I have two things for you today. First, a bit of housekeeping, followed by a fun challenge for June.
Housekeeping
I try to stay a few articles ahead, with a few in process at all times. Right now, I’ve burned through what I had in reserve. For the next month or so, I will probably be doing shorter-than-normal update articles.
I was fine through the filming, but I managed to catch some ugly crud that has been kicking my butt. No, it’s not Covid, according to four tests, but it’s long and stubbornly hanging on.
Who has time to be sick???
Later in June, I have a planned trip.
Plus, I’m still working. My backlog of emails is daunting and growing.
Then, Sunday happened.
I now have a completely unplanned trip that has not been firmed up quite yet.
It’s a funeral. I lost someone near and dear to my heart, with no warning.
I’m reeling.
I’m struggling between gratitude for having her in my life and grief for all of the things left undone.
I will write about this blow, eventually, but right now, I have to get past the crud and process some of this grief. It’s a beautiful story, truly, but I at least need to get through the funeral first. Being sick has complicated everything, as has distance.
As genealogists, we deal with birth and death every day. But when the Grim Reaper sneaks one in on us like this, it’s entirely different.
One of the hardest things to do is enter that death date in our genealogy software. It’s just so final and always speaks to what might have been – but can no longer be.
If anything, this death has brought home even more succinctly how important it is to make spending time with family members a priority. Just being together and talking.
What stories do they know that you don’t? Or maybe the same stories but from a different perspective, with missing details. Do they have photos that you might not? Or documents? Don’t presume that you have the same memories or perspective about the same event or family member. You’ll be surprised!
What is your favorite thing about that person? Your most cherished memories?
Here’s my absolute favorite memory with Cheryl. I’ll tell you this story soon.
You don’t have to wait until you get that call to write those stories – or tell them.
Journaling June
My friend, Appalachian storyteller Stephen “Doc” Hollen has been writing and publishing a numbered chapter of a “book,” here, every day for more than three years – at about 3:15 every morning. Actually, by now, it’s several books, but I digress.
Ole Doc Hollen is an amazing author, and by now, his loyal readers know all of these characters who live on Limestone Ridge. We can hardly wait for each morning to read the next chapter – and he often leaves us hanging despite our whining and cajoling. Sometimes we forget those “people” aren’t “real,” yet they are in a sense. The Carpenter family and neighbors are a mashup of his ancestors and people in his ancestral neighborhood.
In Doc’s recent chapters, journals of the Carpenter brothers, the original settlers, had been found in a trunk. Aunt Bess was reading and transcribing them, expanding the family genealogy. Then, miraculously, another cousin appears out of no place and…
See, now you’re hooked too.
Journaling June
Let’s just say that Doc Hollen suggested that we all participate in “Journaling June” where everyone journals during the month of June.
That’s not a huge commitment, right!
And you can do it on your own terms, in your own way.
Ironically, I was already working on an article about recording experiences.
Let me give you some ideas.
Journaling Ideas
A journal can be something as easy as a few notes every day, or something in-depth where you share your deepest thoughts. If you can’t write about yourself, write to yourself or to someone else.
Or maybe tell a story from the perspective of someone close to you.
Or focus on a favorite or specific topic.
You can also compare and contrast your life to that of an ancestor. Your upcoming June plus a June in the life of your parent or grandparent.
Or your early life and life now. Expectations versus where life’s path took you.
Here is a list of a few ideas:
- Food
- The kitchen
- Chores
- Home
- Work
- Mealtime
- Hygiene
- Utilities
- Clothes
- Laundry
- Education
- Teachers
- Weather
- Transportation
- Your First Car
- Performances
- Passions
- Passtimes and hobbies
- Religion
- Health
- Challenges
- Charity
- Best Traits
- Legacy
- Births
- Family Members
- Funeral Customs
- Heartbreak
- First Love
- Weddings
- Pranks
- Inspiration
- Pets
- Turning Points
- Gratitude
- Travel
- Vacations
- Secrets
- Advice to others
- Advice to your younger self
- DNA
- Holidays
I’m sure you can think of more topics to add. What would you enjoy?
What do you wish your ancestors had written about and left for you in a journal?
Will you join me in Journaling June?
Find your favorite pen and something you would enjoy writing in for a month. I use either legal pads or, sometimes, on a trip, I journal in a nice little leather portfolio binder with a removable pad. It makes me feel like an explorer!
Of course, you could photo-journal, collage, blog, paint, simply type into a document or just about anything else you can imagine.
You can even start with Memorial Day and share your family customs along with what you’re doing this year. What was the funniest thing that ever happened at a Memorial Day event in your family?
Tell me in the comments about what you’re doing for Journaling June.
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