Disclosure: Recently, about a dozen Nashville-area bloggers and I were the guests of Hallmark's "Moments Between the Milestones" national tour. Yes, they were hawking a product line, but they do it. Oh. So. Well. I was gifted some goodies from the Hallmark folks, but am choosing to pass along some of them to three of you. First, take a look at this video they created with the special moments of the Nashville-area bloggers who attended. These folks do it up and they do it right! I say: Impressive:
Over breakfast, we heard from a Hallmark "Innovation Leader," a staff photographer and a writer. We were later divided into groups and shared ideas about the craft of writing and photographing. Hallmark writer Tom Shay-Zapien suggested a few clever writing exercises to tickle our muse, such as the following starting with "I come from." Here's what I came up with and I'm sharing it with you:
She comes from Carolina
Where the mornings and peaches could never be finer.
She comes from a mother
whose Gospel was according to Jesus
and always looking perfectly put together.
She comes from a daddy
who'd take her hand-in-hand for long, ambling late Sunday afternoon walks in the ginormous backyard
where he told her the name of every tree there.
She comes from sisters, times two,
both older, one like her mother,
one who used to bully.
She comes from a religion so narrow that
she began tapping on its walls as an eight-year-old and finally burst out
at quarterlife and on further in the middle.
She comes from a Love for a Little Girl who's kinda Big now, but still thinks like a little girl,
and whom the world may not think Perfect….
But she knows, she knows. She knows that her Big Little Girl is just that.
She's Perfect. She's Perfect. Just. The. Way. She. Is.
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Three of you will win either: the classic children's book, Good Night Moon. (It's not just any copy. This version has bells and whistles because you can record the story in your own voice.) Another one of you will win a recordable version of How Much Do I Love You? The third winner will receive a plush toy into which can be inserted daily notes (provided,) candies, (I ate them…kidding!) and other goodies (not provided). To win, enter once and tell me in a sentence, "Where do you come from?" (Be clever.) In a week I'll choose the three winners using Random.org. Giveaway ends Wednesday, Oct. 19. Good luck!
The photo used with my name in the last slide of the above video has been featured before here and here in "The Journey with Grace." Rory Hamilton is the photographer.
Leisa,
So glad you had a great time at the Nashville Moments Between the Milestones event! Thanks for this wonderful blog post. Hope you have a great week.
Jaci Twidwell
Hallmark PR
I absolutely loved the video and the powerful message behind it! And I love your “I am from” piece – just beautiful.
This is my entry:
“I come from arroz con gandules, arroz con pollo and arroz con habichuelas rosadas y salchichas – poor man’s meals to keep a family full.”
I come from a place that cannot be seen; cannot be heard;from a place never born or died; from a place of i Am.
leisa –
nice post! i love what you did with the exercise! it really is a good way to mine the memories and experiences that make us who we are, so thanks for sharing a little bit of your story. we recently got participant links and feedback from the LIASO Tour, which wrapped up in DC last week. our time in Nashville was really great, though much too short! hope all is well with you!
tom
Tom, how kind of you to come here and post. I actually got a good deal of response but not on the blog. A lot were emails saying that folks wanted to do this. Apparently, it was intimidating to some. Perhaps I didn’t publicize it correctly. The whole point. of course was to be spontaneous. I am going to split up the winnings between the two entrants and then a toy charity. I’m open for suggestions for the later.
Congratulations, Dee & Lisa. You are winners. Lisa, you will receive a copy of Good Night Moon to read to your small loved one. Dee, you will receive a copy of How Much Do I Love You for your Mummy to read to you. I will donate the remaining item to a toy charity and am open to suggestions for such an organization. My apologies for a late announcement of the winners here. There was actually a lot of response and readership of this post but apparently, as indicated by some, the thought intimidated them a bit, sadly. The whole point was that it was a spontaneous, quick writing prompt.