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The Photographer, Early Work by
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(18 Stories)

Prompted By Weddings

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There were so many steps along the way where something could go wrong that it always had a bit of a magical quality to it for me whenever it worked.
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Inge and the Christmas Mittens by
10
(18 Stories)

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Mom had her own beauty shop in the front of the house. Since she was her own boss she could check on us frequently between customers when we were little. At one point I think she thought she would experiment with getting someone in to watch us a bit more closely. That’s how we came…
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Nevertheless She Persisted by
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(18 Stories)

Prompted By Women's Lib

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I went on to become a journeyman operator and was proud to be a Union Maid.
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Homemade Wearables by
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(18 Stories)

Prompted By What We Wore

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There was a time when I unleashed my creativity and started making stuff cause what I wanted to wear was not available in stores. It caused me to dabble in all sorts of crafts. For starters there was leatherwork.There’s a certain confidence gained when you make your own shoes. Just get some materials, trace your…
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What a Cute Kid by
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(18 Stories)

Prompted By Temptation

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This is about another person’s temptation, a very little person. I was getting some provisions in between snowstorms and was riding up and down the aisles of a large grocery store in one of those electric carts. I had paused to read some labels. Around the corner in front of me come a mom and…
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Just Give In To It by
10
(18 Stories)

Prompted By Temptation

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I came across that Oscar Wilde quote early on, “The only way to get rid of temptation is to yield to it.” Made sense to me and I put it into practice in every area of my life that I could. So I have usually taken the easy path, the comfortable, the delicious way quite…
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My Boyfriend’s in the Band by
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(18 Stories)

Prompted By In the Band

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There was the femmy doorman/bouncer who was ex-military and in a high pitched voice humbly and apologetically told us all the ways he could kill a guy with his bare hands.
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The Green Hornet by
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(18 Stories)

Prompted By My First Car

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As the family upgraded to newer, better cars, it got so I could drive the older one almost exclusively even though I wasn’t technically the owner. A two-tone green Cadillac that was old but didn’t exactly qualify as a beater became known as The Green Hornet. What a tank. It was like a couple of…
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Counterculture Kid by
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(18 Stories)

Prompted By What We Read

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Thank heavens I was born into a family that encouraged reading. I did the flashlight under the covers thing from early on. In the summers mom would take us to the public library every week or two and each time we checked out the maximum number of books allowable, 19 as I recall. It was…
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Someone New to Camping asked for Advice by
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(18 Stories)

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>If you are going car camping it’s really easy because weight is not an issue. Here’s where convenience comes into play. Canned goods are your friend. You can take cans of things that just heat and eat for a good dinner, say for instance chili or tamales. When I heat up a can of soup…
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Mad Social Skillz by
10
(18 Stories)

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Then, socially awkward teen. Now, once in a while I don’t feel socially awkward for a minute but then put my foot in my mouth and chew vigorously, or realize just seconds too late that, yes, that was yet another party foul. All too easy to revert to form and that socially awkward teen mode.…
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Cherished Charms by
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(18 Stories)

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If the house is ever on fire I pray these make it out safely. Admittedly unprepossessing, they are my childhood stuffed toys. The doll I named Margie after my older cousin whom I thought the most beautiful of girls, and Rory, cause elephants roar, get it? Um, right. Mom made the little dress for Margie…
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Sounds like sit’-zen-zee. by
10
(18 Stories)

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Mom showed the German part of her heritage when instead of telling us to sit down she would say, “Sitzen Sie.” Dad showed the I Don’t Know What part of his heritage when he would randomly interject, “Rowdy dowdy dowdy dow.” You don’t often hear this term anymore, but on a couple of occasions he…
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The Big Tree Day by
10
(18 Stories)

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A guy had to go up into the tree, swinging around on ropes, a real life Tarzan.
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It All Started with the Test Pattern by
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(18 Stories)

Prompted By What We Watched

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Manys the time I woke up super early on Saturday morning and turned on the TV before the farm report even came on while mom and dad slept in. Cartoons were a lot trippier then and didn’t even seem particularly made for kids. There were Heckle and Jeckle and the really early Mighty Mouse and…
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But No One Can See Your Eyes by
10
(18 Stories)

Prompted By Hair

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My mom owned her own business. She had a beauty shop in the front of our house, complete with the stations with the big mirrors and a row of driers and a little rolling table with the stuff for doing manicures. I was always surprised when friends thought I was so lucky regarding that. I…
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Health Fooders by
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(18 Stories)

Prompted By What We Ate

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I think my mom was ahead of her time, a real ‘Granola.’ She didn’t look anything like a hippie, but she read religiously things like Prevention Magazine and  books on natural ways to have healthy children. We ate piles of vitamins and supplements. From a very young age I knew what each one was and…
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Fringe by
10
(18 Stories)

Prompted By What We Wore

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In the early days of high school I went to my first concert, Frank Zappa and the Mothers of Invention. They filled the Coliseum. To me it was an Event with a capital E and I remember clearly what I wore. A white blouse of dotted Swiss with big full sleeves gathered at the wrist,…
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