How Have Other People's Problems Affected Your Life?

Here's another question for your story:

How have other people's problems affected your life?

The answer to this question could be very extensive.  You might be able to write a whole book about how other people's problems have affected your life.  If you grew up with abusive parents, they affected your life.  If your parents divorced, they affected your life.  If your parents stayed happily married throughout their lives, they affected your life.  If your spouse got a job in another city, it affected your life whether you moved with your spouse to the other city or whether you stayed by yourself where you were living.  If your child used drugs or ended up in jail, it affects you.  If you child graduates with honors from college, it affects you.  Most of our lives are truly affected by other people.  We may choose where to live because of other people such as elderly parents who need extra help, or wanting to be close to grandchildren.  We may choose a career because we saw what it was like for someone else working in that line of work.  We are influenced by other people in what we like, what we choose to do in our free time, what we choose to believe and in nearly every aspect of our lives.

Writing down what you did and why you did it will probably involve what someone else did and the influence they had on you.  How other people have affected you is an important part of your story.  Other people's influence on you can explain a lot of things in your life.  Were your ancestors pioneers who traveled out west?  Did their fortitude in establishing homes where there were no communities have an effect on your family that has been passed on to you?  What about ancestors who were immigrants?  Did their willingness to come to a new country affect your family?  Did your family stay put in the same community or area for generations?  How did that affect your family?  Record the influence others have had on you in your life story.

 

Advice on the Prairie by William Tylee Ranney Postcard by MasterpieceCafe
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Do You Remember Getting New Shoes?

Another question for your story:

Do you remember getting new shoes?

When you were young do you remember getting new shoes?  Do you remember going to a shoe store and trying on new shoes?  Or do you remember ordering new shoes from a catalog.  What were you favorite shoes like?  Did you like them because they were comfortable or did you like them because of how they looked or were they both comfortable and good looking?  Were your shoes the latest fashion?  How often did you get new shoes?  Did you ever wear second-hand shoes?  Did you try to avoid shoes and go barefoot as much as possible?

In today's world we all have to wear shoes.  You aren't allowed to go to school barefoot.  You can't even go in a lot of stores barefoot.  Shoes are a protection from thorns, sharp rocks, broken glass and other hazards you may find outside.  

Write down what the first pair of shoes you remember wearing were like.  The first pair of shoes I remember were red in color and had a strap that went across the top of my foot or could be turned back around the heel of the shoe.  I liked wearing the shoes with the strap around the heel because I felt more grownup that way.  Most days I wore white tennis shoes to school.  I changed into older worn-out tennis shoes when I got home and did chores around the farm.  Slip-on shoes were saved for Sunday and special occasions.

There's no place like print by lindseycphotography
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What Were Your Favorite Clothes to Wear?

Here's another question for your story:

What were your favorite clothes to wear?  What did you enjoy wearing?  What were you wearing when you received compliments on how you looked?  What clothes did you hate to wear?

What kind of clothes did you like to wear when you were growing up?  As a boy did you wear jeans and a t-shirt or overalls or shorts?  What did you like to wear best and why?  As a girl did you have to wear dresses or did you never put on a dress?  Did you like wearing dresses or did you always want to wear pants?

Throughout my school years dresses were the required attire for girls.  We only got to wear pants or jeans for special days.  The first time I wore pants was when our family went to an amusement park.  My mother wore dresses all of the time and I never remember seeing her in pants, but I do have a photo of her wearing slacks under a dress when she was riding a horse.  My father liked to wear overalls when he was working.  He would wear long sleeved cotton shirts in the summer and long sleeved flannel shirts in the winter.  When my dad dressed up to go to town, he would wear slacks with a button up shirt.  For church he would wear a suit, shirt and tie.  

The most special piece of clothing that I remember was a prom dress that my mother sewed for my Junior Prom.  She had been in the hospital and had come home just a short while before my prom.  Although she still didn't feel well, she managed to sew me a dress with a lace overlay.  It was simple, but it was beautiful.  My mother died just a short while after my prom.  I have hung onto and cherished that dress because it meant so much to me that my mother had made it for me.

Write about your favorite clothing.  Why did you like it?  Did it have any special stories behind it?  Writing about the clothing you wore adds a lot to your story.    

Notebook Vintage Victorian Friends Journal Diary by layooper
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