I Remember

I would like to introduce you to a wonderful writing exercise that will help your clients or relatives remember things about their lives that they haven’t thought about in years. The exercise is called “I Remember” and it involves asking elders to write various lines consisting of a sentence or two. Each of the lines should simply begin with the words, “I remember,” and your client (or relative) should complete the line with the first memory that comes to their mind.

 

For example, here is a line written by Joe Brainard, who was involved with the New York School of poetry and created the exercise in his non-traditional memoir, I Remember:
“I remember the only time I ever saw my mother cry. I was eating apricot pie.”

 

After the senior writes their first line, instruct them to write a second. They should then continue to write additional lines for about 15 minutes. Tell them not to put a lot of effort into figuring out what to write. After finishing one line, they should go ahead and go on to the next one without looking back. They can write about ANY memory from their lives. It can be something that happened to them when they were 4-years-old or even something from five minutes ago.

 

Here are more examples from Joe Brainard:

 

I remember how much I used to stutter.
I remember the first time I saw television. Lucille Ball was taking ballet lessons.
I remember Aunt Cleora who lived in Hollywood. Every year for Christmas she sent my brother and me a joint present of one book.
I remember a very poor boy who had to wear his sister’s blouses to school.
I remember shower curtains with angel fish on them.

I remember daydreams of being a singer all alone on a big stage with no scenery, just one spotlight on me, singing my heart out, and moving my audience to total tears of love and affection.
I remember waking up somewhere once and there was a horse staring me in the face.
I remember saying, “thank you,” in reply to “thank you” and then the other person didn’t know what to say.
I remember how embarrassed I was when other children cried.
I remember one very hot summer day I put ice cubes in my aquarium and all the fish died.
I remember not understanding why people on the other side of the world didn’t fall off.

 

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I have used this exercise many times while teaching creative writing classes and it has always been amongst my students’ favorites. They are always amazed by the long-forgotten memories that it unearths. I’m so fond of it that I always write my own “I Remember” exercise whenever I teach it. Despite my poor memory, it has caused me to remember many details about my life that may have otherwise been lost to me forever. It’s amazing how something so simple can have such a powerful effect upon my ability to recollect things. I hope you try it out with your clients or relatives and you both find it as valuable as I do.

 

 

Bio: Brad Sands is the author of six published books. He edits and teaches fiction writing. He received an MFA in Creative Writing from Naropa University.