Monday, June 29, 2009

Everyday Is Mother's Day Memory Questions



(Clockwise from 12 o'clock position: me, Meg, Mom, and Jane.)

I'm a little late with this post because my plane didn't get in last night until after midnight. I flew from Miami to St. Louis after visiting with my mother and sisters, and I was pretty zonked!
People often compliment me by saying, "You are so creative." But really, I'm just one of the four creative women in my family. My mom was a classically trained ballerina, and she's always been a whiz at choreography and coming up with dance ideas. My younger sister Jane has done bead-work for earrings, runs her own blog (SleepCompass.com) and loves to decorate, and my youngest sister Meg is an art teacher at an elementary school, plus a font of all sorts of crafty ideas. Meg taught me to scrapbook. All of us are, in my humble opinion, amazing in our own ways, perhaps because whatever one of us doesn't think up the other surely will.
So Meg got this middle-of-the-night idea. She wrote out these questions for all of us to answer when we went to brunch on my final day in Florida:
Meg's Mother's Day Memory Questions
1. Using your 5 sense, what are some memories you recall from growing up:
* Touch
* Taste
* Smell
* Hearing
* Sight
2. Name 1 thing your mother taught you--
3. Name 1 thing you'd thank her for--
4. Name 1 thing you really appreciate that she did for you--
5. Write a quote your mother often says:
6. Describe a memorable event or trip:
Over brunch, we filled out the questionnaire. The answers led to many great memories, and lots of laughter. I asked Meg for a copy of all our responses, and she suggested I take some blanks home. I plan to have my son and my husband fill these out. Jane thought she should have her mother-in-law and daughter fill them out, too. I think it'll be a pretty interesting family map, defining continents of interests, seas of shared values, and mountains of memorable moments.
So, I'd like to hear what YOU think about the quiz. And whether you try it with your family.
P.S. As I flipped over the papers, while I was copying the questions for this blog, I discovered Meg's answer to "Name 1 thing you'd thank her (your mother) for--" and somehow, I'd forgotten or hadn't heard this over our meal. Meg's answer was, "My sisters."

2 comments:

Linda O. Johnston said...

What a delightful post, Joanna. And how fun to see the photo of you, your sisters and your mother. My mom is gone now, but just this weekend I reminded my brother of something she used to say that fit a discussion we were having. I might run the quiz by him.

Betty Hechtman said...

How nice that you could all be together. It must be fun to have such a creative family.