Reflecting on Family History
This year: Consider people who are important in your life. Elicit the stories they know about who has been important to them. Write the memories down, even imperfectly. (I wish I had started much sooner.) Listen with your heart. Each story and each human is utterly unique. But the cosmic heart that connects us beats in unison.
2 Comments:
If you are lucky enough to have family members that know the history of your family, record what you can from them, as Maria so wonderfully states in Reflecting on Family History.
Should a stranger surprise you with a memoir about your family,(it happened to us, it can happen to you,) you will know the truth.
Do not count on anyone but yourself and if you are lucky, an interested sibling will help you to fix the errors. Find a sibling or relative who cares and join forces to search for the facts for your children and future generations.
As Maria so beautifully states,
"the cosmic heart that connects us beats in unison".
Memoir, as you point out, is a very demanding type of writing because it requires a balance of objective and subjective realities. Few live in utter isolation; that is not how this planet works. When publishing a memoir in which a personal saga and historical events intertwine, it's an especially delicate process. Too much can be forgotten if stories are not passed on; however, readers must be vigilant in evaluating what they read. Thanks for your comment!
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