A personal essay about Sunday rituals, family memory, a small 1950s Long Island suburb, and the small inheritances we pass down—soup, stories, and love.
Oh my goodness, Lauren, that was magnificent. I had scenes of MadMen and my own family snapshots flipping through there as I read through your piece. It felt like poetry. 🥹 I can smell the Folgers and taste the Tang.
I also purchased a copy of Annette Gendler’s terrific “Write Compelling Family History” last year and found it transformative. I’ve asked her to join me on a Projectkin Livestream tomorrow (Sunday here in the Americas.) Details are on the Projectkin event calendar. I hope you can join us!
I love how you transformed an ordinary and simple thing into a beautiful story. And I love the advice you followed to get to your story. I’ll be listening to my relatives differently!
Thank you for the call-out, Lauren! I'm so thrilled to hear that my book was helpful to you, and that it prompted you to immediately recognize the storytelling potential of your father-in-law's mention of his great-aunt rubbing peroxide into his hair on Sundays. What an odd but also homey tidbit, and kudos to you for turning it into an evocative story.
The detective work you do in preserving these family moments is beautiful. I love how you caught Papa's story mid-errand and managed to pull out this entire vivid world of 1959 Floral Park. The peroxide detail is so spesific and unexpected, and your recreation of child Papa counting ugly hats during Mass made me smile. These ordinary rituals become extraordinary when someone finally writes them down, especailly before they're lost.
Oh my goodness, Lauren, that was magnificent. I had scenes of MadMen and my own family snapshots flipping through there as I read through your piece. It felt like poetry. 🥹 I can smell the Folgers and taste the Tang.
I also purchased a copy of Annette Gendler’s terrific “Write Compelling Family History” last year and found it transformative. I’ve asked her to join me on a Projectkin Livestream tomorrow (Sunday here in the Americas.) Details are on the Projectkin event calendar. I hope you can join us!
I love how you transformed an ordinary and simple thing into a beautiful story. And I love the advice you followed to get to your story. I’ll be listening to my relatives differently!
Thank you for the call-out, Lauren! I'm so thrilled to hear that my book was helpful to you, and that it prompted you to immediately recognize the storytelling potential of your father-in-law's mention of his great-aunt rubbing peroxide into his hair on Sundays. What an odd but also homey tidbit, and kudos to you for turning it into an evocative story.
Nice work!
Loved this so much. I felt like I had jumped in time and was witnessing what you describe. Just beautiful.
This story is full of quiet beauty. Love it.
The detective work you do in preserving these family moments is beautiful. I love how you caught Papa's story mid-errand and managed to pull out this entire vivid world of 1959 Floral Park. The peroxide detail is so spesific and unexpected, and your recreation of child Papa counting ugly hats during Mass made me smile. These ordinary rituals become extraordinary when someone finally writes them down, especailly before they're lost.
Fantastic story capturing!
What a vivid scene!