Memories | Mixed Metaphors

May 31 2021

Posts

Dispatch from the Hideout: My Post-Pandemic Life

“As a writer, I like words, their origin and meanings. Memory: Something remembered from the past; a recollection. Memorial: Something designed to preserve the memory of a person, event, as a monument or a holiday.” — from Mixed Metaphors, Oh My! With a Little Help from My Friends

First, the Memorial Day Holiday is a time to acknowledge and honor the men and women who have served our country in war and peace, and more importantly to work for peace in the world. It’s also a time I remember loved ones, friends, and colleagues who have died.

This year it’s also a return to some version of our pre-pandemic lives — a new normal — a post- pandemic life for those of us who’ve been fully vaccinated. Continue reading →

Tagged COVID-19, COVID-19 Journal, Dispatch from the Hideout, Family, Fathers, Friends, Gratitude, Grief, Home, Loss, Love, Memorial Day, Memories, Mother, My Pandemic Year, My Post-Pandemic Life, Pod Squad, Post-Pandemic, Pre-Pandemic, Racine, Vaccination

Apr 29 2021

Posts

Life Is Good. I’m Grateful. Thanks, H.P.!

For my Door County LGBTQ+ writer’s group, Write On, the prompt this month was ‘Thank You.’ At first, it didn’t seem inspiring, until I realized that thank you and gratitude are cut from the same whole cloth. As a person in recovery from substances and behaviors that no longer serve me, gratitude is an acknowledgement of the commitment and work that was required of me, and a thank you for the support I received from others, including a belief in a power greater than myself. Continue reading →

Tagged 12-Step Recovery, AA, Alcoholism, Blogging, Gratitude, Journaling, Journals, Memories, Personal Narratives, Recovery, Relationships, Sobriety, Thank You, Therapy, Write On, Writing Prompts

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

Feb 14 2021

Posts

Dispatch from the Hideout: Love In a Pandemic

“I am grateful to have been loved and to be loved now and to be able to love, because that liberates. Love liberates.” — Maya Angelou

“Love yourself first and everything else falls into line.” — Lucille Ball.

Valentine’s Day is here. As it approached, I drafted this musing about the holiday and romantic love, a look at relationships, dating, and my single status while ‘Home Alone.’ Yes, love in a pandemic. As a single person, it’s a look back at the past, skin hunger in the present, and desire for companionship in the future.

Continue reading →

Tagged Chapbooks, Companionship, Conversations with My Next Girlfriend, Crushes, Dating, Dispatch from the Hideout, Exes, Family, Friends, Holidays, LGBTQ, Love, Love Poetry, Lovers, Memories, Next Girlfriends, Pandemic, Relationships, Single, Skin Hunger, Valentine's Day

Jan 18 2021

1 Comment

Posts

Mouse Turd Cake & Other Birthday Memories

“Auntie Linda, it’s okay that you’re old. It means you’re not dead!” — Four-year-old niece, Gemma

The Backstory: When Gemma was four years old, I was bending over her car seat buckling her in, she saw my face up close, let’s be precise, the wrinkles of my face up close. In that observational, yet nonjudgmental matter-of-fact manner that children possess, she commented, “Auntie Linda, you’re old!!!” My old, wrinkled face couldn’t hide my hurt feelings. My niece Gemma loves me wholeheartedly and clearly didn’t want me to feel bad, so she replied in a cheery voice with a smile on her face, “Auntie Linda, it’s okay that you’re old, it means you’re not dead!” And you know, she’s right, I’m not dead, and I’m grateful for that. Gemma is now 16-years-old and I remain older and above ground. Continue reading →

Tagged Birthday Cakes, Birthday Parties, Birthdays, Childhood Memories, COVID-19, Death, Exes, Family, Father, Friends, Gratitude, Holidays, January, Loss, Love, Memories, Mother, Reminiscences, Sister, Stories

Jul 04 2020

Posts

A Solitary Life: Living Independently

“What matters in life is not what happens to you but what you remember and how you remember it.” ― Gabriel García Márquez

“Memory is the diary that we all carry about with us.” — Oscar Wilde

Today is the 4th of July, the Independence Day Holiday. Yesterday, I began reflecting on the meaning of the day, which celebrates the independence of a nation following a revolution and the freedom of its people from an oppressive government. Of dire concern — we are living through what may be judged as another oppressive government — our own — as our elected leaders dismantle democracy and favor the corporate aristocracy and dominant white culture. We are not truly free and independent until we are all free and equal under the law. Continue reading →

