Twelve Story Biography

    My grandmother lived for most of the 20^th century! Just think of all that she had seen from 1903 to 1999! I have many notes about her life, including stories she had told of her idyllic childhood in England, the struggles of the Great Depression, her illegal immigrant status during World War II, the love and pride she had in her children and grandchildren.

    So you would think that when she passed away I could have written a decent biography lest this great woman be forgotten. But try as I might, the writing does not go well. The notes and stories are with me, the biography, alas, is not. I will give credit to my brother, Clark, however, who has done a stellar job of writing our grandmother's life story.

    My mom passed away in December of 2012. Earlier that year I had begun telling personal stories to audiences. My confidence was building, and my stories were getting better in structure and delivery. So the next year, I decided to dedicate 2013 to two stories a month about Mom. At the end of the year I would have 24 Mom stories. Of those 24, some of them would be mere anecdotal, but there would be some, maybe even 12, that would reflect the kind of person Mom was – where she came from, what made her the way she was, who she was – and if those 12 stories were strung together, heck, they could make for a fairly decent biography – they would be my way of putting together the story of Mom's life.

Mom's wedding dress on Sarah 2006

     And this turned out very well. There is the Bonnie story, the Bobcaygeon Summer, the three trips to Crystal Beach, the three parts to the Courtship story - each very revealing in its own way; there are the fortune tellers and Mom's different homes; there is Garfield, and Mom's own stories about each of her children; and then there is the Pretty Blonde Haired Lady which still brings a tear to my eye whenever it comes to mind. Putting together the stories helped me understand Mom so much better than I would have without having reflected on them.

     Could I put twelve stories together, and could they make a biography? I think that could happen - not quite so daunting after all. I can do that for my mom, and my grandmother, and my dad.

    And every once in a while, give me a poke to make sure I follow through on all this, please!

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