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constanceI've been kind of quiet lately because I've been working on a Mother's Day present for my sentimental mother. It is a homemade project, a biggish one, which I am calling "One Hundred Letters." I've bought a photo album, the kind with plastic pockets for photos, and in each pocket I will put one letter, a story of us. I think my mother will love it, but I am having a moment of crisis because I can't decide on something, and I want you to help me.
So these letters, they are memories and impressions of my childhood and adulthood from the daughter perspective of a mother-daughter relationship. I was lucky to have had a engaged and committed parents, so I have tons of stories--more than enough to make it to a hundred, no matter what--but I'm not sure whether to include good stories and uncomfortable ones, or only stick to the good ones.
Now, I'm not talking about traumas, or family skeletons. I know that a mother's day present is not the place to talk about the worst moments of either of our lives. And I wouldn't include anything uncomfortable that didn't have something of redeeming value in it; I'm only talking about the things that might not reflect one or another of us--or either of us--in the rosiest light. The time I threw a candle at my mother. The time she forgot my brother at a gas station (BEFORE YOU CALL THE POLICE THERE IS A GOOD EXPLANATION FOR THIS I PROMISE YOU).
So that's the crisis of indecision. Should I include the not-so-good stuff with the good? What do you think?
So these letters, they are memories and impressions of my childhood and adulthood from the daughter perspective of a mother-daughter relationship. I was lucky to have had a engaged and committed parents, so I have tons of stories--more than enough to make it to a hundred, no matter what--but I'm not sure whether to include good stories and uncomfortable ones, or only stick to the good ones.
Now, I'm not talking about traumas, or family skeletons. I know that a mother's day present is not the place to talk about the worst moments of either of our lives. And I wouldn't include anything uncomfortable that didn't have something of redeeming value in it; I'm only talking about the things that might not reflect one or another of us--or either of us--in the rosiest light. The time I threw a candle at my mother. The time she forgot my brother at a gas station (BEFORE YOU CALL THE POLICE THERE IS A GOOD EXPLANATION FOR THIS I PROMISE YOU).
So that's the crisis of indecision. Should I include the not-so-good stuff with the good? What do you think?
no subject
Date: 2005-05-06 01:12 am (UTC)I have been thinking this too, that I'd want both--and I'm glad to get the opinion of a mother.
I owe you an email! I will get to it when I finish this project up, I promise. But in the meantime: I AM WONDERING IF I HAVE KILLED YOUR STORY AND I AM HOPING THAT I DIDN'T BECAUSE I ADORE IT.
no subject
Date: 2005-05-06 01:17 am (UTC)But it is still in progress, even if not in *active* progress. It's got a Breakfast Club story, a big pile of Due South and Harry Potter, and a Finn Family Moominslash to keep it company in the "someday" pile.
no subject
Date: 2005-05-06 12:34 pm (UTC)Also requiring smiley comment: Finn Family Moominslash O_o_O_o_O
You must finish this, because...well, because. Because the world clearly is in need of Moominslash.
(Which, incidentally, is the best word of all time.)