Loyola Writing Retreat - Day 2: Writing to Remember
Here is my assignment for Day #2 : Writing to Remember . I could have written about a lot of painful memories, but I chose a happy one. There's enough pain in the world. It’s dark outside and it feels late, but it is winter, near the solstice when the days are shortest, and it is actually only late afternoon. I’m a little girl - three, on the cusp of four - in the living room of the small ranch home where I grew up. Christmas is right around the corner and I’m brimming with excitement. The Christmas tree is on the other side of the room, against the faux brick wall with the bricks that periodically fell off, requiring my father to reattach them with rubber cement. There are presents already wrapped and under the tree, waiting to be opened. Even that young, I know there is no Santa. My parents give me my gifts. I still look forward to them and enjoy shaking them, eager to figure out what they are. I’m sitting next to the orange-brown couch, circa 1960s, no doub...