Since Last March
Since last March, I’ve been everywhere.
Everywhere for time with the kids in Iowa, Kentucky, holidays and the State Fair,
Everywhere for family events – high school graduations, visiting cousins, and traveling with the elders,
Everywhere for stretching and growing my mind.
Since last March, my grandson turned two.
Two and can name a herd of dinosaurs,
Two and a fish in the swimming pool,
Two and totally wrapped in our hearts!
Since last March, I’ve said good-bye.
Good-bye to my work of 19 years,
Good-bye to students, teachers and staff,
Good-bye to fellow AEA staff,
Good-bye to forty years of daily working from 7 to 5 or more!!!
Since last March, I’ve said hello.
Hello to friends who I’ve met face to face,
Hello to slicers, bloggers, and voxers from or at #tcrwp, #ncte17, #g2great , and #ccira18,
Hello to a daily reading and writing routine
Hello to the #g2great planning, chatting, and blogging team.
Hello, March.
It’s time to write!
The idea from this post came from Erin Baker’s “Since Last March” here in 2016. I first used it March 2, 2016. It was fun to reflect on the changes since last March!
Do you use other “years” besides a school year or a calendar year?
How do you reflect on what has happened “since last year”?
Thank you, Betsy, Beth, Deb, Kathleen, Lanny, Melanie, and Stacey for this weekly forum. Check out the writers, readers and teachers here. 
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Congrats on your retirement and the pleasure you’ve found in your new-found time!
Thanks, Dea! Still working, independently, and at a totally different pace!
I love this format! I can always depend on you to share new and innovative ways to blog! I may try this hello and goodbye format. Thank you, friend! Happy Slicing!
You are so welcome, Michelle! Continuing to work on form, format, and “space” deliberately is one of my goals for this month! Can’t wait to see all the places it will take me . . . and us! 🙂
Like Michelle, I love your format. Since I am more in touch with you than just in March, I especially enjoyed that I knew some of these things about you. Happy March!
Margaret, More life than what would fit into this format for sure. Some of the decisions about what to include were very difficult! I love March and March writing! YAY, March!
This is a fun format! I might have to try it sometime! It was fun to meet you in person at CCIRA!
Carol,
I’m a “format” person. Love to play with ways to manipulate the message so I thought this would be the perfect way to kick off an entire month of slicing. Absolutely, such a pleasure to spend time, in real life, with you at CCIRA!
Great format! I might try this … maybe even today! 🙂 Congrats on the retirement – and move to independent work! You are busy and involved!
It’s so much fun to be able to pick and choose the work I can and will do! Liberating! And yet scary some days as well! Good luck with trying out this format! I can’t wait to see what I can “borrow” from others! 🙂
Thanks Fran for teaching me a new poetry structure! I know I’ll use it this March!! So glad we are writing daily again together! And maybe next year, you can have VA colored in!
Sally,
That is my hope. Hate to see those lonely little states all by themselves! That beginning was rough. I had many ideas in mind and had a hard time settling on just one . . . hence the map! 🙂
THIS is why I love to read the slices of others-so much inspiration. You are the consummate teacher writer, Fran! Here’s to a wonderful month of writing and growing.
Paula,
It’s such a great month to learn and grow together! And to “have to” read, write and think together . . . what a fun opportunity to visit with so many from around the globe! Now I’m thinking about a “slicer map” . . . 🙂
Thanks for your post! Looking at the comment above, this could be a great end of year activity for my classroom to reflect over the whole year! Congratulations on your retirement from teaching – though it sounds like you are just as busy!
It’s really a “different” busy . . . always learning and always wide-awake for the possibilities! And, YES, this would be a fun way to reflect on the year, or even add a stanza for each month!
This is a great idea for a slice, Fran. I will have to ‘borrow’ it. It is always fun to look back over a year’s time. It’s true what they say: The days are long, but the years are short. I’m looking forward to following your journey this March.
Jennifer,
It’s so fun to see all the great ideas during this month! And though the pressure of publishing every day makes me a tad bit anxious, the time spent reading and writing together is so much FUN! 🙂
Some exciting ends and new beginnings. 2 is such a great age!
Aileen,
Definitely beginnings and endings . . . and some continuings! I’m finding every age is a GREAT age!!!
What an exciting year you have had, Fran. Since I have retired I have done things I always wanted to do plus things I never dreamed of doing. Here’s wishing you continued growth in family, friends, travel, experiences, and writing.
