Sandcastles #SOL19

I am participating in the Two Writing Teachers Annual March Slice of Life Story Challenge.  
This year I decided to complete my slice of life challenge through the use of quickwrites.  By doing this, I hope to explore my own writing, identify problems my students may be experiencing with these quick bursts of writing, and show them authentic revisions in the writing process.

Today's quick write comes from Paula Bourque's new book SPARK! Yesterday, on her blog, Lit Coach Lady, she encouraged us to use pictures to spark our writing. She provided a link to a Google photo album, filled with pictures. I chose a picture which led me to think about my mother and my grandmother and to today's quick write.

In true quick write form according to Kittle and Graves, my process began like this:

1. Choose a starter.
2. Write rapidly for ten minutes.
3. Change nothing.
4. Lower you standards. (This is hard to do when you are writing publicly!)
5. Let your own thinking guide you, not the prompt.

Here we go:

Sandcastles.

As children, we scramble with shovel and pail, digging deep to fill it with wet sand. We turn the pail over, carefully wishing that the packed sand doesn't collapse. We dig a moat around our castle to protect it from seaweed creatures and evil villains.

And the ocean from washing it away.

We squeal with delight as the waves inch closer and closer and our sandcastle remains strong.

As adults, we scramble with shovel and pail, digging deep to fill them with memories. Memories of family, and friends, and life. We turn the pail over with each year that we grow older, carefully wishing the packed sand doesn't collapse and leave us with emptiness. We dig a moat around our castle to protect it from burdening love ones,

And dementia from washing it away.

We sigh with relief as the waves inch closer and closer and our sandcastle remains strong.

For one more memory.