Random Short Stories (Shared from FB)

Recently I went through my private FB group: Personal Story Prompts, and collected the short stories I had written to give others ideas on things to write about. These are not complete stories, but they might give you some ideas of what to write about in your own stories:

PRACTICE MAKES PERFECT

This is a photo of me practicing the piano when I was around 10 years old. I could never figure out why it was so difficult for me to learn to play. My mom would tell me I couldn't go outside to play with my friend until I had practiced my piano. y friend, who could play the piano well, played my pieces for me while my mom wasn't looking. This happened several times and finally my piano teacher, who was one of my mom's best friends, told my mom that I was really struggling to play at my lessons, and my mom said, "I'm so surprised because she sounds so good when she practices." So the next time I practiced, my mom was paying attention and she caught us. Shortly after that she let me quit, and she told me that if I ever wanted to take lessons again, I would have to pay for them.

In my adult years, I figured out that I was dyslexic. Even though playing the piano was difficult for me, I could do lots of other cool things like write backwards as fast as I could write forward with every letter backward too! It was a skill I was very proud of! I never did take piano lessons again, but all of my kids can play the piano!

RED GERANIUMS

See those red geraniums in my parents front yard. When my mom was growing up she noticed that all of the "fancy" houses had red geraniums growing in their yards and that she always liked them. When she met my dad she told him about the red geraniums and he promised her that he would always make enough money so she could have red geraniums in her front yard....and I can never remember a time growing up (in the Spring/Summer) when we didn't have red geraniums in our front yard. My mom now lives in a condo and there is a little patch of dirt right by her front door and I'll bet you can guess what is planted there.

I PREFER "UP AND DOWN" OVER "STUCK"

This is me trapped in an freight elevator in the Wells Fargo Building in downtown Salt Lake. I was there for over an hour waiting for someone to "rescue" me. I remember thinking to myself, "I have a choice to make...either I can panic and make this hour seem like 5 hours, or I can chalk this up as an adventure and concentrate on other thoughts so I don't get freaked out." Because I made the latter choice, every time I run into this photo, I smile because it reminds me that I am in control of my feelings. There are a few more details to this story like feeling the elevator car jerk a few times and wondering if I was going to plummet to the basement level, my kids were all waiting on the 19th floor (we had visit the building because my daughters wedding reception was going to take place there later that week), it was the dead of winter and freight elevators are NOT heated, carpeted or clean, but I was grateful for the size because I didn't feel claustrophobic. When I was finally rescued, the elevator doors opened up and it wasn't level with the floor outside of the elevator so I had to jump down onto the 19th floor and I caught a glimpse of the shaft - all the way to the basement and I was grateful to be out of there. I tried to talk my kids into taking the stairs from the 19th floor but they assured me the regular elevators wouldn't be risky! Thankful they were right!

CRASH LANDING

This photo is still a little bit difficult for me to look at. This was the plane that my dad flew us back to Oklahoma in to see his relatives. It was just me, my older brother, Ross, and my parents. We got their safely but when my dad took my uncles for a ride, the engine stopped and my dad had to crash-land the plane. Everyone was hurt but all survived. I was 7 years old when it happened but I remember it like it happened yesterday. The plan flew over our heads and then it began to sputter and then it started coming closer to the ground and then went behind a field of trees so no one on the ground saw when the plan connected to the ground. Some people took off running over to the plane crash but I was told to stay back (I am was grateful for that because I’m not sure I could have handled what everyone saw). I remember hearing an ambulance come and then a few minutes later, it left. My ride to the hospital in the back of a station wagon seemed like it took forever. I had no idea who, if anyone, was alive, and I said a lot of prayers. I was relieved when I heard that everyone was OK and the only injuries were from my dad and my Uncle Bill who ended up with an enormous number of stitches in their foreheads from hitting the windshield. It could have been so much worse. I am grateful to my dad for knowing how to crash-land the plane!

The news reports said that he ran out of gas, but the real story is that my dad bought some bad gas at a small airport in Kansas. The bad gas clogged the filter so it couldn't get to the engine. I am grateful that this is just a good story and nothing worse. I have counted my blessings my whole life that my dad was around so we could be good buddies. He's been gone 8 years and although I miss him, I have so many good memories, and lesson he taught me.

NO SUCH THING AS THE PERFECT WEDDING

This is my wedding day in 1986. This photo makes me smile, not only because I love these people more than they will every know, but because that day was not the perfect wedding day I had been anticipating for a very long time and I choose to laugh about it.

It rained really hard the night of our reception and the guest line was long. People were having to stand outside under their umbrellas to stay dry. Many people left because the line was moving so slowly. That's what happens when you have over 20 people in your greeting line (I'm so happy that this isn't a thing anymore!!).

And see all those adorable nieces - they broke out with chicken pox and had to be taken home immediately.

