Writing Stuff

In discussing this blog with family and friends, I have again, been asked why do I write stuff, why do I bother. And I have a standard answer, because it's important.
I generally refer people to my autobiography, and the chapter called "Writing", however since it doesn't seem to be in print anymore then I shall reproduce it here. So read, hopefully enjoy, but most of all,WRITE.
Don't worry it's fairly short!

"Writing"

   " How do you go about writing your story?
I’ve included this chapter because I’ve been unsuccessful in motivating my father, my grandmother and other family members to write their stories. It’s extremely important for you to write your story, for the same reason that it was important for me to write this story. To preserve, not just the history of your life, but to tell everyone who you were, what you thought, after your gone.
    There are several ways to do it. How you do it, isn’t as important as Doing it. You can write it as a timeline story, (I was born, I did stuff, and now I’m here). Or you can write it as individual events as you remember them. Write poetry. Write short stories. Hell, write a novel.  It can be fiction, or poetry, it really doesn’t matter.
    The method doesn’t matter either. Just get your remembrances on paper. It may not be your job to integrate them into a coherent timeline, or story. Just put it on paper and put them in one place (in a box under your bed for example.) You can leave it for someone else to bring them together. Your descendants can bring them together, edit them, correct the spelling, maybe even publish them.
    My sister’s poetry would be lost today if not for the fact that she kept them, she put them in a shoe box and kept them under her bed. And the most important thing, she told us that they were there. It wasn’t till after her death that they were typed and edited together. I took me 26 years to publish them. The point is, they were published. They are preserved for my descendants. True, it took a great deal of persistence to preserve them. But they were there for us to preserve. As yours will be there for someone else to preserve, if you take the time to write them down. Otherwise your story will be lost.     In my sister’s notes was a cryptic message. “If anyone should find my poems please rewrite them for me, and change the spelling. I can’t stand my handwriting.”
    My father passed away before he could write his story.  And my father was an author. Having published several works of fiction (co-written with one of his many ex wives) medical papers, and dissertations. I pleaded with him to write his story several times, and each time I was told that there was time. He believed that he would retire soon and have time to write. He was wrong! He believed that he was bullet proof. That he’d see death coming as old age or an illness. I’ve come to understand that it’s a delusion that most people suffer from. Old age isn’t objective. It’s subjective. But people don’t see it that way, when its happening to them. I’m reminded of the old saying, “death is a thief that steals in the night.” And if you believe that then your daft. It’s never happened that way for me. If you need an analogy then, I’ve found that it’s a 10.5 earthquake that hits you on a sunny Tuesday afternoon when your sitting on a toilet in the basement of a 150 year old brick high-rise building. You never see it coming, and there’s nothing you can do about it. So make sure your wearing clean underwear, and that everyone knows that you’ve written your stories and where they are.
    My father was a traditional author in every respect. Traditionally trained (Texas Christian University Masters degree in Literature) and traditional in his methods. Mapping out the story, developing the characters and the story line. He used a method known as storyboarding. The method me and my sister use are very different from the traditional methodology of my father. Writing Poetry, Philosophy, and Shorts are a little more etheric.
    I understand that writing your life story from beginning to end is difficult for anyone. It’s a work in progress, and it’s very difficult to establish a proper timeline. Where to start and how to end it. My advise is “Don’t Try!” Write the stories that you remember, when you remember them. Any story that’s important to you. Title it, or date it, and put it in the box.     And let your descendants figure it out. It’s a mosaic. The stories will come together, when they’re read in their entirety. You can let someone else write the ending, and put it together. “How do I know what’s important?” You Don’t! Write it all down. Your readers will make their own conclusions. Your job is to preserve your story, your feelings, your thoughts. Who you were. The stories that make up your life, even if it’s about someone you knew, or even events that occurred around you, no matter how mundane. Think about the diaries that have been preserved form the Revolution or the Civil War. It may be all anyone will remember of you, after your gone. And If you write your stories, and you put them somewhere safe, and you tell someone where they are, then that‘s all you can do.
    After my father’s death, his property was looted, and after a protracted court battle, none of it was ever recovered. After my sisters death, her stuff was sold at a garage sale without our knowledge.     My sister’s clarinet (I’m told) sold for $20. My oldest daughter (Hanna) plays the clarinet. It would have been nice to have had that instrument. Not just because it was worth a couple grand ( I’ve bought 2 of the same quality now) but because it was a family heirloom, my sister inherited it from my grandmother (my mother‘s mother).
   Gold diggers and looters, a bunch of buzzards and jackals, waiting for someone to die so they can profit off their death,  I’ve been through the whole death and loosing everything a couple times now and “I know beyond a shadow of a doubt” to use one of my fathers expressions, that it will happen again in the future. It’s the worst of human nature."