Thank you so much! Always more on the horizon so trying to balance “scheduled” and “unscheduled” seems harder than it should be some days! ❤
This is a completely different format for Maryann Hoberman’s “Hello, Goodbye” poem. I love your words – the emotions that unfold here, the way you always challenge us with questions to reflect upon and grow!
Thanks, Lynne.
I had to look up that poem.
http://www.poetryminute.org/hello-and-good-by-by-mary-ann-hoberman/
I had several revisions – the super happy, the super sad, the blah, and then I decided I really like this! ❤
And thanks for mentioning the questions. They are my favorite part!
Hi Fran! Like most of the other comments here, I too love the format you chose to kick off this year’s March Slice of Life Challenge. Your format got me thinking about how we both took a somewhat reflective approach to beginning this year’s story challenge. I know a significant part of your life since last March has been centered around both loss and new beginnings. It’s always inspiring to read your blog- I look forward to the days ahead 🙂
Lanny,
Every day brings new reminders, every day brings new joys, every day is a celebration of the time and space that we had.
There was a cathartic (sp?) release from stripping wallpaper and painting walls. Also a time for more reflection and more purposeful action.
It’s still hard. But the lows don’t seem quite as low. And the highs seem more frequent. Maybe I am just paying better attention.
Saturday reunion???
Yes! Saturday Reunion, will you be there? Would be great to meet up!
[…] borrowed the Since Last March format from Fran […]
I love the format of your post. Congratulations on your retirement. Looking forward to many more of your posts in March.
Thanks, Karen. I didn’t get very far in my “review of slices” but I loved this one. I think I just moved my place of my employment and the remuneration system I can’t wait to see your writing this month!
This is so well done. I, too, love this form. It has a great rhythm, and it seems within my reach, as opposed to things like sonnets! It’s hard for me to switch my brain to thinking of a year that began in March. I may have to try this weekend. Hope it’s okay to cheat by looking at the pictures on my phone.
Absolutely okay to cheat/ borrow ideas! That’s the best thing about slicing. Trying on new ideas to see if they fit. And I remember my haikus last summer. When Margaret told me I could be “off a syllable and it would be fine” I was in a total panic. That wasn’t in my beliefs . . . but it sure made it EASIER to try!!! Thanks!
This is beautiful piece and format . Since last March I have learnt a lot from you-all the way from the other side of the world. I hope I’ll have the opportunity to continue to do so.
Thanks, Juliette! I love to meet “slicers” in person because we are already such great friends from the reading/writing world! And isn’t it great that “our world” just expands exponentially!!!
Oh Fran, I so love this. And can hear Johnny Cash singing, “I’ve been everywhere, man” in the background! But that should really be your buddy Dr. Mary Howard’s theme song, right? 🙂 I have, in fact, added March 1 as a beginning marker, too. It is when I launched my “public” and private life as a writer. September’s always meant more to me than January. This is really a new chapter in your life’s book, isn’t it? Many congratulations, and happy SOLC ’18.
Christie,
Too funny. . . There was a hint of Johnny Cash in the background but that wasn’t the song I began with. We’ll see. It was a movie theme from the 70s that I think I will use this month.
Flexible – years can begin anywhere with special events . . . kind of liberating (and yes, this could be Mary’s theme! ) ❤
I love this format, Fran! I’m so glad I got to say hello to you in person in August and at NCTE. Not sure I’ll see you Saturday, even though your energy is inspiring me to step it up a notch!
Catherine,
Always so good to see you even if just for a short time! I find that I still have more goals than time. Not sure how that happened! 🙂
I love this format for a blog post. I love getting ideas from your posts! Hope you’re enjoying retirement 🙂
Great idea to create a poem. I think I might share this with my class!
[…] Think format. I’ve found that borrowing formats from other slicers is even more productive for me as a writer than borrowing topics. Currently is a fun format to try, and I started my challenge this year with Fran’s Since Last March. […]
[…] here . . . (since last March) […]
[…] Christie Wyman’s Padlet of slicing ideas also inspired today’s post. You can visit Christie’s blog here and you can access her Padlet here. The post that I used as a mentor text originates from https://franmcveigh.wordpress.com/2018/03/01/sol18-march-1/. […]
[…] Today’s format is one I discovered last year from Fran McVeigh. […]
[…] format I’ve used here in 2016 and here in 2018 and originally from Erin Baker […]
[…] this form from Rita DiCarne who borrowed it Elizabeth Ellington who borrowed it from Fran McVeigh! I’ve been waiting to write this since the first week of the […]