A couple posts ago I mentioned I receive the figment.com writing prompts. This one came to my inbox a couple days ago, and I’m really excited about it. My sister/ almost-twin (she’s only 18 months younger than I and we’ve never really been apart) says I’m the memory part of her brain, because she seems to have forgotten her entire childhood and I continually remind her.
The prompt asks for 5 short memories that are not weddings, funerals, or major life events (because you know why you remember those, obviously). I’m only going to post 2 for today… and I’ll post more on another day when I have nothing to write about.
1. I don’t know why I remember….
My sister’s first day of school.
This would probably be more impressive if my sister went to school in Kindergarten like all the other kids… but we were both homeschooled, so she didn’t go to school until her junior year of high school. I had gone the year before as a senior and lain a good foundation with all the faculty; she had visited the campus for summer camps and kind of knew her way around; one of the guys who went there lived down the street from us; she was an extremely social person: my family thought she would be fine.
But she wasn’t.
After school, she got in the car and burst into tears (this happened every day for the first week).
All this is pretty memorable, I guess, but apparently Stef didn’t remember the really traumatizing part of the first day. Fast-forward four years to a couple months ago:
“I guess he’s really one of the nicer guys,” Stef said. “The rest of that group are really dumb and obnoxious.”
“You’re kidding, right? Don’t you remember what he did on your first day of school??”
“No”
“When you walked into choir on the first day, he came up to you in front of everyone and said, ‘I don’t know why everyone thinks you’re so hot; you’re really ugly.’ Fortunately, you pretty much ignored him or that could have been bad, you know angry jersey girl vs. stupid southern boy.”
“Wow, Danielle. How do you remember everything? You’re right though– he’s definitely still a jerk”
Maybe I shouldn’t have reminded her about this moment, since the guy will probably be a groomsman in her wedding, and it’s possible he’s changed since this high school incident. But I know he hasn’t, and Stef needs to be prepared for anything obnoxious he might do next.
2. I dont know why I remember…
“Let us sit upon the ground and tell sad stories of the death of kings.” -Richard II
I memorized this line for my Shakespeare class last year… and it’s almost the only one that’s stuck with me. However, I find that it is appropriate for several different situations.
- Story time: obviously. My fiance is concerned that he’ll come home from work one day in the future and all our children wil be quoting Shakespeare. My sister said “Yes, every night before bed time she’s going to say, ‘let us sit upon the ground and tell sad stories of the death of kings.'” I really think that’s going to happen. The kids will be better for it, though. How many kids do you know that can quote obscure Shakespeare lines??
- Picnics: Ok, every time I’m about to sit on the ground I say this line… Sometimes it’s embarrassing, so I’ve started to control the urges and only think about it. It does seem to fit the picnic mood though.
- Anytime a politician or great person dies: it’s very dramatic, especially if you say it with a raspy, horrified voice like he did in the 1978 movie.
Hope you enjoyed some of my strange memories 🙂
