Memoir | Mixed Metaphors

Mar 23 2024

The First Goodbye: Remembering Uncle Willy

“Carve your name on hearts, not tombstones. A legacy is etched into the minds of others and the stories they share about you.” ― Shannon Alder

“Some people, sweet and attractive, and strong and healthy, happen to die young. They are masters in disguise teaching us about impermanence. ― Dalai Lama

Today is St. Patrick’s Day as I begin drafting this reminiscence and tribute to my Uncle Willy. He was born William Roger Mason ― my mother’s favorite ―and beloved ― younger brother. Since I was child when I knew him, he will forever be remembered by his endearment, Uncle Willy. Continue reading →

Tagged Brother, Death, Family, Family Heritage, Family History, Family Stories, Father, Gratitude, Grief, Gun Violence, Home, Loss, Memoir, Mother, Oral History, Racine, Recovery, Relationships, Sisters, Suicide

Sep 17 2023

Posts

Meditations on Mortality: Grief & Gratitude

Meditation definition (Oxford Languages) – a written or spoken discourse expressing considered thoughts on a subject.

Mortality definition (Oxford Languages) – the state of being subject to death.

“You don’t get to choose how you’re going to die, or when. You can only decide how you’re going to live.” — Joan Baez

As a person of a certain age — living my seventh decade — death and dying are on my mind.

Recently, there have been unexpected deaths of friends and loved ones, plus celebrities and artists in the public sphere, caused by accidents, deadly health crisis, unknown reasons, suicide, or overdose. When we’re unprepared for the sudden news, it’s both shocking and unsettling. For many of us, it’s a reminder of our own mortality. Continue reading →

Tagged 9/11, Celebration of Life, Chosen Family, Death, Death and Dying, Family, Father, Gratitude, Grief, Legacy, Life and Living, Loss, Love, Meditations, Memoir, Memories, Mortality, Mother, Sisters

Feb 05 2023

Posts

Celebrating a Decade of Mixed Metaphors, Oh My!

“Sometimes we become what we do. I became a writer by writing.”— Linda Lenzke, Blogger & More

“I write to discover what I know.” — Flannery O’Connor

Ten years ago in January, I took a WordPress class at Madison College. I decided that I wanted to take the next step as a writer: design, create, and launch a blog. I had been taking a series of reminiscence writing classes from a mentor and writing coach who would later become a friend and writing partner, Sarah White of First Person Productions. Prior to the classes, I had been writing for decades, poetry, spoken word monologues, stand-up comedy, and journaling for over 30 years. The reminiscence classes were a launchpad for my memoir, Perfectly Flawed, which I’m still writing, editing, and adding content as I live and write. Continue reading →

Tagged Blog, COVID-19, Death, Dispatch from the Hideout, Family, Films, Friends, Gratitude, Grief, Holidays, Home, LGBTQ, Love, Memoir, Memories, Mixed Metaphors Oh My!, Personal Narratives, Recovery, Relationships, Seasons, Stories, Writing

Aug 08 2022

3 Comments

Posts

For the Love of Movies (& Memories of My Mother)

“Ever since I was a child, films, like good books, served as windows to worlds sometimes unfamiliar or far away due to distance in time or space. Movies depicted characters both fictional and historical, unraveled mysteries or documented adventures; they always engaged my emotions and attention. Some films are more familiar and familial, memoirs or morality tales that act like mirrors to my lived experience, or road maps of my internal journey. I prefer non-fiction to fiction. Most fiction, in my view, is simply reality in disguise, employed to protect the innocent and the guilty. As a memoirist I am most interested in the stories we tell and the stories untold about our lives.” – Excerpt from Stories We Tell/Stories Untold

Continue reading →

Tagged Cinephile, Family, Father, Films, Gratitude, Joanne Woodward, Lesbian, Marriage, Memoir, Memories of My Mother, Mother, Movies, Paul Newman, Racine, Stories, The Last Movie Stars, Wisconsin Film Festival

Jan 11 2022

Posts

My Love/Hate Relationship with Technology

“Life was much easier when apple and blackberry were just fruits.” — Ray Bradbury

First, let me share some background. I’m a baby boomer, a couple of days shy of my 72^nd birthday. Let me begin, “Aging isn’t for sissies,” yet I’m grateful to be above ground. Hopefully, this information should provide some perspective on why I’m a late adopter and my love/hate relationship with technology. Continue reading →

Tagged Aging, Communication, Facebook, Family, Father, Flip Phones, Gender Bias, Late Adopter, Mansplaining, Memoir, Memories, Social Media, Technology

Nov 21 2021

Posts

Thanksgiving: Things Change (Again, Again!)

“The only constant is change.” — Heraclitus

“Things do not change; we change.” — Henry David Thoreau

From November 25, 2020…

As I write, it’s the Sunday before Thanksgiving. I’ve been rereading Thanksgiving Holiday journal entries from the past 12 years, plus my Thanksgiving blog reminiscences. A theme emerged which I’ve addressed before, yet continues to weave through my life — and the lives of loved ones — things change.

