I am a diarist on my Blog, trying to capture moments in Time for my grandkids.#BlogHerWritingLab ~

#BlogHerWritingLab – Monday, April 11, 2016

Do you look at your blog as a way to tell your story? Do you consider yourself a general diarist?

I consider myself a general diarist on my Blog. I love writing about both the present and the past, mostly for my 11, soon-to-be 12 grandkids. I usually tie in personal experiences even when reviewing products on my Blog because it’s the personal moments that make people, places and things so special.

5  years ago, I wrote 31 letters to my grandkids, one for each day of March 2011, and mailed those letters to their homes. I tried to tie in a little poem (can’t take the English teacher out of me!!) as a prompt to my Letter of the Day. Each letter was a story/recollection of my own childhood/adolescence and I wished to encourage other grandparents to do the same. It was a very special way to capture my life for my grandkids through my memories, my writing, my Blog here on Mom Generations. This letter is from Day 18, March 18th, 2011…

*****************************************************************************************

Day 18 of our 31 LETTERS Literacy Project is all about MAGICAL SILENCE.

The topic of today’s letter is inspired by a poem we bumped into on Day 18 of 365 Days of Literacy for Kids:

THE WHITE HORSE by D.H. Lawrence

The youth walks up to the white horse, to put its halter on
and the horse looks at him in silence.
They are so silent they are in another world.

———————————–

The silence of the great understanding between the youth and horse is poetic.

Our instincts as human beings are sometimes filled with activity and talk, but we do experience moments where silence is truly golden.

Dig into your past and find a moment where silence said it all.  Write a letter to your kids/grandkids/special kids telling of this MAGICAL SILENCE.

———————————-

Here is my letter today to my grandchildren:

March 18, 2011

Dear ________________________,

Hi, my little darlings!  I’m sure my letters of our 31 Letters Project are piling up right about now!  I’m trying to give you little glimpses of my childhood through letters, and to encourage YOU to write letters, too!  Post Office mail was the only way to communicate when I was a kid.  Well, mail and the telephone.  But even telephones were very different back then.  We never imagined computers, cell phones, email, instant messages, Facebook, Twitter.  All of these things were pretty much science fiction!  Writing letters is still one very good way to share your thoughts and experiences with another person.

Today, I will be writing about an experience of MAGICAL SILENCE.  Magical Silence is when something wonderful is about to  happen and you are so awestruck that you almost cannot speak.  You do not need to speak.  Magical Silence moments don’t happen all that often, so when they do… you know it and remember it.

Here is my Magical Silence moment…

I was probably 8 years old.  My Dad had been “out to sea” for many, many months and it was the day his ship was returning to San Diego, California.  My Mom got all dressed up.  She looked beautiful. My Mom got my brothers and me all dressed up, too.  Back in the late 1950’s, everybody pretty much got dressed up for school, church or special occasions like welcoming home your Dad!

My Mom drove our car to the dock at the Naval shipyard where there were SO many people and cars… and ships waiting in the harbor.  We could hardly tell which ships were coming in and which ones were heading out.  The men on the ships took smaller boats to the dock.  Many small boats came in but my Dad wasn’t on any of them.  We watched happy families hugging the men they had been waiting for. There were great big smiles and kisses and happiness!

After awhile, I could tell that my Mom was getting a little nervous about my Dad not coming in on one of the boats.  Worse, my brothers and me got a bit restless and we were running on the docks and being a bit over-active.  I still remember my Mom looking out toward the ships with a worried look on her face while telling us to behave.  Finally, my Mom took us back to our car and made us stay there while she paced back and forth on the dock in front of us.

It was a very sunny day, so my Mom had the car windows opened.  I remember sticking my head out to ask my Mom something when all of a sudden I saw my Dad.  He was walking toward us, but he didn’t see us.  He had his uniform on and he walked so tall and looked so serious.  I called, “DADDY!”

He looked toward me and that’s when my Mom must have heard me and turned around and then… and then they saw each other.

This is my MAGICAL SILENCE moment.  I saw them see each other. It’s like they were in another world, another time, another place.  A silent place where words and sounds didn’t exist.  It was an understanding and happiness beyond words.

Everything was silent as they ran toward each other and my Dad hugged my Mom and picked her up and swung her around.

Maybe all of this lasted one second.  Maybe 10 seconds.  Maybe one minute.  I don’t know.  But I will never forget it.

Then my Dad saw us in the car and all silence disappeared.  We were screaming and jumping as he ran to the car and we all hopped out.  All three of us jumped on him and he hugged all of us at once.

He was home.  Our Daddy was home…

My Mom & Dad ~ 1961
My Mom & Dad ~ 1961

I wish many MAGICAL SILENCE moments happen to you in your lifetime.  Just remember that you can’t find them.  Those MAGICAL SILENCE moments always FIND YOU!

My Mom & Dad on their wedding day, 8/19/50

Love forever and ever,

Grandma Couto

P.S.  Here is a poem about such a magical silence moment:

THE WHITE HORSE by D.H. Lawrence

The youth walks up to the white horse, to put its halter on
and the horse looks at him in silence.
They are so silent they are in another world.

Just like my Mom & Dad on that day so long ago!

****************************************************************************************

BlogHer Writing Lab April 2016 Prompts! Why not join in and tell your story. 

About Audrey

Audrey McClelland has been a digital influencer since 2005. She’s a mom of 5 and shares tips on her three favorite things: parenting, fashion and beauty. She’s also a Contemporary Romance Author.

Sign Up To The Ultimate Style Newsletter for Moms

Categories

ShopStyle “List” Of all Things I Like and Blog About

Pinterest