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Previous Challenge Entry (Level 3 - Advanced)
Topic: RECORD (04/22/21)
I’ve been writing all my life. My Mother, Anna, was a stickler for perfection. She wanted everything to be in just the right place. Everything had to be written down so no one would be confused as to what was said and when.

She worked as a writer in our small-town newspaper. She wrote about stories that really mattered. She often interviewed people around town and asked them specific questions about what they accomplished and how they achieved it. She was very detailed, and many people enjoyed her columns. To get everything just right, she had to be concise with her words and stories.

That is how I came to write everything down. She always used to say, “Jessica, you have to be precise.” I was an only child. It was just Mother and me. From the time I was young, we would sit around the table and recite stories or things happening in the world around us. In 1976, there were many topics to discuss. We had to cite works to back up our positions. Everything needed to be in perfect order.

Other kids my age thought us strange. They didn’t even like doing the work at school and could not understand why our family would do this for fun. I never knew anything different, so I just assumed it was perfectly normal. We did have fun. I loved reading anything. Learning was a passion of mine. I loved having the security of knowing I was correct in my thoughts and safe from the lies and deceit of the world.

When I was 16, Mother passed away unexpectedly. I remember that day well. It was the first Sunday of August 1979. I was taken in by my Aunt Sophie. She was what many would call a “free spirit”. There seemed to be no definite answers or facts in her life. She went along with anything she was told and didn’t bother to check if what she heard or said was even true. This was a stark contrast to my upbringing. I had a hard time adjusting to this new way of life. I just couldn’t understand how someone could live their life by feelings alone, and not by the truth. This was a completely foreign way of life for me.

In 1981, at the age of 18, I moved out on my own. Aunt Sophie was very wealthy and she supplied me with a place to live as I attended a small Christian college. It seemed unusual that I chose a Christian college. I was not raised in a religious household, but when I was a senior in high school, my best friend told me about Jesus. She gave me a Bible, and I loved reading it. I enjoyed the history and all the facts that could be backed up with scripture.

Those next four years changed my life forever. I learned the truth of the Word of God and put all my faith and trust in Him. The Bible became my best friend. I accepted Jesus to be my Lord and Savior my freshman year. After hearing all the wonderful details of Christ and what He did for me, I was overjoyed to have someone in my life again who was so concise in what He said and did. I felt safe again knowing everything I read was a record of the past.

I met my husband, Oliver, there and we now have three children. I still keep a record of the happenings in our lives, sometimes to their chagrin. I pray they will be happy once I pass away, knowing all I do is for their benefit. Learning to keep concise records helped make me the person I am today.

I believe everyone should have a record of their life to look back and see it from beginning to end. I pray Mother knows the impact she had on my life. I only hope I can be a good influence on my children and grandchildren the way she was with me.


This is a work of fiction.
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This article has been read 337 times
Member Comments
Member
Date
Sue Botte 
04/30/21
Thank you for your article, although fiction, we do serve a God of order.
Keep writing.
Shann Hall-LochmannVanBennekom 
05/01/21
I was going to say this is an interesting memoir until I read that it was fiction. It's still an interesting story, but since it's fiction, I'd urge you to show instead of tell. You can do this with dialog, body language, and thoughts. FW gives a book for Platinum members called Bring Your Writing to Life by Amy Wiley. If you haven't received it, I'd urge you to check it out. You've a nice job of mastering the basics and with just a little tweaking I've no doubt you can turn good stories into great ones. You did a great job of writing on topic. I look forward to reading more of your work.
Laurie Kiel 
05/04/21
I very much enjoyed reading this. Your mother sounds very special. Just a couple of things. “My Mother” should be “my mother” since mother us not a proper noun ib this sentence. And I would rewrite “ I pray they will be happy once I pass away,” because that hit my ear wrong like you hope they’ll be happy you died or that they’re unhappy now but you hope they’ll be happy after you die. But again thank you for sharing, goid story telling.
Laurie Kiel 
05/04/21
Okay I need to be a more attentive reader. I missed the “work of fiction” part. Well done.