Tagged AA, Blogging, Childhood Memories, COVID-19, Family, Fireworks, Fourth of July, Friends, Holidays, Home, Journals, Memoir, Memories, Parades, Racine, Recovery, Relationships, Reminiscence, Safer-at-Home, Solitary Life, The Orphan Holidays, Wisconsin

Dec 31 2019

Posts

Memories Are Made of This: Grief & Gratitude

“Memory is the diary that we all carry about with us.” — Oscar Wilde

“Sometimes it only takes one song to bring back a thousand memories.” — Unknown

It’s in fact a song that inspired the title of this essay and reminiscence. I don’t consider it a favorite in my playlist, however, the title captures the spirit of this blog post. It was a popular song about nostalgia. It’s been performed by country western singers like Jim Reeves, The Everly Brothers, and Johnny Cash, and covered by crooners like Dean Martin and Bing Crosby. Full disclosure, for me, it’s the title that captures the essence of the song’s meaning. Our lived experiences create our memories. Continue reading →

Tagged ERA, Family, Gratitude, Grief, Holidays, Intentions, Looking Backward, Looking Forward, Lysistrata, Megan Campbell, Memoir, Memories, New Decade, New Year, Nostalgia, NYE, Relationships, Reminiscence, Romantic Friendships

Nov 21 2018

Posts

Hibernation & the Holidays: Retreat to the Hideout

Hibernation definition — an extended period of remaining inactive or indoors

Hideout synonyms — hiding place, hideaway, retreat, refuge, shelter, safe house, sanctuary, sanctum

First, I’m a creature of habit. I find comfort in my routines. There’s a rhythm to my days and nights. I read somewhere recently that we all experience some degree of OCD behavior. It’s certainly true for me. The gears of my Circadian clock are still trying to mesh with some synchronicity since the ending of Daylight Savings Time (DST) and turning the clocks one hour behind. Who knew that would make such an impact? They’re grinding a little right now as I try to slip back into a sleep cycle. Continue reading →

Tagged Chosen Family, Death, Family, Father, Friends, Hideout, Holidays, Home, Loss, Memories, Mother, Racine, Recovery, Relationships, Retreat, Seasons, Sisters, Stories, Thanksgiving, The Changing Seasons, The Loud Family, Winter

Oct 21 2018

1 Comment

Posts

Holding On & Letting Go

“Life is a balance of holding on and letting go.” — Rumi

Holding on and letting go is one of the subjects I keep coming back to, a thread in many of my essays and remembrances. It’s an essential element in the cycle of life, a theme in many of my memories, a lesson to be learned and practiced as needed, and today again, present in my journey.

This is not unique to me. It’s a universal truth; it’s what makes us human, mortal, and sentient beings. Holding on and letting go is one of the first things we learn as an infant, one of the first things we teach as a parent, one of the most difficult emotions we experience at the beginning and at the end of our lives, and the lives of loved ones, as we examine who and what we need to let go of and who and what we need to hold onto. Continue reading →

Tagged AA, Death, Family, Father, Friends, Future, Grief, Holding On, Home, Impermanence, Letting Go, Loss, Love, Memories, Mother, Past, Present, Sisters

Jul 07 2018

Posts

1968: Flashback & Fast Forward

“Memories are not the key to the past, but to the future.” — Corrie ten Boom

“Life is divided into three terms – that which was, which is, and which will be. Let us learn from the past to profit by the present, and from the present, to live better in the future.” — William Wordsworth

It’s been a month since I wrote and posted an essay on Mixed Metaphors, Oh My! The present has been occupying my attention and engaging my time. In early June I intended to draft a reminiscence about 1968, the year I graduated from high school. In September I’ll attend a 50-year high school reunion in my hometown of Racine, Wisconsin. Oh, My! Continue reading →

Tagged 50-Year Class Reunion, Activism, Anti-War Movement, Blackout, Civil Rights, Fast Forward, Flashback, Friends, Future, High School Graduation, J. I. Case High School, Madison, Memories, Past, Present, Racine, Sixties, Viet Nam

Mixed Metaphors

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

Tag Archives: Memories

Dispatch from the Hideout: My Post-Pandemic Life

Life Is Good. I’m Grateful. Thanks, H.P.!

Within these Walls: Moving Stories

Dispatch from the Hideout: Love In a Pandemic

Mouse Turd Cake & Other Birthday Memories

A Solitary Life: Living Independently

Memories Are Made of This: Grief & Gratitude

Hibernation & the Holidays: Retreat to the Hideout

Holding On & Letting Go

1968: Flashback & Fast Forward