Six Sentences I Can’t Forget
Last Monday, people working at THE NEW YORK TIMES were reading an amazing essay by John Paul Brammer entitled: Six sentences I can’t forget. The sentences were intriguing. Examples: “I like the saints that started out bad.” And: “Ain’t you the bitch that got run over at Braum’s?” And when you read each one, Brammer told you a story that he clings to via that sentence. Some had more lasting effect than others. All were intriguing. So I decided to give the exercise a try…
1.Someone in this room lied to me. Spoken by my 8th grade teacher, Sister Doreen. The class will not be dismissed until that person comes forward. Wow, I thought, that person’s in deep trouble. But no one moved. Then I remembered: Doreen had asked those who talked in church to confess. I had said THANK YOU, when a popular girl in class said she liked my hat. Two words. But I followed Doreen and apologized. Humiliation for a THANK YOU seemed wrong. But I did remember.
2. Why major in English, everyone does that. You should major in biology, go into medicine. I was a sophomore in college–this from my biology teacher, a woman who saw a different trajectory for me. But I didn’t see it. I graduated with a degree in English, taught at the secondary level, now consider myself a writer. But at the age of 42, I went back to school, earned my RN, one of the best decisions I ever made.
3. You would just be able to fly farther. I had two young children and back pain. I finally started physical therapy, another of the best decisions I ever made. Over the years, my skeletal system gave me pain in my lower back, my neck and my upper back. During a bout of the upper back pain, my therapist explained that evolution always has a part in our bone structure, that I had large scapulary bones. “The scapulary bones are your wings,” he said. To which I replied, because guilt sometimes accompanies a lack of wellness: “I guess I’m a bird in some ways.” But he replied: “No, you’d just be able to fly, fly farther than most of us.”
4. “I have to go now.” My younger brother and I had flown to Chicago to see our mother. She was in her late nineties, suffering from dementia, now mostly confined to her bed. We had meetings set up to discuss her future, her finances. But as we entered her room, she immediately looked up, said our names, knew us. And her face was radiant with a smile. We moved to stand, one on each side of her bed, as she told us “I have to go now, but I’m afraid.” There were blessings in that room the three of us will never forget. This was a Saturday, late afternoon. Our mother was in a coma by Sunday morning and died early on Tuesday. It was her time and she blessed us with her love even in death.
5. “You just have to let that go by...” It doesn’t matter who said this to me. The timing is what matters. I had entered a neighbor’s home to ask for a favor or apologize for some minor offense. I remember my hands were out in front of me, my body in a kind of supplication stance. Because after the favor, I apologized for seeming not in full control. “It’s just because of what is going on right now,” I said and made reference to the children in cages at the border or maybe because he had just mocked Christine Blasey Ford. Something! And she stood there and smiled and said: “You just have to let that go by.” NO!! I won’t let any of it go by and I will never forget her words.
6. For sentence six, I defer to my readers. Is there a sentence you can’t forget? We all have them. I made a list and only chose the five. It’s an interesting exercise and I tried to scan my entire life. So now it’s your turn. THANKS FOR READING and thanks to John Paul Brammar for this intriguing exercise.
artwork by: Google Images
