Write It Down

I received an e-mail from my Grandpa W a couple of days ago. I always like getting e-mails from my grandparents. They're funny, witty, well-written and always full of simple wisdom. This e-mail was no different. Though it was addressed to my family, I secretly think it began with "Dear Katie."

In the e-mail, my Grandpa described how he learned from a neighbor that both of their fathers had been drafted into the Army during WWI. Both men were stationed together at the Precidio in San Francisco before returning home to their new brides. This was all news to my Grandpa. He says his father neither kept a journal nor detailed his life to his young children. I sensed a feeling of affection and pride in his father. But I also sensed feelings of nostalgia, perhaps a longing for how to get to know this man a little better. Now, thanks to the journal of his neighbor's father, as well as talking with my great uncle Roger, my Grandpa knows a bit more about his dad.

In closing his e-mail, my Grandpa simply counseled:

So family, if you want your posterity to know who you are, what you did, and what you think--write it down.

It will be a blessing to those who call you family.

By no means am I an exemplary journal writer. I use excuses like I don't have much to say, my life lacks excitement worthy of documentation or I don't have the time. But the bottom line is these excuses aren't any good and perhaps some day my posterity will want to know what possessed me to sign up for UNT, or how in the world I went from business to journalism, or maybe even the story behind how Dave and I got together. Maybe they'll care. Maybe they won't. But they won't have the luxury of knowing if I don't write it down.

So...resolution here. I won a little notebook and small box full of writing prompts from a cute little blog I read. My intentions have been nothing but good, but I just haven't made the time to sit down, pick out an idea and write about it. I need a goal and/or purpose. So, thanks to Grandpa W, I'll be selecting a prompt each day to write about. The requirements are simple:

1) Write at least five days a week

2) One page minimum

3) Write honestly and sincerely

I've been writing for a couple of days now. I'm rusty. Really rusty. But it feels good to look inward. And it's exciting to think that maybe, just maybe, one of my kids or grandkids or even great-grandkids might actually care to read this stuff.

Thanks Grandpa.