Catch a memory on a summer breeze

An end to summer….but why? There is a breeze about summer, in your surroundings and in your thoughts. Things should be easier in the summer. The breeze will take your thoughts and run with them. You go coatless, often shoeless, but never go thoughtless. It’s your thoughts on a cool summer evening that can be developed into creativity, whether it’s a book, a story or a piece of art. That is the thought process to unfold. Are you thinking about summers past? Summers to come? Or just trying to capture that feeling of summers from long ago? Regardless of the time frame for your thoughts, it’s time to capture it. When you were younger, you didn’t think about summer. It just happened. You ran in the fields, wandered in the woods or waded in a stream. You caught grasshoppers, toads or baseballs. You swung a racket or a fishing pole. You slammed the screen door behind you on your way to catch up with your friends, peanut butter sandwich in hand. In today’s electronic culture, it is hard to imagine the simplicity that we once applied to summer. Today’s kids have social media contacts, ringtones and instant messaging and texting. Do they really connect with each other or the good weather and surroundings around them? Try to capture your summers for a future generation. Remember just sitting on the lawn waiting for your turn at the latest lawn game? Did you sit at your parents’ vegetable stand waiting for the next customer or were you serving lemonade? Were you sitting atop the hay truck as your father or grandfather wound the tractor through the field? Did you hang out in an empty barn with the cows or horses all out in the field? Your summer, my summer was different than it is today. We weren’t worried about the “boogey man” who might snatch you away. We weren’t expecting our schoolmates to turn up missing or injured at the hands of a stranger. We ran to the ball fields, the swimming pool or the nearest beach or swimfront, without a thought beyond what time do we need to be home. We worried only that we might end up with yet another peanut butter sandwich if we missed “supper” and not dinner as it is more commonly called now. We know no one wants to be told about “the good ole days” or “back in my day,” but maybe a short story or anecdote will catch someone’s ear. Maybe remembering and relating can spark a new activity or adventure for this generation. Maybe they really do want a picnic for supper. Maybe they would like to snip beans being prepared for freezing or canning. Maybe they want to know how you could live without a PlayStation or Netflix or even Facebook. Maybe they don’t want to know right now, but perhaps as they grow older and begin to read what you have written of your memories. But they can only do that if you write them down. And you can only write them down if you stop and remember. Catch a breeze before summer is gone. Catch a memory in your thoughts and write it down for another generation.

Thank you for a GREAT summer!

I heard myself complaining about my BUSY summer lately. My apologies. It has been a GREAT Summer for connecting, re-connecting and socializing with family, friends and acquaintances. And for those of us in the Northeast, the weather has been agreeable, albeit slightly hot and humid, but more than tolerable compared to the devastating drought they are experiencing in the mid-west and west. If you are someone who I have been in touch with through some summer event...Thank you for your contribution to my summer experience! And don't be surprised if you find yourself incorporated into some future blogpost as I weigh my thoughts and options in the future. My point in this post is simply to make the connection between experience and memory. I had the opportunity this summer to reconnect with family members and friends, some of which I had not see in years. In fact, forty-five years in the case of my classmates at a recent class reunion. If you haven't been to a class reunion, I urge you to go. You will be surprised at how people have changed, not just physically, but socially. If you had classmates that were not exactly your peers during the high school or college years, you will find them all equally excited to see you regardless of whatever socio-economic or cultural differences you may have had in school. It really was great fun to compare notes on where we've been, the connections we now share that may have developed in the interim as well as new pursuits we may now share. Just getting together conjures up memories of what you once shared, if not equally at the time, then collectively for having been there in the same time. One classmate related his experiences at the local candy store and drugstore fountain, neither of which are there any more. Although we may not have been there under similar circumstances or times, we shared the experience of the people who populated those businesses and we all remember the unique circumstances of going there. The little old lady, who sat by the candy window, and watched as you filled a small bag with penny candy and then watched equally intent as you counted out your pennies into her hand. At the drugstore, we all got our cokes or ice cream from the same group of ladies that always seem to know more about us and our families than we could ever understand. When Hillary says it takes a village to raise a child, she could easily been talking about our town in the 1960s. You couldn't take the "wrong" kind of book out of the library, for fear the librarian might call your parents. You couldn't misbehave at the drugstore or the candy store for the same reasons. While we may have thought we were simply anonymous as we paraded from business to business "downtown", there was always someone who knew us and what we should or shouldn't be doing. After more than 40 years, that's part of history, local history and your personal history. I urge you to "write it down" now while you're thinking about it. Maybe you can share it at your class reunion, or on your Facebook page with your new and old friends, or simply with your children or grandchildren who may be convinced you had a boring childhood. I know without asking you had an interesting childhood, whether you related one experience or many. We all did and they are all worth writing down for local history and personal history, and there are many formats to do so...here as a blogpost, on Facebook, on your town's history pages, in an historical society newsletter or maybe a special connection with your local newspaper. You can also write yourself, your children or grandchildren a letter to share now or in the future, to convey part of who you are, and the chidhood that made you who you are today, and perhaps some of the values you hope you transferred to your offspring. Soon, I'll get back to writing more of my experiences, back to a couple of memoir book projects of my and others experiences. I RETIRE in September...finally it's my time to remember and Write... I hope you'll have time to do the same.

