It is hard to remember when I first heard of the event featuring islanders’ written reflections about how being on Vashon has affected their lives. What is important to you about your life here on Vashon? How has Vashon impacted the meaning of your life? What is your personal connection with Vashon?

I know that the invitation to write on this topic kept me spellbound and dreamy, wondering how I would respond. We had months to write, but as the deadline approached, I was one of many who waited until the last minute to submit an essay. In fact, the authors of this project, Mary G. L. Shackelford and Shirley Ferris, were deluged with over 150 individual pieces: poems, songs, essays, some long, some very short. It was a cornucopia of words, memories and reflections, bound to be assimilated into a script for a reading performance mid-January of 2016 at the Blue Heron.

Mary and Shirley poured over the submissions, cutting and pasting for weeks, ultimately creating a tender, loving, humorous and intimate script. Words were combined, stories merged, notions crossed from writer to writer, themes emerged for the telling. Tender stories of how people came to Vashon followed a collection of pieces of the felt experience of getting to the dock, on the ferry and landing on the island. Signs announcing: “How to be mistaken for a local” dotted the script. Shared intimacies of love and loss, conversations overheard at the post office and images of kids playing on the beach and tree houses added depth and humor for the audience.

We heard about Vashon Time, the acceptance of differences, blackberries taking over, goats to the rescue, the island’s casual clothing standards (must have rubber boots for winter) and mold on cars (be sure to transplant the saplings that grow on your car). Activism against Glacier, rumble strips and a possible bridge to the island have united us. Boxes of ice skates to borrow await us at Fisher Pond on unlikely cold, frozen days, while jack-o-lanterns bedeck the Roasterie each year at Halloween. Stories of deer devastating gardens alongside armies of slugs in waiting reminded us of those animals with whom we share our land, water and crops. Whale sightings send crowds to our beaches, while frogs sing their loud songs during winter and spring evenings.

I could go on, as there was so much said, read and felt. A crew of 14 islanders took to the stage to read in a flowing, interactive script, beautifully edited. It was a love-fest, a feel-good evening when I was proud to be a part of this community, eager to identify myself as an islander. I felt connected to place, and to people, through years of others’ stories and memories.

I left the Heron sated, smiling and full of images. As well, I noted my own hunger for more of the same. As one of the many writers, I felt a deep connection with the other scribes, whose enthusiasm for this project left nothing to the imagination. We loved it. We loved hearing our own voices through the performers in the carefully stitched manuscript.

A follow-up gathering will be held Sunday, Feb. 28, for those interested in discussing the value of Heart of Vashon, and the possibility of similar events in the future.

Might we do it again? Do we want to form writing groups exploring different aspects of life on the island? Is there a new theme we could write about for another performance? Is there a next step with this manuscript? How can we harness this love for our community in different ways?

I hope to see you at the Blue Heron from 3 to 5 p.m. Sunday.

— Beth White is an islander and social worker.