It was a brisk December morning, and at age 17 I was still new to driving on the expressways, yet a compelling sense of urgency demanded that I jump into my bright yellow AMC Hornet and make the 45-minute drive to St. Petersburg. Joseph hospital in Ann Arbor.
I did not realize that day would be the very last time I would see my father alive.
He had become sick while on summer vacation 4-months prior to that day and despite he lay as thin and pale as a Holocaust survivor, I never believed my father would die at such a young age!
Thirty-two years later I realize my father's face has been conspicuously missing from every important family event for the past 32-years!
As I go through a small box of his remaining photos, letters, and papers I'm stuck with the realization that he is still a stranger to me .
Who is that mysterious woman that keeps appearing in his childhood photos? Or that crazy dog who is never left out of a family gathering? What was my dad thinking as he left for WWII all dressed up in his Army uniform in front of his airplane? Sadly, in this lifetime I'll never know the answers.
He died before I could ask him the most important questions!
My dad must have known there was a good chance he would not come out of intensive care …. he could have written (or dictated) letters to us. He could have sat down and said good-bye. There were no good-byes, even for me on that last day of watching my dad in a coma at St. Louis. Joe's. Did he procrastinate recording his life story?
What price would I pay today to know what made my dad's heart beat faster … what propelled him to accept a blind date with my mom … why in the world he went to ballet school … how he felt flying bomber airplanes in WWII … how he felt about me … and so on.
Have you written your life story yet?
In today's society there is so little time for us to share our stories and even the family dinner table is often vacant as families rush in different directions on a daily basis. Yet the need to be known and understood is a fundamental need all humans experience.
Sometimes that's why therapists, pastors, and doctors are seeing their clinics filling up with people who merely need someone to listen to them, even if it means paying for their service!
There's got to be a better way, right?
Everyone has a story to share and it's important to have a fun and easy way to preserve these stories.
You have a virtual treasure chest of precious life experiences that absolutely needs to be preserved for the next generations, even forever!
Far into the future, the next generation will be able to listen to your voice, watch you on video, and hear your heart through your written words.
Stories bond families and friends like nothing else can!
So …. are you ready to write your first story? I can not wait to hear it!
The post Do not Procrastinate in Writing Your Life Story! appeared first on Tica Tica Boom.
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