I COULD WRITE A BOOK SENIORS CHRONICLE THE PAST, AS THEY EXPERIENCED IT.Byline: Sylvia L. Oliande Staff Writer SIMI VALLEY Simi Valley (sē`mē, sĭm`ē), city (1990 pop. 100,217), Ventura co., SW Calif. in an oil, fruit, and farm region; laid out 1887, inc. 1969. - When Simi Valley resident Pamela Martin ''for the escort agency see Deborah Jeane Palfrey Pamela Martin (born 1953) is an American-born television reporter on Canadian TV. She currently co-anchors the weekday 6pm newscasts on CTV British Columbia alongside Bill Good. was a young girl growing up in West Los Angeles
She shared the story of her adolescent pain with fellow students in a Life Writing class in early February, just days before she found herself visiting her childhood home - and that same bathroom mirror - as her father lay dying. As she related the tale of that visit to the class Wednesday, there was not a dry eye in the house as she got to the point of the story - the part where she realized after her father died that her face was his legacy. ``I looked in the mirror again and said, `Hello, Joe's daughter,' '' Martin said, choking up at the memory. ``Of my two brothers and I, I was the one who looked most like him.'' Her classmates Classmates can refer to either:
After her first story, one of them had told the 52-year-old that she had grown into a beautiful woman. They were pleased to see that she'd finally come to know that about herself. ``Writing of it gives you a great release, which is helpful,'' teacher Louise Cabral told Martin, encouraging the tears as they came. ``And you're with a group of people who really do care and can sympathize.'' The Life Writing class, hosted by the Simi Valley Adult School at the Simi Valley Senior Center, is part therapy session and part history lesson as its students work to chronicle their lives over the last five to eight - or nine -decades. The stories the seniors tell help them make sense of their memories and preserve them for future generations. Their tales are set in the snowy cold of Alaska during World War II and on a warm summer day in Buffalo, N.Y. They talk about a pre-dawn knock at the door in Buenos Aires Buenos Aires (bwā`nəs ī`rēz, âr`ēz, Span. bwā`nōs ī`rās), city and federal district (1991 pop. , Argentina, in 1972, with officials looking for Looking for In the context of general equities, this describing a buy interest in which a dealer is asked to offer stock, often involving a capital commitment. Antithesis of in touch with. Communist sympathizers, and about the hero worship hero worship n. Intense or excessive admiration for a hero or a person regarded as a hero. hero worship Noun admiration for heroes or idealized people Noun 1. of a small boy for his prominent doctor uncle who was ``6-feet-2 and very handsome, the Jimmy Stewart-type.'' Cabral said thousands of people spend millions of dollars on therapy sessions, and if they're lucky, they find the one that will help them accomplish what they need. The Life Writing class, which Cabral said she has taught for 14 years in Simi SIMI Sea Ice Mechanics Initiative SIMI Search for Intelligent Monkeys on the Internet SIMI Students Islamic Movement in India SIMI Society of Irish Motor Industry SIMI Smallholder Irrigation Markets Initiative and the Conejo Valley The Conejo Valley is a region spanning both Southeastern Ventura County and Northwest Los Angeles County in Southern California, United States. It was discovered in 1542 by Spanish explorer Juan Rodriguez Cabrillo, and eventually became part of the Rancho El Conejo land grant by , helps her students get to that same place on their own. ``This is about finding out the most important things about any of us so we can really know about ourselves,'' said Cabral. ``Most people live their whole lives and not really know themselves.'' The dozen students at Wednesday's class meeting certainly are learning that lesson. Bob Lyall, who declined to give his age, has attended the weekly classes for the past five years. He said he keeps coming back not only to continue to improve his writing but to hear tales from other people that take him all over the globe and in all times in history. ``There are so many people, they come and go from this class,'' he said. ``The stories they tell, there's nothing better than to have stories about the early days.'' Dorothy Mitchell, 67, said she wanted to tell her grandchildren GRANDCHILDREN, domestic relations. The children of one's children. Sometimes these may claim bequests given in a will to children, though in general they can make no such claim. 6 Co. 16. about growing up the daughter of liberal parents living in cosmopolitan New Orleans New Orleans (ôr`lēənz –lənz, ôrlēnz`), city (2006 pop. 187,525), coextensive with Orleans parish, SE La., between the Mississippi River and Lake Pontchartrain, 107 mi (172 km) by water from the river mouth; founded during the Depression. She said her writing has developed since taking the class as she has learned to inject her own voice into the story of her life and experiences. ``What I had written before was mostly narrative, how things looked physically,'' she said. ``But now when I'm writing, it's more about my feelings. That gives them an idea of how their grandmother saw things and felt about things.'' CAPTION(S): 3 photos Photo: (1 -- color) Instructor Louise Cabral critiques a student's writing during the class she teaches to help seniors learn about themselves. (2) Pamela Martin, a Simi Valley resident, reads her story during the writing class at the Simi Valley Senior Center. (3 -- color in Verb 1. color in - add color to; "The child colored the drawings"; "Fall colored the trees"; "colorize black and white film" color, colorise, colorize, colour in, colourise, colourize, colour Simi edition only) A senior holds the hand-written story she wrote for the Life Writing class, which chronicles life's experiences. Joe Binoya/Special to the Daily News |
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