Brainstorming the Digital Story

1. Please describe a positive scene from childhood in detail. What led up to this event? When and where did it happen? Who was involved? What were you thinking and feeling? Why is it an important event? What impact did it have on you?

Thanksgiving at my grandma's house when my mother was alive is a positive scene.  My aunts and cousins were in.  My grandma cooked a million different dishes.  My sibilings and cousings would be playing in the basement by the pool table.  Everyone was happy.  It was probably at the most carefree point in my life.  We were just so happy to be with each other.  This yearly celebration impacted me by valueing "family."

 

2. Please describe a negative scene from childhood in detail. What led up to this event? When and where did it happen? Who was involved? What were you thinking and feeling? Why is it an important event? What impact did it have on you?

My mother had been in the hospital for a month.  She had been battling cancer for the past 5 years.  She was a teacher at my small elementary school so naturally all of her concerned co-workers were continually asking about her.  I was "almost 9."  My dad was in Columbus at the hospital with my mom and my Aunt Sharon had been staying with us.  My preacher and his wife took my brother, sister, and me to Columbus to visit my mom.  We were going to miss school the next day.  I remember thinking it was strange that the preacher was taking us and that  I would miss school.  I had a bad feeeling on the 3 hr drive, and the bad feeling was confirmed when we got to the hospital.  My dad met with my siblings and I in a seperate waiting room in the ICU unit.  We were then told that, "Your mom's not going to make it!"  My 15 yr old brother who I enjoyed tattling on my entire childhood began crying hysterically saying, "No, no, no!"  We all cried together.  Then we went to see my mom for the last time.  She was hooked up to a million machines that were basically keeping her alive.  She couldn't respond, but we told her our goodbyes.  I remember then only thing I could say was "I love you" over and over again.  She died the next morning (or later that night) at 1:40AM on March 4th, 1998.  We were staying with my Aunt Jana's in Columbus.  Obviously, that moment impacted the rest of my life.  My mom was the "glue" of our family.  When she was alive, we were the perfect family that lived in a big white house.  My mom was a teacher; my dad was a mailman.  My parents were very involved in my life.  After my mom died, my father turned to alcohol; he lost his job, the house, his kids.  By the time I was 10, my grandparents (mother's parents) were my legal guardians.  Although I lived just a block a way from my big white house and I still went to the same school, had the same friends.  Everything was different.  I was different.  I realized how imperfect the world really was.

    

3. Describe a particular event from your teen-aged years that stands out in your memory today. This can be positive or negative. What led up to the event? What happened? Where and when? Who was involved? What were you thinking and feeling? Why is it an important event? What impact did the event have on you.

I was crowned homecoming queen at my tiny high school when I was a senior.  I graduated with 24 people so to me this wasn't that big of a deal, but my aunts(my mom's sisters) and grandma cried because they were happy, but sad that my mom couldn't be there.  My dad, who flew up frome Florida(he had gotten his life together in the past 8 years).  All of the other homecoming queens were escorted by one person, their fathers.  I poudly was escorted by both my dad and my grandpa.  At this time, I considered my grandpa as a dad.  I was proud of both of my "dads" and they were proud of me

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4. Describe a vivid or important memory from any time in your adult years. Again, this can be positive or negative. It can be about anything – family, work, whatever. The scene stands out in your mind today as being especially vivid or important. Please describe what led up to the event. Then describe the scene in detail. What happened? Where and when? Who was involved? What were you thinking and feeling? Why is it an important event? What impact has the event had on you?

My wedding day was an important day.  I had just graduate college and gotten a house with my husband.  I had found a man that I love.  It was a happy day. My grandparents(who were like parents), helped plan the occasion and wanted everything to be perfect for me.  I could see the tears welled up in my grandma's eyes as she helped me with my dress.  I knew she was thinking of my mom.  I thought of my mom and what she would think of what I had become. I wondered what she would think of Tony, my husband.  On a memorial table at the reception sat a picture of my mother, on her wedding day.  Although the sorrow of her absence was present, it was a joyous day.  I was proud of who I had become, and I knew that even though she had been gone for nearly 15 years, that she was part of who I had become.   I think when life isn't taken for granted, you value it more.  On my wedding day, I was just so thankful and happy for the love that I felt.  

  

5. In looking back on your life, you may be able to identify particular “turning points” – episodes through which you experienced an important change in your life. Please choose one key turning point scene and describe it in detail. If you feel your life story contains no clear turning points, then describe a particular episode in your life that comes closer than any other to qualifying for a turning point – a scene where you changed in some way. Again, please describe what led up to the event, what happened in the event, where and when it happened, who was involved, what you were thinking and feeling, and so on. Also, please tell me how you think you changed as a result of this event and why you consider this event to be an important scene in your life story today.

My mother's death was a turning point.  I learned that life doesn't have to be perfect to be wonderful.  The one sorrowful event made the "good" events much more meaningful.  When you lose someone important to you, you realize just how valuable everything else is.