The National Day of Listening
We invite you to listen to stories from Las Mujeres
on May 8/9, 2010
in celebration of
Mother’s Day Weekend
Listen to Texas Matters on Texas Public Radio (TPR ).
Their stories can be accessed online. Las Mujeres is a women’s writing group which meets at The Center for Women in Church & Society at OLLU.
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Notes From 2009:
“On the day after Thanksgiving, set aside one hour to record a conversation with someone important to you. You can interview anyone you choose: an older relative, a friend, a teacher, or someone from the neighborhood.” (from www.nationaldayoflistening.org, November 9, 2009).
I myself find it helpful to take paper and pen, my small audio tape recorder, extra tapes and my camera when I venture to my mother’s house. Sometimes, quite unexpectedly, in the middle of a conversation at the kitchen table or out on the back porch, I hear ‘pearls of wisdom’ or treasures from our family’s life. My mother and sisters are accustomed to my recorder now. However, I ask permission before I turn it on.
This year, I plan to start the ‘yearly’ tradition as well as continuing with what I am already doing in collecting our stories.
What are your favorite ways of listening and recording the stories of your loved ones?
Tell us and pass on this information to your family and friends!
For a free ’Do-It-Yourself Instruction Guide’, go to www.nationaldayoflistening.org.
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November 27, 2009. See Archives on Texas Public Radio (TPR) for earlier stories from Las Mujeres.
writingpatino.com
What a wonderful idea! This really helps one think about Thanksgiving…what it means, what and who we should be thankful for, how much we have when others do not.
I love this idea!
Catherine
Thanks, Catherine! As I looked forward to my sister Bertha’s invitation to celebrate Thanksgiving at her house, I shared with her how much I had enjoyed the last Thanksgiving at her elegantly set table, with her best dinnerware and candles!
I am especially thankful for our last Charlie Brown celebration and still sense the aroma of turkey and pies baking in your Ann Arbor kitchen and the boys’ table decorations. Remember, was that just last year? Being with family is the best blessing ever!
On National Day of Listening, I occupied myself cleaning the kitchen while listening to NPR. A bit nervous as I waited to hear my story on the radio, I vented my excitement by scrubbing the stove and mopping the kitchen floor. Moving to other rooms, I washed clothes, vacuumed and dusted. I heard wonderful speakers while I waited and moved around.
I surely did not want to miss the program, ‘Texas Matters’. My story and those of my friends, Las Mujeres writing group, were being broadcast that day.
At 12:15 p.m., I moved to the computer to be ready to hear the stories via internet. By then, I had decided the reception would be better there than on my kitchen radio. My recorder was at the ready.
Right in the midst of hearing my story, ‘Feliz Navidad: Christmas en la Calle Matamoros’, my sister Ana phoned.
While I had turned down the volume of the telephone ringer, I had neglected to turn off the answering machine sitting next to my computer!
The answering machine kicked on and interrupted the reading. Of course, the tape recorder caught the interruption. I was unable to hear the remainder of the story.
For some technical reasons, download the stories proved challenging. So, my first experience of reading on National Day of Listening elicited a story but I could not listen to it.
Writing my little piece for ‘Texas Matters’ Public Radio was a very good experience although, I must admit at being disappointed that my name did not come out in print on its web site. I guess that factor did ‘matter’ a bit to me.
That weekend I opened an e-mail from my friend Graciela saying what a wonderful surprise when she awoke to my voice on National Public Radio sometime after 6:30 a.m. when her radio automatically turned on as she has programmed it daily. That was Saturday.
Thank you, Graciela, for taking the time to write and share that you enjoyed our stories. I am glad that someone listened; especially in such an unexpected way.