Personal History

Toddler

Kid

Missionary

Vagabond

Groom

Graduate

Dad

Developer

Historian

Opa

Traveler

Hero.

♫ Happy Birthday to Dee . . .
He made it to 63! ♫

In a dozen words, this is Dee's history. His-story. Winston Churchill said, "History will be kind to me, for I intend to write it." Are you writing yours?

"It started for me, as it does for most girls, with one of those red leatherette five-year diaries, bolted shut by a diminutive brass lock whose ineffectual key I hid elaborately in my bedroom. A journal not only required secrecy—it was secrecy. Solitude implied scribbling. My soul poured forth. My brother, idly curious, didn't even bother to search for the little key, he coolly sprang the lock with a bent paper clip, and laughed himself silly. My first reader." —Patricia Hampl

I have a friend whose mom died when she was just a little girl. Her dad remarried, and all evidence of the mom was tucked away. My friend grew up not knowing anything about her mom, sensing she shouldn't ask questions that might hurt her loving stepmother's feelings. When each of her own children were born, she wrote a letter that very day, telling of her love for the baby. She said, "I'm not going to die on my kids and have them wonder if I loved them for the rest of their lives."

Another friend's mom was self-conscious about having her picture taken. She died at an early age, and my friend didn't have any photos of herself with her mom.

My mother-in-law was very ill from the time I met her. I didn't really get to know her at all before she died. I would love to have a journal or scrapbook with stories about Dee's childhood.

Gordon B. Hinckley said, "You will have significant experiences. I hope that you will write them down and keep a record of them, that you will read them from time to time and refresh your memory of those meaningful and significant things. Some of them may be funny. Some may be significant only to you. Some of them may be sacred and quietly beautiful. Some may build one upon another until they represent a lifetime of special experience."

This last week we had a brush with death. It reminded me that, whether I like the idea or not, I'm going to die some day. What if I just turn into a couple of dates and a name? What if people remember me wrong, or don't remember me at all? If I want history to be kind to me, I better write it!



Homework: Do any or all or be inspired.

~Write an outline of your life using only a dozen words. Go back and turn each word into a paragraph.

~There are many techniques to record your life: scrapbooks, journals, collage, storytelling, etc. Make a list of 5-10 ways you have documented a part of your history.

~Oscar Wilde said, "There is only one thing in the world worse than being talked about and that is not being talked about." Write an imaginary conversation between two of your friends as they talk about you. Prompt: "I don't want to sound gossipy, but did you hear about______?" (Make sure they tell the truth.)

Write away!

P.S. Thanks so much for all the sweet emails, kind comments, and prayerful thoughts this past week. Dee came home from the hospital Friday and is doing very well. He's on oxygen for the next couple of weeks, and his new stents seem to be giving him new energy. Saturday he conducted an interview and even went to his office for a little while! Tonight he went to his birthday party, and if it weren't for his oxygen tank, he'd have blown out 63 candles!