Morning T,
After a full week of driving up and back to New Paltz, today I’m staying close to home- no eating out, no movie(well maybe a movie) and no Thruway driving allowed!
What an absolutely wonderful week – co-facilitating with Kristen and opening up a great new group of teachers to the HVWP. Success!!! This for this Open we took a fresh approach, focusing on the “elephant in the room”- taking on the dreaded 5-paragraph essay with the inspiration of a great new mentor text written by Katherine Bomer . Yesterday, as we ended the week with our celebratory reading we had to keep the tissues near as each one read the essay they moved through drafts and revisions. As each one read their story to with us in our community circle the authenticity of each piece flooded the room and most writers could hold back their emotions. And that’s what we want for our kids- to find their voice and a purpose for writing beyond a grade and a test score. But teacher- writers first!
It was magic, and I have so much of our week captured in my camera. I need to put it together. I promise,I will.
And then there’s you. One of my favorite pieces was one a teacher read about the history with her family house that is now being sold, as her parents move into something smaller. I’ve been trying not to think personally about our house in Paramus, now that it’s for sale.
I’ve been staying out of the sale details. Ron and Ami and a real estate agent are looking for the best price and I am on the side to keep the process moving even if it means dropping the price. I’ve been trying to leave the house behind, while keeping our memories there with me here. But yesterday as I listened to Stacey read about her house history, I teared up reliving our life together in the house that became our home.
Without you it’s just a house, but together it was the home we shared until you left. You left and then I had to leave. That was the hardest thing I’ve had to do in this year of grieving and yesterday as I listened to Stacey read, all I wanted to do was grab up my laptop and write the history of us at 247 Oradell Ave.
That’s a story I will write, I promise. A digital story… PROMISE!
Of course, life is complex. As I see that story in my head just last night I went back to my Jdate profile page and edited more, even chatting with a guy who was “filtering with me. I didn’t flirt back, but I can see you cheering…
Miss you on the lovely Saturday morning T,
Bonnie S.
Digital Bonnie 
What a great, lively & exhausting week, Bonnie. And although sad to think about, you came away with another digital idea for writing -about the home you had with Tuvia. Houses hold the history of us, at least they make a way to center those memories. Hope your weekend is quieter, but you have some fun outside too.
Yes😍
Sounds like a great story! Home is so much more than a place to sleep and eat.
You bet
Loved reading of your week with teacher writers! And tackling the 5 paragraph essay is a great way to tackle the elephant in the room. I wish I could participate in a writing project, sad that it never worked out for me while I was teaching. We’ll look forward to the pics from your week together. When our family home was being sold, I had to go sit in the empty house and write my mom one last letter.
It was a wonderful week for me in so many ways and this taking on the house was so hard. But that’s life.
Sounds like the Open was a huge success, especially the work that arose out of Bomer’s book. I hope you write more about that sometime soon.
Yes great! Fit in well with our structure
I have great video to work on
Memories of the house bubbled up for me
Put Aug. 28th on your calendar for a Twitter chat with Katherine Bomer.
That’s going to be Tuvia’s unveiling
One year and then I have a dinner for a good friend