Remember: Hold dear the memory and WRITE IT DOWN!
Back in the spring, when my friend Jane asked me if I wanted to share stories about our mutual friend Kathy who is facing health issues, I said YES! immediately. I didn’t first wonder if I had any stories from our time together four decades ago or if they might be worth sharing, I simply committed to remembering and to sending along what I came up with. I sat down that same day and spent some time thinking about my years in Nova Scotia, and my friendship and community activism with Kathy in that province. The memories came trickling, then flooding in — meetings, rallies, gin & tonics, boat rides, meals.. . I wrote them up, simply, unadorned, and sent them to Jane, as others did, too, and now a booklet of memories is in the final stages of production for sharing with Kathy’s family. I come from a family of memoirists, so writing about one’s life seems normal to me, and I certainly know the value of doing so — I have plain photocopies of writings that go back to my grandparents ...