Too many memories not to write them down

If I had one true goal in life, it would be that the stories, the traditions not be forgotten. Oh that could sound a little noble…I’m going to be the great storyteller, but maybe I already am in some circles. I find I have a fairly decent memory for details and people. In fact, I worry that I remember too much sometimes, more than the average person and that maybe someone thinks I’m a little weird when I say “yes, of course we’ve met” when the person looking at me hasn’t the faintest idea of who I am. I’m not one of those “unforgettable” people. The ones who remember every detail in their lives…thank goodness. But I wonder how close I am when I remember things that others don’t. Then I worry that I’ll forget what is truly important…in fact I already regret some of the memories that I haven’t recorded. That’s what my goal is all about. Remembering and recording…yes, it’s my mantra “write it down.” If it was worth retelling a second, third, fourth and more times, maybe it’s worth writing down. You say you’re not a writer? Or you don’t even like to write? So who says you have to be the writer? The important thing about memories, personal history and experiences is that it be recorded somewhere for someone to remember somehow. Maybe that’s by audio recording or video recording, maybe it is a scrapbook of photos or a published photobook. There are many ways to record your memories or all the stories your grandmother told you. I keep meaning to do the research about the years in the 1930s when Penobscot Bay froze over. Of course, I wasn’t around to remember it, but someone did and they told me about it when I was a child. But with those people gone now, it’s up to me to “remember” and write down the experiences they told me about, but I need a basis for doing that….some research, and of course, the time to do the research. I also remember the tales of a great aunt and uncle’s wedding before anyone owned cars, and she wore long skirts and high button shoes. Now she’s gone and I’m forgetting the details. I don’t want to be one of those people who live in the past, but I want people to know and remember what the past has given them. By writing about my goal, and my wish list for writing down the memories, I’m achieving, at least in part, my goal to urge everyone to “write it down.” And, if you need help in how to get those memories out of your head or someone else’s and onto some form of recording, I'm willing to help. Who knows? Helping you may ultimately help me get those pesky memories recorded, too.

'Tis the season.

