Cameo Memories donates a Memoir Writing Workshop to New Lenox Public Library

New Lenox—While stories about tax woes and lean budgets, health complications and violent outcries dominate the news, Cameo Memories and Photography, headquartered in New Lenox, presents an opportunity for a relaxing "mental spa evening." Ann Piasecki, owner and founder, invites the public to a free taste of a Memoir Writing Workshop from 6-8:30 p.m. Tues., Jan. 25, at New Lenox Public Library.

This is a time to reflect and organize the life-giving events of your life and ultimately to put them together into a memoir. Memoirs don't have to be a book-length project, she said. A satisfying memoir can be the size of an everyday newspaper feature or a magazine-length piece.

Piasecki offers a fun and visual presentation that's bound to stir your enthusiasm for memoir writing by providing the basic skills—"memoryscaping," identification of slice-of-life events, simile, imagery, writing techniques and more. By preserving your life stories, you create an honest legacy for younger generations.

It's a "wonderful gift" to prepare and savor, she said. Memoirs are not written as ego-boosters; they're written to provide a proper perspective on life-changing moments. What was the element in your relationship with your future spouse that moved you to join together in marriage? How exciting was your first pregnancy? What was it like as a child to go on the annual camping trip or bake Christmas cookies with loved ones?

The story possibilities are endless, according to Piasecki. These memoirs can be penned to bring a scrap book project to life; they can become creative announcements about your upcoming wedding or the days leading up to the birth of your precious newborn; they can be the ingredient that spices up your genealogy project.

 Cameo Memories and Photography welcomes you to a guided look into building a compassionate legacy. It's far from an exercise in simple facts and dated reminisces, she said. Memoirs are the key to the back stories that inspired the rest of your life. "They delve into influences from people, events and faith."

Check out the Cameo Memories and Photography website at: www.cameomemoriesandphotography.com. For information, call 815.462.0828.    

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