About Me:

Aloha! I'm Wendy Kennar. I'm the mother of a seven-year-old son and a wife living in Los Angeles. I was a public school teacher for twelve years until a chronic medical condition made it necessary to leave my teaching career.

I've always been described as "quiet" - really, I'm just biting my tongue. I've got lots to say, and lots of thoughts to share, I just prefer to write them. That's the purpose of this blog. Each Wednesday, I post a personal essay offering my observations and thoughts.

A few fun facts about me: I've wanted to be a writer since second grade, when my teacher, Mrs. Jones, made me a "book" with a yellow construction paper cover. I have never learned to whistle, have always preferred sunflowers to roses, and have spent my life living within the same zip code.

Through the years, my writing has been published in the Los Angeles Times, Christian Science Monitor, United Teacher, GreenPrints, L.A. Parent, DivineCaroline.com, RoleReboot.org, XOJane, and Brain, Child Magazine. Additionally, my personal essays have been included in several anthologies, including: The Barefoot Review, Beyond the Diaper Bag, Lessons From My Parents, Write for Light, Being a Grown-Up: A User's Manual for the Real World, Ka-Pow!, How Writing Can Get You Through Tough Times, Breath and Shadow, The Grey Wolfe Storybook, and Sisters Born, Sisters Found.
I am a regular contributor at MomsLA.com, and you can also find me at Goodreads.

Thanks for stopping by and reading my blog. Feel free to comment and share my blog with others!

Wednesday, June 17, 2015

A Trip Down Memory Lane


                                                             The bookcase in my living room
          

   You know how certain smells and songs can transport you to a different time?  I’ve got a similar situation with books.  Looking at my bookshelf, and resting my eyes on certain books, brings me back to different periods of my life.

   Let me share a few with you:

   I read Aunties - Our Older, Cooler, Wiser Friends in 2001.  It was the year my first nephew was born, and the year I was beginning my teaching career.  I had great aspirations for the type of aunt I hoped to be, and the type of teacher I hoped to be.  I can distinctly remember sitting in the LAUSD headquarters in downtown L.A., waiting for my name to be called, and reading Aunties.

   I read Elizabeth Berg’s Open House during my first year of teaching.  I tried bringing the book with me to read bits of it during my lunch break.  And I learned that magazines made better reading material for those all-too-brief lunch breaks. 

   I read Jane Green’s The Other Woman in 2005 during our trip to Paris.  I made sure to have a “fun” novel with me to distract me from the terror I felt during my first (and so-far only) international trip.

   I read Anne Lamott’s Operating Instructions during the first weeks of my son’s life.  Babies don’t come with operating instructions, and I was desperately afraid of doing something wrong, of mistakenly hurting this angel -- my son.  When Ryan would wake up in the middle of the night, I would feed him, and settle him back in his crib.  But before heading off to bed myself, I’d sit and read for a bit until I knew Ryan was sleeping again, and it was safe for me to return to bed.

   And, I read Last Song by Nicholas Sparks in the summer of 2010.  It was the book I had with me when I was hospitalized for four days.  And, stuck in that hospital bed, I wished I had a different novel to occupy my time.  (I had started it before the hospitalization).  A tear-jerker was not exactly the type of book I needed to try and distract me from the pain, the shots, and the tests involved with a hospitalization.

           

3 comments:

  1. It is amazing how we relate to different things by different times of our lives.I hope from now on the books you read will only relate to happy times in your life.I love you and I am so proud of you.
    love,mommy

    ReplyDelete
  2. I really enjoy reading your blog each week. You have a real talent for writing. Your mother & I are proud of you.
    Love, dad

    ReplyDelete
  3. Honey,
    This is a great post! I have very similar connections to different albums or songs. Especially from second grade! I Love You!
    Love, me

    ReplyDelete