Illustration by David Coulson
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Six-Word Memoirs: Holiday Traditions
By Larry Smith, November & December 2009
Holiday traditions, in half a dozen words
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SMITH Magazine, the online community for personal storytelling, posed the challenge: Can you tell your life story in six words? Tens of thousands of people responded, and the six-word memoir was born.
Now we're bringing the joy of six to AARP The Magazine. In each print issue and online we'll feature a theme and challenge you to tell a story about it in half a dozen words. If we publish yours, we'll also print it on a T-shirt for you.
When we asked for your six-word tributes to seasonal traditions, your response was overwhelmingly joyful. You sent us stories of family gatherings around the table and after-dinner rituals, meals prepared together and recipes passed on to younger generations, new traditions, and moments under the mistletoe.
Poor Christmases. Mama's rich cinnamon rolls.
Gina Whitson, 64, Bernice, Oklahoma
Retired systems analyst
Dad was Santa; Mom was exhausted.
Pam Figge, 61, Paradise, California
Part-time university instructor
Grandma's grater. Scraped knuckles. Delicious latkes.
Anita Frimere, 63, Staten Island, New York
Layout artist
Eating at the Big People table.
Terese Haynes, 54, Deltona, Florida
Retired contract specialist
Mistletoe: 47 years of sweet kisses.
Nancy Prickett, 68, Mission Viejo, California
Retired teacher and guidance counselor
Skiing with short flask of schnapps.
Judith Ray, 68, Lyons, Colorado
Retired teacher
Thanksgiving. Wine. Liberals. Conservatives. Lively conversation.
Ellen Davis, 58, Hermitage, Tennessee
Insurance and payroll professional
Next issue: The best advice I've given or received
Larry Smith, founder and editor in chief of SMITH Magazine, is co-editor, with Rachel Fershleiser, of Not Quite What I Was Planning: Six-Word Memoirs by Writers Famous & Obscure (Harper Perennial, 2008). Find more at sixwordmemoirs.com.
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