Not Quite What I Was Planning: Six Word Memoirs

Once asked to write a full story in six words, legend has it that novelist Ernest Hemingway responded:

For Sale: baby shoes, never worn.

That was the beginning of my favorite story I heard on NPR radio last February. The online magazine, Smith, had asked readers to write their life story in six words.

And oh I truly never knew how powerful six words could be.

I still make coffee for two. - Zak Nelson

After Harvard, had baby with crackhead.- Robin Templeton

Sperm too potent, now have triplets.- Renee Schunk

70 years, few tears, hairy ears.- Bill Querengesser

Never really finished anything, except cake.- Carletta Perkins

Revenge is living well, without you.- Joyce Carol Oates

Asked to quiet down, spoke louder.- Wendy Lee

Never loved. Always rejected. Good anyway. - Brenda

Watching quietly from every door frame.- Nicole Resseguie

Catholic school backfired. Sin is in!- Nikki Beland

Extremely responsible, secretly longed for spontaneity.- Sabra Jennings

Joined Army. Came out. Got booted.- Johan Baumeister

Almost a victim of my family- Chuck Sangster

Grumpy old soundman needs love, too.- Lennie Rosengard

Mom died, Dad screwed us over.- Lesley Kysely

Can you tell a whole life story in just SIX words? Oh, I beg to argue that you can say more in six words than a thesis. If your words re chosen carefully, an entire lifetime can be told.

What would you say? If you had to write your life memoir in just six words, what would you pen?

Tell me yours, I'll tell mine.