PIECES – This was yesterday’s writing prompt provided by teachwrite.org on their May Writing Prompts list. If you haven’t visited them, please check them out.

It really got me thinking. What do I write about? Missing pieces? Broken pieces? Puzzle pieces? Bits & pieces? After searching for quotes about “pieces,” I landed on the one above and the idea of “pieces of me.” Then everything started to fall into place – like pieces of a puzzle.

I have been listening to “Words & Music” on Audible as well as some celebrity memoirs. What I have enjoyed hearing about the most is the people/things that influenced each of these people. They have given me a glimpse into their many “pieces.” Yoyo Ma was greatly influenced by his immigrant parents, Sting by the town he grew up in and left behind, and the list goes on. I began to think about my “pieces” and how they all fit together to create the puzzle that is me.

• Places I Have Been – Philadelphia, Horsham – all the places I have visited in my life.
• People I Have Loved – parents, siblings, aunts & uncles, cousins, Chuck and his family who became my family, my kids, their spouses, my grandkids, and friends from grade school, high school, college, and beyond.
• Song Lyrics – too many to begin to even make a short list, but those of the 70s for sure.
• Book Quotes – beginning with my favorite Nancy Drew and all those that followed that helped me garner the nickname, “Read-a-book.”
• Places I Have Worked – Burger King, Brooks Drugs.
• Places I Have Taught – St. James, Holy Angels, St. Catherine, St. Alphonsus, Bucks County Community College, West Chester Writing Project, Our Lady of Mercy, and all the wonderful colleagues I have had along the way.
• Students I Have Shared Learning With – I have even taught children of former students!

This list could go on, and on, and on, but what is important is to recognize that I did not get to be here in this place being the person I am today without capturing “pieces” of every person, place, and thing that has come into my life. I wholeheartedly believe that every experience – good or bad – shapes us and helps us grow.