SLICE #31- And it's a wrap!

Sometimes, when I can't figure out what to write about, I go back and read my slice from the year before. That often gives me ideas for what I might write. Today, as I was thinking about closing out this month of slicing, I went back to last year, and I found this quote.

"All we are, yes, all we can be, are the stories we tell," he says, and he is talking as if he is talking only to me. "Long after we are gone, our words will be all that is left, and who is to say what really happened or even what reality is? Our stories, our fiction, our words, will be as close to truth as can be. And no one can take that away from you."    Nora Raleigh Baskin

And the quote still pretty much captures the essence of why I slice.

I slice because I love stories. 

I love telling stories.

I love hearing other people's stories.  

I love reading stories. 

I love movies and the theater. 

I just love stories. 

When I tell stories, I process and make sense of my life. When I hear stories, I understand other people better. And sometimes their stories give me insights into my own life, as a teacher, or as a parent, or as a human being. 

That's why I slice. For me, it's all about the stories. 

This year, I have told lots of stories. As I look back over my month, I see six slices about parenting. It troubles me more than a little that these stories seem to be similar to ones I have told the last couple of years, and I'm hoping that next year my sons will be in a different, stronger, healthier, more adult place. I see nine slices about teaching. That's less than most years, and I wonder why. There are a couple of slices about my current interest in dogs, several about my participation in Weightwatchers, several about other kinds of stories- the march last weekendHamilton, an author talk, and Paul, a movie I saw over spring break. And there are a few other random slices- lists or other formats that I tried on days when I couldn't figure out what to write about.

I've enjoyed reading stories that I have followed for many years- Elsie, Ramona, Michelle, Stacey, Elisabeth, Cathy, Julie, Karen, and Karen, and lots of others (I hate writing these lists because I always forget someone important. I apologize in advance!).  It's been fun to connect with some new Colorado slicers- Tamara (I've actually known her for many years, but this is her first year of slicing), and Morgan. As always, I've loved getting to know some new folks- Dani,  Lauren, Andrea, Mrs. Tice (I wonder what's wrong with me that after a month of commenting I can't tell you her first name!), Michelle, and  Art Teachers Do It For the Monet, who pushed my thinking every day, through my work on the Welcome Wagon. And I've missed a few people that didn't slice this year- Linda Baie and Nancy Hatcher (I can't find her link right now).

I didn't get as many comments this year as I have in other years.  Maybe it's because I sometimes wrote later in the day; I really prefer to write in the morning because that's when I write the best, but March has been really busy, and my early mornings, when I like to write, have been filled with writing "jobs" for work.  Perhaps,  my slices were too long, and people would open them and think, "I'm not reading all of that." Or maybe my posts just weren't all that interesting. I wondered, though,  whether people didn't understand the importance of comments as a way of building a writing community.  I know it was not because I wasn't commenting- I usually responded to about twenty slices a day- all my old favorites, my Welcome Wagon folks, and then five to ten others.

I know this isn't goodbye. For several years, I have written poetry the entire month of April. I didn't do that last year and I was really sad all month, so I'm going to try to resume the tradition this year. Currently, I'm thinking about jumping in with Amy Ludwig VanDerWater, a fabulous children's poet, who has just written a new book, POEMS ARE TEACHERS, that I want to see if I can buy today.

And of course I will keep slicing on Tuesdays.

Until then…