Thursday, January 17, 2013

Remembering the Good Old Days



Lately,I've been reading my grandmother's journals from the late 1980's.  I am so thankful for these gems!  She wrote every day for years.  When I read them, I can hear her voice.  I am transported back to her wonderful, humble home.  I can almost smell the smells when she writes of the cake she baked or bread that Grandpa made!  

She's now 90 with dementia, wheelchair bound, too, living in a nursing home.  I know that I am blessed to have her here, still living.  However, her mind is, well, pleasantly confused at best.  She doesn't carry on a conversation.  For awhile, I was feeling as if I had lost her already.    

These journals are quite simple.  She tells of the people she talked to.  She writes of what she ate and did.  She will sometimes comment on current events.  She mentions the weather.  These are all very simple things. Yet, they are so interesting!  It's hard to read only a few days at a time.  

For the last two years, I have been keeping similar journals on paper in addition to my blogging.  Even today, my kids will ask to hear what we did just two years ago.  It amazes me how in such a short time we forget all the little details.  And I am so glad that I took the time to write them down.  Actually, it doesn't take much time at at.  Usually, I have to limit myself because of space.

Perhaps one day my family will take these journals and read them to their kids.    

4 comments:

  1. I've been telling myself I need to do this -- journal -- for decades. I thought I had a good start when I started blogging, but that has fallen by the wayside. Even those few years of blog entries are a treasure, though. Hmm. Maybe a new purpose for my blog: a journal of my days. Boring to everyone but my family and me, but that's okay. :)

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  2. That is so sweet. I am journaling more too, and it is sweet. I love how she wrote about the simple things she did, so sweet. I'm glad you have that from her.

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  3. What a precious gift to have those journals. I have attempted to journal many times, unsuccessfully. This may be the kickstart.

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  4. I have been journaling since I was a 10 year old kid with a diary, and yep still have them... Initially I though it be wise to just destroy them out of fear, but now i see when I get older and should either of my kids want them they can see the struggles, joys, fears and peace that came in my life and how each day by the Grace of God I survived and its ok to experience lifes sorrows and joys.

    You have a piece of living history there and so wonderful to get a glimpse into the heart and mind of your grandma and what made her ... her.. cherrish them and every moment you have with her now, as tough as it can be with the dementia, as one generation comes, another passes.. HUGS for the memories you have !

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