Memories are Made of This – Why Not Write Your Memoir?

                As the first snowfall fills the air, and the temperature drops below freezing, our elders become more housebound.  Roads are covered with ice, sidewalks are hazardous, and it’s time to relish the warmth and comfort of home.   In wintertime we tend to think back, to reminisce, to revisit our lives, romances, friends and family, and the life we led as we grew up.   It is also a great time to begin to write memoirs.  You might think that your life is too ordinary, and no one would be interested in your “story.”  That is simply not the truth.  Your children, your grandchildren and their children, as your family tree branches again and again, will thank you for the simple act of documenting your life for future generations. 

                You don’t have to be a writer in order to do this.  Simple descriptions in simple language will be fine.  Your voice and personality will live on each page.  Tell us about your family, friends and those special people in your life.  Tell us where you went to school, talk about your teachers, and describe the environment in which you grew up.  Tell us where you and your friends went for fun, the picnics, the ice skating, mountain climbing, and the vacations.  Describe the celebrations, where they were and how you got there.  What was name of your first car?  Did you go to college?  Describe your life there.   Where was your first job? How much did you earn?   Where did you meet your mate? Did you struggle through these early years?  How did you solve the problems of everyday living?  All of these will be of great interest to your family and others who love to read biographies.   

                If you are no longer able to write, don’t give up just yet.  Have someone tape record your story.    In this day of teenage electronic wizards, it would be easy to get your grandchildren to videotape your story for posterity.  You don’t have to do it all at one time. Take a chapter out of your life, where it began, and work your way to the present.   Most children and grandchildren will be eager to relive the early years, learn of their heritage, and what has brought them to where they are today. 

                Don’t let your children be the ones to lament the fact that after you have passed on to greener pastures in the sky, that they no longer have a record of who their parents were, where they came from and what shaped their own lives, and developed  their characters.  Your memories will last forever if you allow them to be documented no matter what form you choose.    Don’t just sit around and draydream, turn your memories and reminisces into a vivid story for future generations  to treasure. 

Snowfall in Coos Bay