"Listening to the Photograph" by Leigh Ann Whittle
– a picture is no substitute for a thousand words
An old photograph connects across generations and lovingly shares hard-learned wisdom with those who will listen.
Leigh Ann Whittle lives in Snow Camp, North Carolina and is a member of the North Carolina Writer’s Network and the COMPEL writer’s community. She has published work in various genres both nationally and regionally and has edited manuscripts for second-language academics. Her adult and children’s fiction writing has received awards from the Alamance Reads program and the Burlington Writer’s Club. She was most recently published in Teach. Write.: A Writing Teacher’s Literary Journal. When not writing, she teaches university-level business communication and public speaking courses.
Leigh Ann Whittle
Author’s Talk
The year 2020 taught me to stop focusing on what I missed and instead focus on what I have, such as opportunities I would have otherwise missed. That’s the theme of “Listening to the Photograph.” I miss my Memaw. I wish she could see the woman I have become and could meet my husband and children, who I have no doubt she would dote on. Even though she’s no longer physically in my life, she’s present in the memories and lessons she left behind. It took me years to realize this, but what a life-changing perspective!
“Listening to the Photograph” is my rare foray into non-fiction work. I typically write short story fiction or children’s fiction. That “Listening” resonated enough to become part of the Personal Stories Project and Six-Minute Stories Podcast is an honor.
I have always enjoyed writing. In first grade, my teacher, Miss Gault, had written six words on the chalkboard for the class to copy. I wrote a story instead. She wrote a note to my parents, marveling at my creativity. Truthfully, I wasn’t paying attention to the assignment. I prefer to say I defaulted to what came naturally to me!
Throughout my childhood, I wrote illustrated stories about the places I visited. I was interested in space and aviation, but instead of collecting model planes, I “reported” on space shuttle launches and other aviation events in an old red spiral-bound notebook. (Unrelated to that notebook, I eventually married a pilot.)
Writing became part of my work through college and as I entered my career but writing for “fun” became rarer. Isn’t it funny how work gets in the way of our fun time? As I transitioned toward part-time working from home to be with my children, I reignited my enjoyment of writing. It's an activity I can get lost in after a long day of work and child-minding.
Have you ever noticed that when we enjoy something, we want to share that enjoyment? That’s how I became a college writing and communication instructor. My students may not love writing the way I do, but they always remark that it’s clear I love what I do. And that’s my goal. If I reach or teach one person with my work, then I have been successful.
