Money is often a taboo subject, even more than sex. Think back … how did you learn about money? How did you and your partner deal with money issues? Have you told your kids how much you have? What do you know now that you wish you had known when you were young? What advice would you give your grandchildren? Share your money stories forward.

Prototypically, you played guitar in a garage rock band. But maybe you played chamber music or sang in the choir. Maybe you performed in plays or danced in a troupe. Or you played team sports or led cheers. Maybe your band was scouts or a religious youth group, or simply a band of brothers (or sisters). Think back … what bands were important to you and why? Share your band memories forward.

As Ogden Nash wrote, “Children aren’t happy with nothing to ignore / And that’s what parents were created for.” Think back … Why did you choose to be a parent—or did parenthood choose you? Which stories best encapsulate the joys and sorrows, pride and frustration, privileges and responsibilities of being a parent? Or, if you’re not a parent, well, that’s a story too. Share your parenthood stories forward.

“In wildness,” Thoreau wrote, “is the preservation of the world.” Think back … to time you’ve spent in the wilderness or in nature. How did you experience it? How did it affect you? Do you have a favorite place in the wild? Have you encountered wild animals? Or, write about a time when you went a little wild, or felt like you were “lost in the wilderness.” Share your wildness stories forward.

Blind date? Online? Across a crowded room? Romantic comedies require a “meet cute,” but it doesn’t always work that way in real life. Think back … how did you meet your spouse, partner, significant other, or best friend? Was it love at first sight, or did it take time to develop? Was it your destiny to meet? Have you tried to set up another couple? Share your first meeting stories forward.

“Work?!” scoffed Maynard G. Krebs whenever he heard the word. But most of us have spent much of our lives working. On this Labor Day, think back … what kinds of work have you done? What was your worst, best, or strangest job? How did you choose a career? Did you ever start your own business? Do you intend to keep working as you get older? Share your work stories forward.

Some are natural, like hurricanes, volcanoes, floods, earthquakes, or wildfires. Some are human, like illness, divorce, accidents, bankruptcy, or 9/11. Others might just seem like disasters, like a breakup or a bad haircut. On this anniversary of Hurricane Harvey, think back … to a disaster that shaped your life. How did it change you? Did it have a silver lining? Share your disaster stories forward.

Pantyhose. Curlers. Coonskin caps. Disco. Polyester. Nixon. Segregation. Think back … what object, person, or trend from our past are you thrilled to have behind us? What role did they play in your life, and what accounted for their eventual demise? Give us your quick take—a story you can write in 15 minutes or less—and bid good riddance to our past mistakes.

Life is rarely linear. Think back … to when time seemed to stop. It stands motionless for a moment, a day, a week—who can tell?—then teeters, while a life, a family, a venture, a nation hangs in the balance. Then it falls—to one side or another—and the world changes. As we usher in the New Year and MyRetrospect.com winds down, share your turning point stories forward.