Today is another in my life’s epic days! After months of “gestation,” the “new baby” is born! That’s the thrill I get to experience when a new book is “born,” and the final product is in my writers’ hands. This one, the fourth anthology published by my You Are Unique writing group at Glenbrooke, is written, organized, typed, edited, proofread, sent to KDP for printing, shipped, delivered, and now is ready for each reader to enjoy the fruits of our months’-long efforts. Today we will have lunch together, and I get to hear the “oohs” and “ahs” and experience their thrills of accomplishment.
For my writers, average age 88, it’s a little like “giving birth,” and watching our efforts “graduate” after, in this case, their work since December when we first brainstormed ideas for this book called “Passages–Back and Forth.” It all began with the idea, “What happened in history the day you were born?” For many, it was World War II time, so there were things like U-Boats and the Bismarck, and family stories of deprivation and concern, but also pride and nationalism. For others, it was interest in movie stars and music. Others found inventions like the first aerosol cans, the Jeep, Velcro, coal-burning locomotives, the first televisions and computers, roll-on deodorant, and legendary personalities were in the headlines: Babe Ruth, Joe DiMaggio,, Fred Astaire, Laurel and Hardy, Shirley Temple, and others were making movies and setting records.
From there, we recounted the monthly events for the beginning of a new year. January, February, and March were the “stuff” we wrote about, both in history and in our personal memories. We learned writing by the Palmer method at bolted-down desks with inkwells and pen tips, fountain pens, and ultimately stick pens where we never had to get ink on our fingers. We’ve seen first airplanes to rocket ships, cathode tube TV’s with magnifying glass screens on large consoles to thin-screens that look like paintings on walls. We’ve seen white-wall tires on cars, to say nothing of mass-production and varieties in cars through the years. Classic cars were our family vehicles.
Then we talked about other “patterns” and “passages.” We’ve visited labyrinths, formal gardens, corn mazes, and passages of time like seasons, generational descriptors, and passages of time in our families’ histories.
We’ looked at pieces of popped corn to see what “images” they showed us and wrote stories about things like manatees, dog shows, bows on dresses, Buddha, roosters, and octopi. And we wrote family stories, shared favorite poems by authors we’ve loved, and lyrics of songs and advertisements. We’ve found scripture references to the passage of time, and we’ve written valentine messages to those we’ve loved. Inevitably, we’ve revived memories dear to us, both those of joy and of heartache. Writing memoir is like that.
And so, today, our merry band of writers will meet together to get our books, to sign each other’s copies, and to talk hold in our hands the fruits of our labors. When we began this project a year ago, most of these writers were in the “I don’t have anything to write about,” stage, never believing they could be called authors. Several of these dear ones around the tables today have now written four anthologies, and a few are “newbies,” with this book. Their joy will be the reason I’m continuing this project after a brief summer hiatus. And we remember three writers who are no longer with us and several who have moved from this facility to live with family members. While we miss them, we have their words published to live after them. What a rich legacy.
Those of you who are local, come to our Book Signing event on Monday, March 12 at 2:00 in the Clubhouse at Glenbrooke. There will be copies available for you to purchase at $7.00, and our authors will sign your copies. We’ll have wonderful refreshments, and you can posses words of wisdom from those who were born in 1923, 1926, 1929,1933, 1934, 1940, 1941, 1942, 1952, and 1962. This is another piece of our legacy. But we didn’t just stick to the past. Read about our predictions going forth–what we think the future will be. And celebrate all the seasons of our lives and meet our grandchildren and great-grandchildren who may especially enjoy stories they may never have learned unless our book is now reality.
About the Author