And one more funny story. That cute little baby that my sister-in-law is holding (right side), well, after this photo, she was put on my lap for another group shot. She ended up spitting up all over my dress. This made for a funny conversation piece as people came through the line and saw the big spot that was left after washing off my satin dress.

I am grateful that I chose to laugh about these things because 34 years later, none of those things matter, but they make for a really good story.

Just before the photographer snaps the photo...Stacy drops her little bouquet of flowers and is sliding off the bench so I am holding her by the back of her dress and she's not happy about it. Krissy is leaning heavily on me so it's hard for me to sit up straight. April won't look at the camera, and Tiffany, who is sitting on my lap is starting to fuss. I am trying to juggle what is going on in my little part of the world with a smile on my face, and thinking that the photographer is going to snap the picture any second. Just when I think I have everything under control, Tiffany, throws up all over my wedding dress. If you can see my hand in the photo, I am trying to catch what I can. The photographer was trying so hard not to laugh because he is trying to be professional about his job. Obviously, he did want to capture this moment, -because he did! This is one of my favorite photos from my wedding because it reminds me that life isn't perfect, it doesn't always turn out the way you expect it to, and it's important to keep a smile and your face and keep moving forward. I like that reminder!

BEST DAY EVER!

If someone were to ask me what the best day of my life has been, it's the day I became a mother! I had no idea what was ahead of me. I was doing something completely out of my comfort zone, and I had no clue what I was doing and this little person was counting on me for everything! I felt love that I had never felt before and a desire to be my very best for this little guy. Two weeks later postpartum depression hit me, but never told anyone because, at the time, people didn't talk about that. I am so grateful that people write/talk/share their hard things now so others don't feel so alone.

CLIMBING FENCES

Looking back at old photos brings back so many memories. I'm not even in this photo because I'm not born yet (this is my mom with my 3 older siblings). BUT that fence in the back brings back some pretty funny memories. My dad built that fence and the neighbors had him continue it through their backyards too. Our house was located at the end of a straight street that had around 8-9 other house on it. One day my friend and I decided we would start at one end of the street and climb along the fences all the way to the other end (through 9 other backyards on each side of the fence). We thought it would take a long time so we packed sack lunches and made a several hour adventure. Can you imagine looking out your window and seeing neighbor kids climbing along your fence - not sure we would get away with that now. It was fun and we did it several times one summer until our moms found out and told us we couldn't do it anymore. This was back in the day when we would leave the house to go play and our parents didn't have to know where we were as long as we were home for dinner.

SANTA COMES TO TOWN...MAYBE?

Looking through photos from the past brings up some fun memories. My three kids are all grownup and married and I almost yearn to be back to this stage of life again - they were so much fun to raise (of course with lots of ups and downs along the way). As you can probably tell, these photos were taken at Christmas time and the reason this photo makes me smile is because Santa was busy and couldn't make it to our family party so Santa's best helper (their dad) is filling in AND I wonder if any of them knew that???

MY #1 COMFORT FOOD

I just took a trip down memory lane while I was going through my recipes the other day. I have some from when I was a teenager learning to cook - how to make mashed potatoes, how to boil eggs, and how to make nachos and cheese. The recipe that warmed my heart, though, is my Caramel Popcorn recipe. If you know me you will know that Popcorn is my favorite food of all time! It was my dad's favorite treat and he would make it every night when he would come home from a long day of work. I would sit on his lap and we would eat popcorn together. My dad was my hero and I felt safe and loved and looked forward to this every night! Sundays were special days because he would get "fancy" and make this recipe of Caramel Popcorn.

When I left for college I was determined to keep this tradition alive and that is when I wrote this recipe down on this card. Popcorn is more than just a healthy snack (not for me because I add lots of butter and salt), but it stands for a father who loved me and let me sit on his lap long after I was too big to fit.

Sidenote: On Sundays me and my dad would watch Lawrence Welk and to this very day I love that show because it reminds me of my dad!

HOME SAFE HOME

This is my childhood home, in fact it’s the house I lived in until I got married when I was 24 years old (except for two years when I was away for college). My dad built this house and my mom decorated it and it was a warm, inviting and safe place.

I remember walking home from school in the 6th grade and hiding in bushes and running from the people who were supposed to be my friends because they were making fun and me and throwing rocks at me. They said I wasn’t brave enough to do bad things. The minute I walked through the front door of this house, I felt peace and comfort, knowing that the people inside loved me. That’s all I really needed to be able to go out into the world day after day and face the world’s challenges.

I survived those experiences, in fact, those experiences made me a stronger person. I am better at sticking up for myself when I am treated unfairly, which everyone is at times. I will also stick up for the underdog and have tried to teach my kids to do the same.

Life can be hard at times and not everyone will always like you, but it’s OK because the people who really matter are the ones who love you!