Writing Group and “A Charmed Life”

by Ruby Bonham

The Writing Group meets every Saturday morning at 9:30 in the Card
Room. Anyone can attend and contribute their own style of writing or just
listen. We have a core of five members with others that attend when they
can. The group has been meeting for nearly a year.

We usually start with a ten minute free write. We have a small can
full of words. We each draw one or two words and write something using
those words. The results bring a lot of laughter and encouragement for each
other. A couple of weeks ago we drew one word that we all would use.
Each person wrote two or three sentences about that word then passed their
paper to the person on the right. We each added our sentences and passed
the papers until they came back to the original writer. It was interesting to
hear the “mini” stories. Having done this we decided to take our own papers
and create a story using the elements created by the group. The word used
was “charm”. Charm can be used in several different ways and the results
reflected this. Creativity takes many directions and we encouraged each
other to give it a try.

My first sentence stated: 1) each charm told a story like chapters in a
book 2) the first charm represented graduation 3) the next was the first job
after college graduation 4) the next was a new house 5) the final charm was
a baby carriage – an empty carriage.

Following is ‘A Charmed Life’ created from my collective paper.

A CHARMED LIFE

Kari lovingly touched each charm on her bracelet.  Every charm had a story, like chapters in a book.  As she held the first charm she became lost in the memories.  Her Dad had given her the bracelet with the first charm, a graduation cap, when she graduated from high school.  She remembered how proud he was of her and all the love the bracelet represented.

The second charm was a tiny Volkswagen bug, her first car.  Her Dad had added this one too as she left for college.  While at college she studied for an engineering degree.  She had partial scholarships but still had to work to make ends meet.  Not many women were in the program but she held her own in a male dominated profession.  Son her attention was caught by a fellow student.  Sam kept her attention and soon they began to study together and to date.  Eager to start their new life together, Sam proposed and a year later they married.  They just couldn’t wait for graduation.  The day of the wedding Kari’s Dad presented her with a wedding bell charm for her bracelet.

Sam and Kari moved to an off campus apartment.  They studied hard to complete their degrees.  Both had good grades and a natural aptitude for engineering.  By the time they graduated, they each had several job offers.  On graduation day her Dad added a new charm, a slide rule to represent her profession.  A few years later few would even know what a slide rule was.  

Life was good and they were both successful in their new jobs.  They began to look at homes in preparation for the next step.  They found a cute little house in a family oriented subdivision.  The day they moved in Kari’s Dad appeared with a charm that looked remarkably like the new house.

After a time they talked about having a baby.  They were excited when finally two stripes appeared on the pregnancy test.  Kari’s Dad was as happy as Kari and Sam.  They started  prepping a bedroom into a nursery.  Kari’s Dad added a new charm, a cradle.  Soon after Kari felt cramps and lost her baby.  She and Sam were devastated.  At first she wanted to remove the cradle charm.  As she stared at it through her grief, she realized it was still a chapter in her life no matter how sad.  She left it.

Now as Kari fingered each charm and remembered each chapter, she smiled.  Soon a new charm would be added.  Her Dad had it ready, a tiny baby figure with a pink Onsie.  She was due any day and she and the baby were healthy.  The baby kicked, eager to take her place in the little family.  Kari stroked her stomach in anticipation.  She wondered how many more charms would be added to complete the story.