Loved. Lost. Found. The Reading

image: Loved. Lost. Found. the anthologyLast Saturday, nine women and men over the age of 70 gathered in front of a room at Harwood Place in Wauwatosa to share essays and poems they’d written during the past year.

They looked entirely at ease, despite the looming podium and microphone. I, on the other hand, trotted back and forth before the event began, shuffling papers, asking if anyone wanted water, working up a good sweat and rapid pulse. I could have used some of their serenity (even if they were faking it).

But while our levels of anxiety differed and our ages spanned miles apart, there was so much more that connected us that day.

Jacqui Banaszynski says, “Stories are parables. . . . Stories are history. . . . Each one stands in for a larger message…a guidepost on our collective journey.” When people gather together, writers or not, it doesn’t matter where we come from. Our stories–our histories–connect us. Each of us is daughter or son, husband or wife, old hat at this or novice at that. In the essays and poems read from the podium last Saturday, we heard about first loves, found objects, and failed knitting attempts. I am generations apart from the Harwood Place Writers, but I can relate.

This event is one of the highlights of my year and one of the reasons I continue to lead their class. These writers come to the table every month with open minds, tales to share, and a genuine fellowship that begins with a smile.

IMG_3285Congratulations to the Harwood Place Writers on another year of fantastic stories!

 

Writers at the Table: The Big Event

It rained on Saturday, poured really, and I didn’t carry an umbrella. But as I parked my car, turned off the engine, and ran inside, I thought little about getting wet and more about the Anthology reading that afternoon. I’d arrived half an hour early, and I was nervous, unsure what to expect but hoping for a fun and well-attended event for the Seniors whose work was printed in the book.

I wasn’t the only one anxious and eager. When I walked into the lobby, Betty, one of the writers, was there as well. She had her story in hand and a frustrated look and said the room wasn’t set up yet. What we discovered upon talking with the manager was that the room had been prepared, but for a tiny audience of five. The manager asked me how many people I anticipated, and I looked to Betty. We both shrugged. I said at least ten. Betty said fifteen. We were both wrong. The room filled up with at least thirty.

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The majority of those in the audience were fellow residents of Harwood Place, which added to the energy (and maybe the nerves) of the readers. I love the Seniors’ stories from the perspective of a writer and someone interested in the experience of past generations. The other residents, though, seem to appreciate them on a deeper, more personal level, breaking out in a laughter that was clearly from a place of total understanding and falling into quiet during a serious moment of shared experience.

It was then I knew that all the work in the past months, weeks, and days, was worth it, and this event was exactly as is should be.

Valerie Reynolds
Valerie Reynolds reading Good Neighbors.
Richard Borchers
Richard Borchers reading And Then It Happened.
Ted Johnson
Ted Johnson reading The Flannel Shirt.
Clyde Rusk
Me reading The Political Kettle for Clyde Rusk, that distinguished fellow in the red sweater.
Betty Sydow
Betty Sydow, our flash fiction writer, reading The Storm.

What happened after the reading came to a close made the event even more special. Those audience members? They lingered well past the applause. Not just for the coffee and cookies either. They sat in circles and visited with each other, and the writers worked the room. Clyde, who has lived at Harwood Place for several years, said to me, “Look at everyone still here! This is unheard of. We’ve hit a hot button, I tell you.”

He’s right, as every bit of this experience–the writing class, these stories, the reading–speaks of the importance in gathering at the table.

In Community.

I’m so grateful to be a part of such a wonderful group.

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Just look at those smiles!

You don’t have anything / if you don’t have the stories.
~ from CEREMONY, Leslie Marmon Silko