Lesson 1- Adult Memories-Marriage

IN THIS LESSON

In the last module we looked at your Young Adult Memories. I hope you enjoyed reminiscing on that time in your life. In this module we start to look at your Adult Memories. For the sake of your life story, for most, this will generally start at the time of marriage or when you settled down with your lifelong partner. This is when your life changes significantly in terms of your role and responsibilities. This module contains two lessons- the first one is Marriage and the second is Children. So you will have two 'Keeping in Touch' exercises to do. In the next module we will focus on general Adult Memories.

What if you didn’t marry or have children, or have not been in a long-term relationship? You will not need to complete the content in this module. You can spend some time going back over what you have already done and add some more memories. You can even start to expand on some of the information you have already jotted down.

See below for comments relating to divorce, multiple marriages and death of a partner.

Marriage is the beginning of the second half of your story. Marriage puts you in a totally new role, alters where you live, changes relationships and creates new traditions.

Sometimes the excitement of that special day does not result in a happily ever after. If that is the case for you, you may find it hard to relive this time in your life. Keep it brief. A simple paragraph in your story can include when you got married and how many years the marriage lasted. As hurtful as it is, this is still your story. Perhaps you might want to share lessons learnt or how you grew from failure.
 
What if you have had multiple marriages? Focus on the marriages that meant the most. It may be more appropriate to write about other spouses/partners later in your story. Just keep this worksheet on hand so you can add this information at a more appropriate time.
 
The death of a spouse will be covered in a later week.

 
For those who are writing about their wedding day, take your mind back to that day. How did the day start- like any other, a flurry of activity? Where were you? Who was there? Take us through your day- the preparations (you might want to go back further and tell a few stories about plans and preparations leading up to the day), heading to the church- how were you feeling, did you have a special car.

arrival- where did you get married, how did you feel when you saw your soon to be spouse

the ceremony- what can you remember of this

after the ceremony- relief, photos, well-wishers

the reception- where was this, what did it look like, who was there? 

Think of weddings today and consider how your wedding day was different. Do you have a funny or disaster story to tell of your wedding day- not everything goes to plan.
 
Where did you go on your honeymoon?

Where did you first live? Was this with parents, sharing with friends, renting- how was this arrangement, how much rent did you pay? Perhaps you managed to buy a home- how much did you pay (historically interesting), what was this home like?
  
Any interesting stories you wish to mention of those early years of marriage, how was your relationship?

If you haven't done so previously, make sure you introduce your spouse including some of their backstory. 

Now let's head back to the day you said, "I do".

COURSE OUTLINE

Module 1
Course Introduction Birth and Background

Module 2
Childhood Memories

Module 3
Childhood Memories- School Years

Module 4
Young Adult Memories

Module 5
Adult Memories- Marriage Adult Memories- Children

Module 6
Adult Memories

Module 7
Other Preface Final Words

Module 8
Writing Your Story Publishing Your Story What’s Next

Despite all the preparation, something always goes wrong on the wedding day. Now we can look back and laugh but at the time it was probably quite stressful!

Can you briefly share one of your wedding day hiccups?

No hiccups? What about a magic moment?