tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5704943052235281766.post8947333986831719313..comments2024-03-29T05:45:39.184-06:00Comments on Blood-Red Pencil: The Importance of MemoriesDanihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14471919576687777886noreply@blogger.comBlogger16125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5704943052235281766.post-13373810846663336222014-05-19T06:30:23.844-06:002014-05-19T06:30:23.844-06:00I would never write a memoir, my life would not be...I would never write a memoir, my life would not be interesting enough. But, I love writing down memories from the past. I also have written our family history - but I would love to add to it. janet smarthttp://creativewritingintheblackberrypatch.blogspot.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5704943052235281766.post-14586350889174589102014-05-14T22:15:53.134-06:002014-05-14T22:15:53.134-06:00LOVE this post, Maryann. Memories are so vital to ...LOVE this post, Maryann. Memories are so vital to us. Those memories help to create the people we are now. Shonell Baconhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04827197354857197637noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5704943052235281766.post-61980176667054306362014-05-14T20:45:34.119-06:002014-05-14T20:45:34.119-06:00That is an important family history, Linda. Good f...That is an important family history, Linda. Good for you.Maryannwriteshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09479027709233807149noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5704943052235281766.post-47027339502488830572014-05-14T20:44:23.375-06:002014-05-14T20:44:23.375-06:00Thanks for coming over to add to the discussion, B...Thanks for coming over to add to the discussion, Becky. You are right about the cathartic benefit of writing the memories, but some of that writing should be burned after we get it all out. LOL I think that might be what Kim meant in her post about not confusing fact with truth. For example on Friday on my blog I am going to write a piece about my daughter who overcame great obstacles to finish college. I don't have to detail those obstacles for the message to come across.Maryannwriteshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09479027709233807149noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5704943052235281766.post-13065091591098459122014-05-14T20:27:39.215-06:002014-05-14T20:27:39.215-06:00Great post, Maryann! As you know I finished my mem...Great post, Maryann! As you know I finished my memoir in November 2013. When I first "announced" that I was going to write my memoir, I really didn't know what all I would include in it, how long it would/should take, etc. A few times as I wrote I began to see things differently than the way I saw them then.I also discovered feelings I didn't know I had. I love writing memoir and am working on a sequel now. AND in answer to your question about capturing these moments even for people who don't intend to write their memoir, I say YES! It's very healing to "get it out" and write it (or type it)...Thanks again!BECKYhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15184458949017900541noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5704943052235281766.post-42338563417995932912014-05-14T15:26:30.913-06:002014-05-14T15:26:30.913-06:00I did a family history book in the late 90s, befor...I did a family history book in the late 90s, before my dad died. It took many months of interviewing the oldest relatives still living at that time, digging into a Midwest library's morgue files to find obits from decades past when they were actually short histories of the deceased one, gathering photographs from as far back as the mid to late 1800s, and going through piles of documents accumulated by a great-aunt when she wanted to join the DAR. This wasn't exactly a memoir, but its 80-some pages probably are as close as I'll ever get to writing one.Linda Lanehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16056682992943171805noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5704943052235281766.post-88671632208939973482014-05-14T13:36:58.534-06:002014-05-14T13:36:58.534-06:00You are so right about getting that history before...You are so right about getting that history before it is forgotten. I made some memory books for my older grandchildren when they graduated high school, giving them some background on my family and my husband's. I need to find my copies of what I wrote and add to it for younger grandchildren.Maryannwriteshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09479027709233807149noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5704943052235281766.post-51681239283988970192014-05-14T13:35:15.576-06:002014-05-14T13:35:15.576-06:00Some of my "later year" memories of high...Some of my "later year" memories of high school are better than the first years following graduation. In many ways, high school was not some of my more pleasant childhood years for a lot of reasons. It took some years away for me to be able to focus on the good experiences. :-)<br />Maryannwriteshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09479027709233807149noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5704943052235281766.post-16372175066444555632014-05-14T13:32:46.987-06:002014-05-14T13:32:46.987-06:00In many ways I know what you mean, Patricia. Some ...In many ways I know what you mean, Patricia. Some of what we were remains, but not all. LOLMaryannwriteshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09479027709233807149noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5704943052235281766.post-43773981306608810522014-05-14T12:59:34.305-06:002014-05-14T12:59:34.305-06:00Hi Maryann! I have a hard time putting that girl i...Hi Maryann! I have a hard time putting that girl in my high school yearbook alongside my today self and finding any resemblance at all. That girl served on the Scrapbook committee? Really? I worry I wouldn't remember enough to write a mini-memoir.Patricia Stolteyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17192369425956406122noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5704943052235281766.post-63552693482402911972014-05-14T11:50:06.582-06:002014-05-14T11:50:06.582-06:00Great post, Maryann! Looking at photos can certain...Great post, Maryann! Looking at photos can certainly trigger memories! And I lament all the family history that has been lost because no one thought to record it in some way.Heidiwriterhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02593338979995203659noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5704943052235281766.post-277827683440082762014-05-14T10:51:35.228-06:002014-05-14T10:51:35.228-06:00I have always found it fascinating what we remembe...I have always found it fascinating what we remember from our high school years. I have to remind myself that I'm seeing it through a 16 year old's eyes and emotions. It can be quite a filter!Elspeth Futcherhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10330102545384369360noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5704943052235281766.post-34473211667595112692014-05-14T08:02:20.088-06:002014-05-14T08:02:20.088-06:00That family history is so important, Diana, and th...That family history is so important, Diana, and that is another factor in this interest in memoirs. As you said, one does not have to write a family narrative for publication, but having something for future generations is important.Maryannwriteshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09479027709233807149noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5704943052235281766.post-43106658506072402382014-05-14T08:00:32.410-06:002014-05-14T08:00:32.410-06:00You're welcome, Stuart. I have found it intere...You're welcome, Stuart. I have found it interesting that we do have different filters as the years pass. The human psyche is so fascinating, which is probably why most of us got into this writing game. I know that is true for me. Playing with characters is just one way to try to figure out humankind. If figuring out is even possible. (smile)Maryannwriteshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09479027709233807149noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5704943052235281766.post-13761368500244525592014-05-14T07:55:00.733-06:002014-05-14T07:55:00.733-06:00Sometimes we lose our loved ones before we are old...Sometimes we lose our loved ones before we are old enough to be curious about who they were as people. Even though a memoir is "history as remembered," and (if the goal is to publish) spruced up and photoshopped, it can be a gift to your family. How I would love to go back and ask my grandparents all those questions I have now about who they were and what they did. There are no surviving pages written by them, so I don't have even a sample of their handwriting (and it seems the future generations won't for a different reason). There are so many ways to present your personal narrative nowadays: videos, vlogs, blogs, journals. Share your stories with your future family, even if your kids or grandkids aren't old enough to ask the questions.Diana Hurwitzhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/18216220574149672733noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5704943052235281766.post-62349630641323544112014-05-14T01:05:44.238-06:002014-05-14T01:05:44.238-06:00Memory; an unreliable guide to reality. But an ess...Memory; an unreliable guide to reality. But an essential starting point for any personal memoir. What we see, in common with what we saw then, is always filtered through the person we are at that moment. We change; memories change and adjust to match the current 'me' that we all become. Like you, Maryann, I recall an idealist seeker of justice in my youth, but for reasons I won't bore you with here, I now lack any evidence of that distant time. If I write a memoir, and I might, I'll have to do so entirely from memory and include a disclaimer about the bias of the years.<br />Thanks for this piece; it got me thinking of times past.stuartaken.nethttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05695584662320617659noreply@blogger.com