Snapshots of gold

Do you remember your first Christmas away from home?

Do you remember your high school graduation ceremony?

Do you remember the day you said"I do"?

How did you feel spending that first holiday without your parents--were you lonely, or sad or excited to be with someone else or someplace new?

How did you and your best friends say goodbye after you threw your cap in the air? Did you wonder if you would ever be so close again?

Do you remember the feel of your wedding gown as it brushed against your leg when your father walked you down the aisle--or the last hug your mother gave after she adjusted your veil?

Snapshots. Our memories are filled with photo albums of captured moments.

When I choose a short story, I pull a single snapshot from my album. Then I study it from every angle diving through the lingering emotions and moods, sifting until the fine memories rise to the top like gold.

Then I write from my heart until that memory comes alive once again.

How do you write your own stories that make the reader feel?