A Thousand Scattered Moments

A Thousand Scattered Moments is a book of poetry collected by a family of educators-four English teachers and a band director. Even though some of us left the classroom to become administrators, we all remain teachers and writers at heart. Originally planned as a joint publication by Keith and Ellen, it became a family project after Keith's death in March of 2015. The central paradigm here is that our memories are built in homes, and we invite you to come into ours through various kinds of doors. We open the doors to you, our reader, inviting you to share in the moments that we have lived or imagined. The book is divided into six sections. The first one, "Gathering the Heart," is comprised of basically stories of love, passion, and all matters of the heart. The second section, "Gathering the Moments," is a group of poems written on ideas from the imagination. Though some are based on real moments, most are just the imaginings of the poet. The third group, "Gathering the Wreck," is a collection of poems about people going through hard times in their lives, and the fourth section is made up of poems written about family and the importance of memories of generations. The fifth part of this book of poetry is made up of verses based on the readings of the first books of the Bible and is titled "Gathering the Book." The last division is not poetry at all but short stories and are purely fiction. This book is our gift to ourselves, to our aunts, uncles, cousins, children, and grandchildren. It is a gift to you, the reader, meant for you to enjoy but also to encourage you to put in writing your own stories in whatever form you choose for your own writing. Memories are precious. Make yours a gift to others.