My Bio: Paul Gardner
Six Word Photo Story Challenge: “About Me & Six”
Having the time of our lives.
I’ve written 405 Medium stories in the three years I’ve been on this platform. This is Six-Word Photo Story number 75.
And today, I’m 75 years old.
When you think about our pub, what six words come to mind? It all starts with a photo.
Before I joined Medium, I had no idea of the impact images would have on my writing. Today, 400 stories later, a picture, more often than not, gets my creative juices going. The above photo expresses my gratitude to the editors and readers of this publication. I raise my glass to you!
Explain what inspires you about this publication. It reminds me to live every moment. At my age, that is very important. That’s what a photo captures, a moment in time.
What was one of your favorite monthly challenges? I have two favorites: Movement March 2023: The American Dilemma and Reflect April 2024: The Danger of Nostalgia. The first prompted a short reflection on American politics; the second reflected my tendency to look back too frequently.
What are six things you like to photograph? Whatever happens immediately outside our back porch, the changing seasons, sunrises, anything unique, my partner Rebecca, and this moment in time: 5:07 AM, September 20, 2024.
My bio: I was born in 1949 to Dody and Paul Gardner. My mom stayed home to raise her three sons, and my dad worked as an engineer in the American space program. I was a mediocre student, even failing Civics in high school. Strange because I would end up with a Ph.D. in Politics and taught politics to college students for forty years. That experience, being a person who failed a class in a subject he would develop expertise in, always influenced how I imagined my students, as young people full of potential.
In 7th grade, a friend and I started a class newspaper. The urge to write stories started early but only became a passion once I retired in 2018. I write every morning from 4 am to 6 am. It’s now 5:23.
Later in life, I got lucky and met Rebecca.
We are having the time of our lives.
What was the first story you published with SWPSC? Living with others, April 27, 2022. It’s still one of my favorites.
My other five treasured stories are Say Hello to My Little Friend, This Is My Best Profile, It’s Not Easy Being a Church, Healing in Northern Ireland, and Where Would We Be Without Holes.
If you only have time for one and want a hopeful story, check out Northern Ireland.
Thanks to Mary Chang Story Writer, for this prompt and template.
Here another bio by Sandi Parsons.
