Amanda Peterson provided this prompt for wannabe writers to attempt, to gauge their potential for expanding into the realm of memoir writing. Amanda is a writer-teacher at writerswrite.co.za . A writer must be comfortable to share their personal stories, before they can even think of writing a memoir. While I’m unsure if I wish to write my memoir, I do know I need to practice my writing. This is why I’m writing to prompts.
In this post, I’m writing to tell about everything I had to leave behind. I left behind:
- My childhood when I started working.
- My first job when I started studying skills.
- I left a few jobs.
- I left an unfamiliar field when I returned to my old field.
Now that I’m older, the major moves are about shifting houses to resettle and make a new home.
Every time I have to move house, I have to leave behind some things. Even the simple things like cleaning equipment of broom, dustpan, mop and bucket, and ladder. Those were hard to buy and carry back. For that reason, it made the items valuable. I don’t own a car.
I have moved numerous times in my adult life. I don’t want to count those relocations when I was a child because I was too young to have any control over what was left behind.
It seems that with every move, my personal and household items increased in capacity. Eventually, I could keep things that I packed earlier. The stuff that were in use until my very last day, could not be carried over to my temporary rental unit. I lacked closed boxes or luggage to pack them.
My family was maintaining some potted plants, until a temporary move into a suite disabled our ability to continue keeping and caring for them. The rental company had wrongly allocated two rooms to our family, instead of an apartment. I felt sad having to give away all the plants to the rental’s housekeeper. Her eyes shone brightly when I told her she could have a large box of plants.
When I had to purchase ladders, I did so at the nearest hardware store and carried them a few miles back home. If I hire a van, I would have to pay $50 – $80. That would add to the cost of the ladder.
Those were the tangible objects I left behind. The intangible, irreplaceable ones were the people, their friendships and help. When I moved houses, I left behind my classmates, and some relatives. I didn’t have transport to facilitate visitations. The people moved on, forged new bonds and became uninterested to invest time and effort in old relationships.
I want to stay in my original home. I hate to move because of all the work. I face uncertainty as I have to dispose of one house, before I can afford my next house. The factors surrounding the circumstances of my move make it near impossible to stay. In the past, I have engaged the law, the law enforcement, the estate manager … All these are no match for The Ones Who Want To Enforce Their Own Terms For Living In Their Neighborhood. That’s another story.
Related:
Related posts will be pasted here later.