I begin this reminiscence and musing about the Thanksgiving holiday with the same quotes and sentiment from a year ago when COVID-19 was surging and many families and friends had to make the difficult decision of whether or not they would celebrate in-person, and how it might be different from the traditional holidays from the past. The only change in this introduction is I’ve been rereading 13 years of journal entries, and two years of Mixed Metaphors, Oh My! Thanksgiving: Things Change essays. Continue reading →

Tagged Chosen Family, COVID-19, Death, Family, Friends, Gratitude, Holidays, Home, Loss, Love, Memoir, Mother, Movies, Racine, Relationships, Thanksgiving, Thanksgiving Dinner, Things Change, Traditions

Apr 25 2021

Posts

Within these Walls: Moving Stories

Stories of Home

For my blog, Mixed Metaphors, Oh My! I’ve written numerous reminiscences and essays — over a dozen — about moving and home, and sadly, homelessness too. I probably have a book, or at least a collection of stories.

This fall during the pandemic, I wrote and submitted two stories in response to the theme, Within these Walls: Stories of Home for Forward Theater Co.’s (FTC) sixth Monologue Festival. I’ve submitted to five of the six monologue festivals, links to the monologues at the end of this story. For one of my submissions, I received my favorite rejection letter as a writer for the Someone’s Gotta Do It! Monologue Festival, for my submission Maria from the Sewing Room (and Gloria from the Lay-Up Department), which wasn’t selected, but made the semifinals out of 300 submissions. Continue reading →

Tagged Family, Forward Theater Co, Friends, Holding On, Home, Homelessness, Letting Go, Madison, Material Life, Memoir, Memories, Moving, Moving Stories, Personal Narratives, Racine, Reminiscences, Spoken Word Monologues, Wisconsin

Apr 25 2021

Posts

Within these Walls: Oral History

Stories of Home

As a writer, I write for different reasons. I journal to maintain a record of my life, to examine my life, reflect on the past, and look ahead to the future. As a reminiscence writer, I capture the stories of my lived experience and those of my family, friends, and loved ones. As an activist-essayist, I comment on the culture and politics of current events in hopes of galvanizing change.

I sometimes submit my work for consideration for the stage, screen, or publication. For me, those are the most challenging experiences as a writer. In addition to telling a story, I let go of control of whether it’s performed, viewed, or read by the target audience. I make myself vulnerable to the readers, producers, publishers and selection committees. My ego is in play. Continue reading →

Tagged Family, Fathers, Forward Theater Co, Home, Memoir, Mother, Oral History, Personal Narratives, Racine, Spoken Word Monologues, Stories, Wisconsin

Nov 25 2020

4 Comments

Posts

Thanksgiving: Things Change (Again!)

“The only constant is change.” — Heraclitus

“Things do not change; we change.” — Henry David Thoreau

Thanksgiving is traditionally a family holiday, whether you celebrate it with your bio or chosen family. I’ve done both. Another theme became apparent as I reread what I’ve written in the past, grief and gratitude go hand-in-hand. Continue reading →

Tagged COVID-19, Family, Father, Friends, Future, Gratitude, Grief, Holidays, Home, Memoir, Mother, Past, Pie, Present, Racine, Reminiscence, Sisters, Stories, Thanksgiving, Things Change, Turkey, Zoom

Sep 07 2020

1 Comment

Posts

Dispatch from the Hideout: Staycation Edition

Staycation – “A vacation that is spent at one’s home enjoying all that home and one’s home environs have to offer.”— Urban Dictionary

Things change, and some things remain the same.

From an earlier Mixed Metaphors, Oh My! essay about Staycations from September 6, 2015, The Pleasures (and Lessons) of a Staycation:

It’s that time of year again when September arrives and I extend the Labor Day holiday by taking my annual Staycation. While students return to school after their families unpack from vacation and pack those back-to-school backpacks full of brand-new school supplies, I take a break from my day-to-day work routines and make my “to-do only if I want to lists.” For me the essence of a staycation is to practice spontaneity (yes, I admit that I need to practice), sleep in if I want to, brunch at home or out with friends, attend movie matinees on weekdays, plan lots of coffee dates, stay in pajamas if I want to and take a vacation from showering for a day, and most importantly write, and edit, and write some more. I read too, essays and blogs, opinion pieces online, poetry and movie reviews and reread my journals. Continue reading →

Tagged Best Friends, Brother, Changing Seasons, Coronavirus, COVID-19, Death & Dying, Dispatch from the Hideout, Family, Father, Films, Friends, Grandniece, Labor Day, Memoir, New Baby, Pandemic, September, Social Distancing, Staycation, Things Change, Wedding

Mixed Metaphors

Mixed Metaphors, Oh My! – A place where words, this writer, and readers play together.

Tag Archives: Memoir

The First Goodbye: Remembering Uncle Willy

Meditations on Mortality: Grief & Gratitude

Celebrating a Decade of Mixed Metaphors, Oh My!

For the Love of Movies (& Memories of My Mother)

Thanksgiving: Things Change (Again, Again!)

Within these Walls: Moving Stories

Within these Walls: Oral History

Thanksgiving: Things Change (Again!)