It's Memory Season. I'm sorry. Were you expecting me to say "holiday season"? Well, of course, you're right. But when you think of Thanksgiving, Christmas, New Year's, maybe Kwanzaa or Hanukkah, doesn't it bring back memories? Holidays are family time and family time creates memories or stirs memories of the past. You remember that holiday as a kid. Thanksgiving with Gramma. Christmas morning with your siblings. New Year's Eve with a special loved one. Are they all still with you? Are they still reminding you what you did when...? You're lucky if that's the case. You are still re-living those memories every year. Sitting around the Thanksgiving table recalling how Gramma always makes her special pie or stuffing. How you overcooked or undercooked your first turkey. Your baby's first taste of pumpkin pie. You remember all those special occasions and more importantly why they were special. Who was there. What they said. How many conversations will start this year with "Remember when...?" or "I'll never forget..." But what happens to the stories when the story teller is not there? Will someone be missing this year, or next? What happens to those stories then? Who will "remember when"...then? If you know all the old stories, you are now the storyteller. What happens if you can't be there? What happens if you're the one that's gone next year? How do you make that special pie or stuffing? Did you get Gramma to tell the story of earlier Thanksgivings last year? Can she do it this year or is it your turn? Memories are only as good as the storyteller with the information. In native cultures, it's tradition to repeat the stories as history for new generations to know and re-tell. You've been meaning to write it all down or to tell someone else in the family who is willing, and able, to remember. Why? This is the year to do it...write it down, record it, scrapbook, whatever form you choose to preserve the memories. Oh, you can make plans to "git 'er done" after the rush of the holidays pass. But will you? Elaborate plans take time to plan, start, carry-out and see the project through. The hardest part is starting. Do you need a camera, video or audio recorder? Get it out NOW! Of course, you've got pies to bake, rolls to knead, vacuuming and dusting. Is a camera or digital recorder really going to be in your way or unsightly amidst your decorations, if you get around to using it? It's a move you will never regret. It might take time to get around to editing, whether it's video or audio, or if you plan to type out the recordings. But you won't regret taking that first step, and you're more likely to get around to working on that plan to finally write it down...to create a scrapbook, a digital photo book, a family history...the permanent memory that will be there when no one really remembers. No one will have to ask the question "do you remember when" when finally the actual memory may be gone. And you can be sure someone will "remember" even if you can't or you or the storyteller is gone. This is the year to make more of those memories than just more stories around the table. You can "write it down" regardless of what form you choose...just start.

Tell me a story. How often have you heard those words? If you're a parent or grandparent, probably more often than you think. Obviously some people relish story time, but have you considered you actually do it daily? We are a species of storytellers. No, not necessarily crafting a new fictional tale of mystery or humor daily, but you, and I, all of us, tell stories daily. What did you do for the weekend? How was your last visit to your hometown? to the beach? the mountains? this year's hunting or fishing trip. Those are the daily stories, simply answering...what did you do? We tell stories daily of shopping trips, fishing escapades, near-miss accidents or injuries, school events or sports. These are "the stories of our lives" to use a somewhat cliche term. We tell stories every where we go to everyone we see...yet how often do you think to "write it down." That's been a mantra of mine for several years, and yes, I have trouble practicing what I preach. But please, if it's worth telling once or twice, maybe it's worth writing down. I had lunch with a friend this week during which she related how she happened to grow up in southern Maine versus where she was born "in the county," Aroostook County, Maine's largest and remote county...a place that conjures up visions of farms and fields and desolation and distance. Was she making excuses or trying to explain why her family gave up the mystique of the northern Maine life to live in the urban settings of southern Maine. It was of little consequence why, but more important a story and a lifestyle that she remembers and her children and grandchildren will never experience. She went on a bit about how her grandparents lived and how her parents were forced to leave the same setting for "greener" pastures in the south, more jobs and opportunities to support a family. It's fascinating to hear how other people lived or live. She obviously relished the lost lifestyle of her memory, but she also holds memories that no one else will know unless. she write's it down. Yep, I did it. I asked her. "Have you written it down?" At that point, the people who know me better roll their eyes. She's doing it again. Yep, that's me. Please write it down. If you remember grandparents, their lifestyle, their stories or their experiences...write it down. Do your children know that lifestyle? Did they experience those people? Chances are they didn't. And, they and their children or grandchildren, or even great-grandchildren won't know or understand that life. They don't really need to understand it, if they just know about it. They need to know where they came from and how or why your family has certain beliefs, traditions, or choices of lifestyle. We are a people of stories and stories keep our traditions and our connections to our past. They define who we are and why we follow certain paths in our life or choose our careers or where we live out our lives. Why are you here, in this place, and at this time? Why do you have that job and not what your grandparents did or did you follow their choices for yourself or to continue their legacy? People want to know. Your people want to know, whether it's tomorrow, next week, next year, or 20, 30 or 100 years from now. Your people want to know you and your past; what did you do in your life and why? It may not interest your children or grandchildren now, or have they asked? But it could easily interest your great-grandchildren or their children. And who will tell them, if not you. Write it down...before it's gone, and you're gone.

