden with a group of women interested in recording their own life stories or that of a parent. I enjoyed telling the women about my own experience with Cherry Blossoms in Twilight (my mother’s story), offering them tips and advice on different ways to record memories, and otherwise encouraging them to begin or continue the process of writing or recording.

Some of the women were close in age to my mother and had amazing stories, particularly of their experiences around WWII. One youthful 86-year-old Japanese-American woman had learned how to work the computer and regularly emails her son with bits of stories that someday he will be able to piece together into a most fascinating journey of her life. This active woman is still busy creating her life story! Other women, younger and with strictly American upbringings, shared interesting (and now amusing) recollections of their youth during WWII. Yes, there were many shared stories that reinforced how our cultures and perspectives were so different, yet we could relate to each other as human beings going through similar experiences. Unfortunately because of stormy weather, we were unable to wander among the cherry trees in the Japanese Garden afterwards, but we had our own beautiful cherry blossoms right there in the room.

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