I am including a memory essay and the triggers from my book Remembering…life story triggers and Memory Essays. This was originally written in 2005 and the information is still current today. That is one of the wonderful things about writing about your life, the material never goes out to style. When I wrote this I did ask Amy for permission to use her name and she granted me permission. If you want to purchase the book to help you write your life story go to the link at the top Order-Your -Copy-of Remembering If you would like to receive these free monthly newsletters just email me at hella@lifestorytriggers.com and in the subject line state newsletter. Make sure that your name is included if your email address does not reflect your name.
Great Loves
As I enter any store right now I am looking at all the decorations for Valentines Day. The candies fill the aisles and the colors of red, pink and white stand in contrast to the dreary weather outside. There are plush toys, all different sizes of hearts and those silly little Valentines Cards. Therefore I am compelled to have this newsletter reflect the seasonâ¦Great Loves of Our Life.
Of course, the first thought is to think of opposite sex loves but there are many kinds of loveâ¦you may love your job, have a passion for some hobby or have special love for other people in our lives. I think we may want to explore these at a later date but not in this newsletter.
You may have had torrid love affairs but I do not think that you would want to share that with your family. I do think there are some things in your life that you may want to keep private. But I must also say if you want to share everything there are no rules that say you canât.
Who was the first boy/girl that you called boy/girl friend? How old were you? Do you know what happened to this person? Do you remember your first kiss? Where was your first kiss? Who was that with? How old were you? What were the circumstances? Did you have a âlong term relationshipâ in high school? Did you date often? Who would you say was your first love? Describe your feelings of being in âpuppy love.â Did you ever have your heart broken? Did you ever have unrequited love? Did you ever have a major crush on someone?
The high school I went to was combined junior and senior high which is very important to this story. When I was in the eight grade, my best friend, Amy and I fell madly in love for this guy named Geoff. How cool was it to spell your name Geoff rather than Jeff? He oozed coolness. He was a junior, had long hair and sauntered rather than walked. Amy and I followed him every chance we got. We would have been great private detectives since most of the time he never knew we were there. We sent him notes that we would deposit in his locker and I know he wrote a return once but I am not sure how we got it to us. I know that we read that note several times, so often that we memorized every word. In the ninth grade we finally met him and decided that he was not that cool. We stopped following him. We had this incredible crush that lasted well over a year. I have no idea what every happened to Geoff but I have remained friends with Amy all these years.
When you met your partner in life what were the circumstances? How did you know that it was love? How did you know that this one was the right one? Describe your feelings when you first met this person? What were the circumstances of your proposal? Over the years, what ways do you both show your affection to each other?  How has your love for each other changed over the years?
Some people think there is only one person for each of us to spend our lives with while others think we meet many people that could be our partners. What is your personal philosophy on this topic? Some people have been divorced and remarried or widowed and remarried, how did this new relationship differ from your first partner?  What qualities would you use choose your mate now? How is that different?
I often say that the first six months of a relationship is filled with lust rather than love. If you are able develop a friendship, love will be created and a lasting relationship can take form. If all you have is lust, the relation quickly fizzles. As you can see there are many ideas to explore about the idea of love without ever talking about your own relationships. Millions of poems have been written about love, thousand of songs, and numerous numbers of books explore the ideaâ¦you too can write about love.
I wish you great loves, wonderful winter days of writing and a happy valentines day!!
