{"id":18153,"date":"2022-04-08T09:44:03","date_gmt":"2022-04-08T13:44:03","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/lifelong\/?p=18153"},"modified":"2024-08-29T13:43:52","modified_gmt":"2024-08-29T17:43:52","slug":"shaky-start-memoir-outline","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/lifelong\/2022\/shaky-start-memoir-outline\/","title":{"rendered":"SHAKY START: MEMOIR OUTLINE"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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\n SHAKY START: MEMOIR OUTLINE\n <\/h1>\n \n \n <\/header>\n\n <\/div>\n\n <\/div>\n\n <\/div>\n<\/section>\n\n\n\n

SHAKY START (Chapters 1-11 complete)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Prologue\t\tPage 3<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Mine is a simple perhaps even unremarkable account exploring the life of a boy tussling his way to manhood. So why recount it? Like the Ancient Mariner, I am driven to tell this tale.<\/p>\n\n\n\n


Forthwith this frame of mine was wrenched
With a woeful agony,
Which forced me to begin my tale;
And then it left me free.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n


– Tale of the Ancient Mariner, Samuel Taylor Coleridge<\/p>\n\n\n\n

1.\tThe Child is the Father of the Man \tPage 4<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Then, muted laughter, as, gulping for air, I awkwardly struggled back onto the stage. At that instant, like the pop of white light from a flash bulb, the disappearance of my father came into sharp focus.\t <\/p>\n\n\n\n

2.\tBlue Bird\t Page 24<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Childhood was an overflow of exploration, and discovery. An exhilarating thrashing about, inventing the person I wanted to become. I believed whole-heartedly that I was the architect of my own life.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

3.\tFarmhand\t Page 32<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Once the mother\u2019s heaving reached a peak of intensity, the process was quick. I gripped the front hooves that were the first evidence that the calf was coming and pulled gently and steadily. Momentum gradually increased until the entire slick calf slipped out of the birth canal. \t<\/p>\n\n\n\n

4.\tOutsider Page 44<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cSome of us aren\u2019t meant to belong. Some of us have to turn the world upside down and shake the hell out of it until we make our own place in it.\u201d \t\tElizabeth Lowell<\/p>\n\n\n\n

5.\tNo Father was There\tPage 55\t\t\t \t\t<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It was icy cold. My Harris Tweed sports jacket was no match against Ontario winter. I pulled up the lapels and closed them over my chest. Still shivering from the walk between the exit stairs of the DC-3 and the terminal, I saw him. Steps away was my father. Had I been wearing a felt hat, burgundy wool scarf, and long charcoal overcoat, we could have been mistaken for one another. A smack in the face resemblance that would become my life\u2019s work to escape.\t<\/p>\n\n\n\n

6.\tThe Compromise Page 66<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He is especially wayward when it comes to girls. Sometimes I think he is driven by the Devil Himself. I prey that none of them is with child on his account. At any rate, I hope and pray that his father\u2019s guidance is what will get him onto a better path.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

7.\tHere We Go Again Page 73<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Obstacles, threats, and fears were constant companions. Yet, I held on to my fragile identity more attentively than a mother holding her newborn for the very first time. Capable of any sacrifice to protect the fragile life.\t<\/p>\n\n\n\n

8.\tTriumphs \t Page 88<\/p>\n\n\n\n

During the two years at the Orangeville District High School, I did not see academic, athletic or student government successes as my most valued accomplishments. My greatest triumph was making my first real friend. John Turner lived on a farm that had not yet replaced its horsepower with machines.\t<\/p>\n\n\n\n

9.\tBlood and Water Page 108\t<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We could double date, deliver lambs, carve the nuts out of young bulls, laugh full-heartedly at a lewd play, yet never discuss sex. There were other things we never talked about. Being the only one in his large family with brown eyes and dark complexion, and Bertha\u2019s unlikely birth of John in her mid sixties, were never discussed. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

10.\tWhere My Story Began Page 127<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cBehind all my stories is always my mother\u2019s story. Because hers is where mine began\u2026.\u201d Mitch Albom <\/p>\n\n\n\n

11.\tTaking a Chance on Love\t Page 143<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He was wearing his air force blues, without the hat and jacket. Sleeves rolled up to the elbows and tie tucked in his shirt. \u201cHe was the most handsome airman, no, the dreamiest man, I have ever seen,\u201d the girls chided to one another. Blaring from the speakers was Benny Goodman and his Orchestra\u2019s rendition of \u201cTaking a Chance on Love\u201d. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

12.\tRecognition, Reconciliation, and Redemption (to be written) Page 153<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Epilogue (to be written)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

SHAKY START (Chapters 1-11 complete) Prologue Page 3 Mine is a simple perhaps even unremarkable account exploring the life of a boy tussling his way to manhood. So why recount it? Like the Ancient Mariner, I am driven to tell this tale. Forthwith this frame of mine was wrenched With a woeful agony, Which forced […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[23],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-18153","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-memoir"],"acf":{"cu_post_thumbnail":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/lifelong\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18153","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/lifelong\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/lifelong\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/lifelong\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/lifelong\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=18153"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/lifelong\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18153\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":24505,"href":"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/lifelong\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18153\/revisions\/24505"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/lifelong\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=18153"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/lifelong\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=18153"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/lifelong\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=18153"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}