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Sunday, June 24, 2012

The Stories I'd Like to Tell You About Erin O'Riordan

The "Bitches in Bookshops" post was intended to post tomorrow, but in my state of dealing with a head cold, I couldn't read a calendar.
I hadn't been linking up with All Things Fadra for Stream of Consciousness Sunday for a few weeks, but here we go.

Today’s (Optional) Writing Prompt: What are the stories of your life that you love to tell people when you have a chance?


I hadn't been linking up with All Things Fadra for Stream of Consciousness Sunday for a few weeks, but here we go. Let's see how much of my story I can free-write in five minutes:

My dad's family is Northern Irish, from Derry (Londonderry, U.K.). They came to the U.S. in the first half of the 1800s - probably around the 1840s. They fought in the Civil War for the North. My dad's dad was born in Fort Collins, Colorado, and raised in Los Angeles. A juvenile delinquent, he was given the choice of military service or jail. He joined the Navy. In 1941. And got sent to Pearl Harbor. He was 17 at the time - he was wounded, but survived. My dad was born in 1952, after his father got back from the Korean War.

My mom's Polish-Jewish family is from Warsaw, Poland, and came over around 1900. My mom's dad also fought in WWII; he once told me and my brother that what he did during the war was "sit at a desk and smoke cigarettes."

I was born in 1977, grew up a typical '80s kid - Cabbage Patch dolls, My Little Pony, jelly shoes and all - and have wanted to be a writer since at least the second grade. And Catholic schools - lots of Catholic schools, from kindergarten all the way through St. Mary's College of Notre Dame, Indiana.

...and five minutes is up.

3 comments:

Gina said...

What a family history, Erin. Fascinating what they all went through. Yes, you did have all the typicals of a 70's upbringing (I did the whole Catholic school thing too so I have some perspective in that regard). Right this minute, I sit about 35-45 minutes away from St. Mary's of Notre Dame in the middle of nowhere's ville, IN.

a.eye said...

Love that you know these stories of your family!!

Also love that you are a fellow 80s baby!! I used to love Cabbage Patch dolls and different colored jelly shoes!

Erin O'Riordan said...

The sparkly purple ones were my favorite.