Addison Fox: A Puzzle

I spent time with my parents over the 4th of July weekend and we worked on a puzzle together. They’d started it the week before so by the time I arrived the frame was up and some of the center image was coming together. Throughout a few days, we continued to work the middle pieces, coming in and out of the dining room as the mood struck.

I’m deeply fortunate to have a wonderful relationship with both of my parents – we talk easily and are always discussing something – but the conversation as we put the puzzle together was different somehow. My father told stories about my grandmother and how she had a series of rules when they did puzzles.

• You must frame the puzzle first
• You must work on the puzzle to be part of putting in the last few pieces
• You must put the pieces into sections on the table that seem to correspond with where they go

It was silly talk but it gave me a memory I didn’t have and further framed up (pun intended!!) an aspect of my grandmother I didn’t know. (She’d probably have been horrified that I got to work on the puzzle a week after it had begun!!)

Throughout the weekend we discussed the silly and the mundane but we also discussed the serious. A friend’s been going through the after effects of a stroke and we discussed that and the corresponding life changes that come with it.

In short – the time we spent in front of that puzzle was concentrated together time. There weren’t any distractions, it was just us. Our time with the puzzle created new memories together, and it added to the rich store of history I have about my loved ones.

Thanks for joining me today!
XO,
Addison



Despite early ambitions of being a diver, a drummer or a doctor, Addison Fox happily discovered she was more suited to life as a writer. She lives in New York and - thankfully - doesn't have to operate on anyone. You can find her at her home on the web at www.addisonfox.com. Her latest release, THE ROYAL SPY’S REDEMPTION, from Harlequin Romantic Suspense is on shelves now. You can visit her at her website at www.addisonfox.com

Memories

"How many of our memories are truly of an event
and how many did we rewrite simply by the telling of them?
 Until they became a memory of a story, more than of an actual event." 

 ~These Three Words 11/15 

I love family stories. When I was growing up, brothers kept things interesting.  One of my favorite stories is the time two of them started a fire in cinder block and when someone was coming down the drive, one of them sat on it.  (Please note, I'm not naming names here!  LOL)  But there my brother sat, smoke billowing out from under his butt, thinking that was going to hide the evidence of the fire.  Uh, it didn't.  I wonder how many of my memories are accurate and how many have softened and altered with the telling?  I suspect more than a few because now I get to listen to my own kids repeating our family stories and I can see slight variations.

I think it's kind of like something reflecting in a pond.  The real picture is there if you really look at it, but its slightly distorted in the reflection.  Sometimes other things show up in the reflection.  Sometimes a big fish swims by and sends ripples through it.  But if you look hard enough, you can see what's really at the core.

I guess, maybe in the end, it doesn't really matter if a memory is  accurate or if it has softened with time.  I think what really matters is the feelings that go with it.  When my kids look back at our family stories and someday share them with their own children, I don't think I'll care if the story is totally accurate.  I'm not concerned about the ripples and the additions.  I simply hope that when they look hard enough they see that the core of most of our family stories is...love.

I just sent my editor back These Three Words.  It's another of my women's journey/romances.  It's a story in which the heroine is forced to look back at her memories and her family stories. And even though I've hit send, it's still with me as I write this blog.  I suspect that this is a story that's going to stay with me a while.  And I suspect, next time I hear one of our family stories, I'll think about it.

How about you?  Do you have a favorite family stories?

Holly

Current Release:

Carry Her Heart

Carry Her Heart