Many Memories Worth Sharing

I don’t know if my daughter thought I was going to die soon, but I do know she gave my husband and I the gift of Storyworth, a keepsake book to record our lives so that we could pass down our memories and heritage to our family. Below is the experience we had writing our story.

How the Storyworth Process Works

We were sent a new prompt every Monday with questions about how we grew up, what our relationship with our grandparents were like, what songs we listened to in our youth, what our favorite stories with our siblings were and many more. They arrived each week for a year.

So, for 365 days, John and I responded to our prompts, never once sharing our questions or discussing what we were writing.

Two Different Writing Styles

I never talk about myself too much. I’d rather shine the spotlight on someone else. So writing a “Nancy” book plucked me out of my comfort zone. I’ve never been a terrific storyteller either, so my goal was to just answer my prompt in one day. As a result, my writing turned out short, to-the-point, and never played favorites with family members. But I included pictures, hoping the Kodak moments would be the highlight.

My husband, on the other hand, didn’t answer every question, but he took his time when he did respond to them. He thought about funny examples and adjusted the question to fit his humorous story.

Everyone’s a Critic, Even Our Grandkids

Our grandchildren read our books. They complimented our writing, thanking us for giving them stories about our lives growing up. They admitted that they weren’t as enthralled with our tales as they were when they read Harry Potter, but I’m not sure that’s true.

They talked at length about my husband’s stories. Everyone laughed and politely teased him about his experiences. His stories were wonderful, memorable and touching to all of us. We all felt closer to him.

Reflections from a Newfound Writer

I appreciated the opportunity to share stories that my grandkids may have never heard otherwise. I’m not getting any younger and often forget what I did yesterday or the major themes in a book I just finished.

Part of me wishes I had a do-over with my book. I’m not disappointed in what I wrote, exactly, but perhaps I didn’t give it the time I should have devoted to the project. I learned that I need to continue to look for ways to share my life and experiences with my grandkids.