Blogging..who reads these things?

Blogging is a requirement for a writer...or so I'm lead to believe. BUT who reads them?
I have difficulty finding time to write these things, even tho' I think of dozens of things to say daily. You obviously have some time to kill and here I am...ranting or is it raving?
It's a rainy, warm summer day and I'm thinking of things I need to do, want to do, should do and could do. Writing another blog post is not necessarily at the top of the list, but it's what I'm doing.
Now there was a wasted three 'graphs!
The point of my writing is simple...write! Whether it's me or you, everyone should write something. It doesn't matter if it's coherent, logical or meaningful. If you have something to say, to relate, to record for yourself, your family, your neighbors or the world in general...write it down! I think I've been using that phrase for almost 10 years!
Please if you remember something you want someone else to know whether now or 10 years from now...write it down.
I wrote a column for the Hartland Historical Society newsletter for many years...and like a broken record, I simply asked people to "write it down." Write down your memories, your experiences, yes, your thoughts and opinions. It will mean something to someone sometime...even if it's only you.
You remember black and white tv, the Lone Ranger and Tonto or Roy Rogers. You remember walking to school in all kinds of weather or sitting in rows and raising your hand to speak. You remember when they didn't serve pizza as part of a basic food group. Chances are your children or grandchildren never experienced that and likely never will. Tell them what you experienced. It's an old story, but it's one they won't hear the same way they would hear if from you. They would rather know what you felt, what you saw, what you remember. It will be more "real" for them because you remembered, not just a television or Internet documentary.
You've seen some of those documentaries of "remember when." Do they remember it the same way you do? Of course not, you remember the "right way" or your way. No one will have that same memory, and no one will have that same experience unless you "write it down!"

Perception of memories

Every time I think I'm going to start blogging regularly, I get sidetracked. I have things to say, projects I want to complete. BUT...there it is that word that interrupts the best of plans.
My life is simply interruptible. I could be working on the great American novel, but I have to get dinner, feed the pets, run to the store, or worse...vacuum.
Well, I'm not likely to complete the great American novel anytime soon, because frankly, that's not my interest. But the stories all around me are. I want to tell my stories, my family's stories and your story. Everyone has a story. Experiences that are unique to you or your family. No one can have the exact same experiences as you...yes, even if you're a twin.
No one reacts the same, remembers the same, thinks the same. That's what makes family stories and personal history so fascinating. You may remember where you were for your first kiss, but maybe the person you kissed remembers it differently. You remember your grandmother also did something a certain way, whether it was cleaning, laundry or setting the table. Your siblings will remember it a different way, for just the way that they experienced it.
What was your mother's favorite color? her favorite dessert? her favorite book? You know because she told you. But maybe she told your siblings something different based on the circumstances that prompted the discussion.
You may love cheesecake and say so. But if you're eating fresh apple pie at a family picnic and say "I just love this dessert." Someone around you may think that's your favorite dessert.
It's perception and circumstance that create memories. You may want to remember that as you start your personal history recordings. Did you remember it right? or was it the way your sister remembered...maybe it's a combination of the memories. Ask questions of the family members you want to remember, ask for their perception of their experiences, and don't necessariy rely only on your recollections. Stories can be told and retold, and there is the problem...telling is a perceived form of the story depending on who is telling it. Get the facts, and....write them down...they'll be the same next time you look.