The Secret Life of Objects

This book by Dawn Raffel reminds me of Anne Rice's Teh Wtiching hour because she talks about how simple objects can invoke feelings, or seem to have certain memories or powers. Quote from Readers Digest: "Her memoir reflecdts on everyday objects such as a cup, a ring .. or a vase...From tehse memories comes a whole life story." (168) This might be something for you to try if you are writing family memoirs. Find an object familiar to everyone, the Thanksgiving turkey platter, a certain mug, a favorite shirt, a bud vase, and jot down the memories surrounding it. See where else they lead you. Perhaps you can construct your own autobiography around a series of bojects you remember from your earliest memories or baby pictures to the present day.