Tttc project

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The Things I CarryMs. Foreman

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“Chunks of my own history

flashed by…”

+Childhood

I saw a 9-year-old tomboy with long, white Nike socks and a girl power t-shirt. She was playing tetherball and basketball and climbing trees. Anything to keep up with the boys.

I saw a school bus weaving around a windy neighborhood. The windows were down and the driver was laughing. TLC was on the bus, too. They were playing “Waterfalls,” and everyone was loudly singing along. I saw joy. I saw simplicity. I saw five best friends squeezed together on one bench, eagerly awaiting their first school dance.

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+Pop Culture

I saw Tina Fey. She was wearing glasses and making people laugh with her witty jokes and childhood memories. The entire cast of 30 Rock was standing nearby.

I saw Marlo Thomas and Mary Tyler Moore.

I saw Cary Grant and Irene Dunne giving advice to George Clooney and Sandra Bullock.

I saw Elton John standing on top of his piano. He was wearing a gold sequined jacket and was clapping along to the beat of “Crocodile Rock”.

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+Literature

I saw Anne Shirley. She was walking through the fields of Green Gables, her red hair blowing in the brisk autumn air. There was a book in her hand and a twinkle in her eye. Her best friend, Diana, was by her side.

I saw Ernest Hemingway sitting at a table in a small Parisian café. He was drinking coffee and dreaming about a bullfight in Pamplona.

I saw Mr. Darcy, proud and brooding.

I saw Selina Peake working hard on her farm. Her hands were cracked and hard, but her face was as beautiful as the cabbages she planted.

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+History

I saw Queen Elizabeth II on coronation day. She was wearing a jeweled crown and a fur cape and was waving to the crowd with a look that was both excited and burdened at the same time.

I saw other queens, too. Marie Antoinette was there. Cleopatra was there. So were Queen Isabella, Queen Elizabeth I, and Catherine the Great.

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+Future

I saw my future editor and publisher. They were passing out copies of my novel to the crowd.

I saw my future husband and children.

I saw an old woman eating gelato on a bench in the Italian countryside.

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