#WriteOut 2021 starts on Sunday, October 10th, and here at the Literacy Center, we just couldn’t wait to start! So, I took advantage of our sneak peek at this year’s prompts and wrote a “Blood Memory” Family Story.
This #WriteOut inspiration activity is about writing family narratives, inspired by N. Scott Momaday’s sharing of “Blood Memory”, to those outside of indigenous cultures. In the video, Marlys Cervantes, a teacher of creative writing and literature at Cowley College and an OSU Writing Project TC, shares Momaday’s work and invites readers to write their own family histories in the first person. You can access a related handout here!
Here’s my family story:
As I glance at the fox a couple feet away from me, two deer catch my eye behind it. They are standing in the woods, eating, and are very content. My daughter and one of my sons come outside quietly, then my wife.
“Wow,” she whispers, as the fox lays in our backyard, relaxed.
I start imagining my life if I had never enlisted and continued to be a ropemaker with my father. Flashbacks to a 20-year-old me, getting shipped off to Normandy, France. The feeling of intensely rocking in that boat knocks me off-balance on my porch, causing the deer to flee, and the fox is the only animal left. As I stare at it, I remember back to my 8 months in that hospital bed and then getting kicked out for another battle. I’m so grateful that I made it home and even more grateful my future wife let me dance with her that one night when I got back home.
My granddaughter’s crying makes me regain my focus. Taking a last look at the fox, I proceed into the house. I urge my son to hand me his daughter so I can ease her crying. I sway back and forth with her in my arms, as I look at my wife preparing supper for our Sunday dinner.
I remember boarding the plane to go back to Normandy with her by my side, to meet my fellow 29th district soldiers to celebrate the anniversary of D-Day. Sitting down with my family at the table, I glance around and think about how lucky I am to have a wife, sons, a daughter, and grandchildren - with another on the way (and hopefully more).
***
This small story of how my grandfather, grandmother, dad, and aunt saw the fox and two deers has always stuck with me. My father would mention times where my grandfather would zone out, and sometimes lose balance, knowing he was thinking about his war days. My father would always tell me he never talked about those days, my grandfather either zoned out or hid in the attic at times. Although I never met my grandfather, I always see deer in pairs of two, which I think is my grandmother and grandfather. The small number of times I’ve seen a fox, it has always been in my backyard. Nature can tie you to your family in every little way, and even connect you to family members you’ve never met.Writing a family story about a family member you don’t/didn’t really know lets you express more empathy for them, imagining being in their shoes to express their feelings/emotions at that time. This helps your imagination and emotions expand. In my future classroom, using this writing prompt feels like a perfect way for students to express their emotions and connect to their family members in ways they haven’t or couldn’t have. They’ll be able to share with their classmates about their family history and culture.
#WriteOut is a two-week event from October 10-24, 2021 with resources available all year long. This includes the National Day on Writing, happening on October 20th. All of the public are welcome to explore and connect nature with your writing! Don’t forget to submit your work on social media and use the hashtag #WriteOut. Want to see the video that inspired my writing? See below!
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