In a message dated 9/27/2002 3:20:46 PM Pacific Daylight Time, [email protected] writes: > JOURNALS > Until recently the need for a journal hadn’t truly struck me. Yes, I > realize what a treasure it would be to find a journal written by our > ancestor Michael back at the end of the 18th Century, but thinking of > myself as having anything worth saying had really escaped me. Then I > watched “Frontier House” on PBS, then “Iron Age” on PBS. Now they’re > coming out with 1940’s house. For heaven’s sake, many of us lived in one > of those, including me! > Then I had my regular visit to the doctor, and the point was brought home > that maybe it was time to start recording some memories. While I have no > direct descendants, I do have grandchildren by my stepchildren, and some of > those grandchildren are about old enough to start their own families. The > reason the doctor visit brought that home was the fact that my medication > was increased (I’m up to 21 different meds each day), I was told that my > arthritis is degenerative, and will only get worse, not better, and that my > congestive heart failure was continuing to progress. > The thing that really got to me that doctor visit, though, was the doctor’s > statement that he wanted to make what time I had left the most normal and > pleasant possible. If he weren’t in his 30’s, I would have gotten my > temper up & told him that I would outlive him! Since no one knows exactly > when they will depart this life, I will say that I don’t consider myself > finished yet...I’ve even started a dialogue with the Anglican Bishop of > Belize to see if I can be of any use down there to the church. If I were > planning to push up daisies any time soon, I wouldn’t have started the > dialogue. > However, I’m writing this now to make a sincere appeal to all of you to > start your own diaries (or journals) for the sake of your own descendants. > It is my opinion that all of us have some parts of our lives which we would > be most happy to share the memories of with those who come after us. > Several of you are older than I am, many are younger...it makes little > difference! The sooner each of us gets started, the more memories we can > record for our descendants. > What to record? Well, all of us have lived through major world and/or > national events, and I’m sure that we have memories of what we were doing & > where we were at those times. This is something our descendants might be > very interested in reading. Also, little bloopers (which we all make > sometimes), would probably be a great memory to leave for posterity. Just > give a little thought to it, and GET STARTED! > Mike > > Jeffery G. Scism, IBSSG Despite resistance by others, he heroically pursued his goal of mediocrity.

I began a journal for my son when he was about 10 months old. It had already become pretty evident that the standard baby book wasn't going to hold all the memories I wanted to record. Guess I was just lazy about getting it started sooner, for some reason! I started my daughter's as soon as I found out I was expecting her. I write to them about what changes they are going through (such as starting preschool, taking swimming lessons), big family events (holidays, marriages/births/deaths), as well as my joys and frustrations with raising them. I plan to keep these journals until the kids are out on their own. My son was given a time capsule as a birth gift, and we enjoyed the experience so much we bought one for our daughter as well. So when they receive their capsules at age 25, they will get the journals at the same time. Hopefully they will enjoy reading them, and maybe get some clues as to their heritage, etc., along the way. Sue G. IBSSG