Giving thanks for six this Thanksgiving.
Backstory
Thanksgiving has a special place in the six-word story. Just a few days before Thanksgiving in 2006, I posted a simple prompt to the SMITH Magazine community, challenging any an all to write story of their life in exactly six words. The idea was inspired by an old Hemingway legend. As the story goes, Hemingway was once asked in a bar bet to write an entire novel in just six words. He responded with, “For sale: baby shoes, never worn.” At SMITH, we gave the concept a personal twist, calling it the “Six-Word Memoir.” One person would receive an iPod with the winning six words inscribed (read about that here: http://ow.ly/frey8), because in 2006 winning an iPod was kind of a big deal (and I went and bought the iPod at the Apple store). We partnered on the six-word contest with a little-known company called Twittr (no “e” back then), because the crew there was also into storytelling and believed in the power of the short form.When I went home for Thanksgiving and told my family about the new project on SMITH something wild began to happen. Everyone around the dinner table starting coming up with their own Six-Word Memoirs, and even wrote them for each other (“This one’s for Pop-Pop,” my nephew said. ‘Memory loss. What was I saying.’”) and wrote six-word reviews of the turkey, too. The next day I had 1,000 six-worders waiting for me in my in-box, because back in our early days they were just sent to me email, which in hindsight seems pretty silly.
More than 600,000 sixes on SMITHmag.net and SMITHteens.com later, with adaptations of the form everywhere from classrooms and boardrooms, therapy groups and speed-dating sessions, Six-Word Memoirs have taken life forms beyond my wildest dreams. Above all has been the gift of this beautiful community of storytellers who made this place beat each and every day.
And for that, and all of you, I am truly thankful.
by Larry_D._Smith in Six-Word Memoirs on Nov 21, 2012 | 
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T-shirt
Comments
NumbrOneAunt says,
larry i was thinking of composing a memoir like this myself (and already kinda sorta did with "smith has enriched my life - you?") so i'm glad to have the opportunity to post this comment. i'm also very thankful for smith and six-word memoirs. the creative outlet AND the online community they provide are both wonderful. hope you have a joyful thanksgiving celebration!notjustagirlintheworld says,
Almost as good as hearing you tell that story and hearing your relatives six live :D Thank *you* Larry.Loon says,
you deserve a big fat-ass leg on Turkey Day, LarryL2L3 says,
Great story. Definitely feature-worthy. Run it by the editor, maybe;-D Many thanks to you as well. You are an exceptional human with a knack for attracting other exceptional humans. Less of a talent than a gift. Thanks for sharing your gift.lovelylizard says,
Thanks to you, Larry, we have formed a genuine community here and I am grateful to be able to tell my stories and read the stories of others. It's quite amazing, all of us virtual strangers sharing our deepest thoughts with each other. Happy Thanksgiving to all.marymc says,
Thanks Larry. I don't know where I'd be without this place. It's THAT important to me. Especially now.Staraj says,
Thank you Larry. SMITH is welcomed.maryjane31 says,
Happy Thanksgiving to you from me. Thank you as well.ba_miracle says,
Happy Thanksgiving to every Six-Wordsmith and an extra thanks to you Larry_D_Smith :-)oopsalittle says,
I'm grateful that I found you -My world has been expanded and enriched - thank you so much.
DynamicDbytheC says,
Thankful for this community. Happy Thanksgiving.LadyMac says,
We're thankful for you Larry!canadafreeze says,
Thank you for creating this place to be, Larry. This is my place of solitude and community. I am so grateful to have found all of you. Happy Thanksgiving.jl333 says,
Thank you for saving me on therapy bills. I can speak my mind on this site and know that I feel better speaking my mind. So for that, I'm truly grateful. Happy Thanksgiving to you and your family. Oh, and if you have any leftovers, you can send them my way.JAD says,
This was the first site that I was able to express my deepest thoughts and share them with people all over the world; people I will probably never meet but feel as though I have a connection in some way and for that I am truly grateful. Thanks, Larry for bringing us all together. Happy Thanksgiving to all.jl333 says,
We're just one big happy family/community. Next year Larry, you should host a Smith Community Thanksgiving Day in a central meeting place. I'll bring the bread.DynamicDbytheC says,
Hemingway would have been very proud of you Larry. Borrow from a genius and keep the genius growing and moving forward. Thank you for getting me through some long nights sitting beside a hospital bed.Dragonflower says,
Who would think that six words can say so much? I am an overwriter--that is, my emails are like novels. So I joined Twitter this year to teach myself to comment in 140 characters--as if I could!! It worked for me to use my brain that way though. I first saw the six word memoir in an Oprah magazine article. It had some examples and I cut one out and have it where I read it every day. That was about two years ago. I was always too shy to post any of my own on this site until the Twitter experiment. Then I said ok, 6 words is even more of challenge. But it hasn't been a challenge. It's been the absolutely most delightful experience. And the comments are so wonderful. I feel connected, like people have mentioned, and I'm new. I feel I'm met my real family finally. The family I was SUPPOSED to have been born into. Thank you from the bottom of my heart. PS. Larry, I loved the part about the iPod and going to the Apple store. That was a big deal.Bevvie says,
Thank you!BecomingLogyn says,
Thank you for creating such an amazing place for all of us and many more to come!Happy Thanksgiving
ctgoods2 says,
Thanking you many times over.scribbling_scribe says,
I remember first hearing about this site a few years back on NPR while driving to work. I literally pulled off to the side of the road to write down the website address because I was so enthralled with the idea. I love being a part of this wonderful sixing community. Many thanks to you Larry and the many wordsmiths that make coming back again and again so worthwhile.BanjoDan says,
gracias Larry!!!Amapola says,
I love it here, and this place and its amazing people have become part of my daily DNA - THANK YOU Larry!e.towhee says,
I have been a member of the SMITH community for almost three years. I am very glad I joined it. Thank you, Larry, for this wonderful website.