Writing life stories

Over the past few years I've become fascinated with the idea of writing life stories. Not so much that I want to write my own, although I suppose this blog is a type of life story writing, more that I have become interested in the stories of others. I credit three factors with leading me down this path.

First, after my mother's death, my dad starting sending out a daily email to his children and grandchildren. Often he relates mundane details about his day, what he ate, where he went. But, often, he includes some personal observations on current issues or a reminiscence of a past event. He has told about learning to drive, favorite foods, first jobs, and meeting my mom. I save all of these notes, I'm not sure why, and I'm a little concerned if for some reason an email doesn't appear before I go to bed.

Second, I have a few professional colleagues who work in the area of memoir writing, aging and memory, and Alzheimers Disease. What I've learned from them is that memory is only one facety of our personality and that the loss of memory does not have to mean the loss of meaning in life. I have listened to their presenations on creative writing with AD patients, with the role of life review in later life, and the power of preserving memories.

Third, last year I began a friendship with a retired colleague who is suffering memory loss. We meet weekly for lunch and last summer began writing his life story. We no longer actively write together, but we do share the stories and memories that those writings preserved. During the writing I was impressed with how important this time became for him, how seriously he took the endeavor, and how much it helped his wife.

So, I was pleased this morning to hear a story on NPR about writing with dying patients. A program, called Dignity Therapy, encourages patients in hospice to work with a therapist to tell their life story. One of my early mentors, Bob Butler, championed the use of life review therapy and I learned quite a bit from him about the importance of using the end of life as a time to come to peace with the past.

From time to time I've toyed with the idea of being more formal in my use of writing with others--volunteering to write stories, working on my own stories, joining a writing group. I'm not sure where it will take me, but it will be fun to see.

http://www.npr.org/2011/09/12/140336146/for-the-dying-a-chance-to-rewrite-life

Happy New Year

One of the nicest things about teaching as a profession, especially college teaching is that you get to celebrate New Years several times a year. The past week was the first week of classes for the fall semester and the excitement and energy were palpable. The campus is busy, everyone is back in their offices, meeting schedules are circulating. The first day of class is a little anxiety producing for most professors. We hope we have remembered everything--copies of the syllabus, the class roster, our powerpoint slides. Inevitably we run into some snag--the copier jams, the projection screen won't drop down, our flash drive is corrupted. Still, we have a room full of (mostly) eager faces...at least on the first day. Some of those people will disappear, some new ones will arrive. In a few weeks we will all have settled into a routine, and the energy will disappear. Of course, round about the 3rd week of October, I will be singing a different tune. I will be sick and tired of teaching, lecturing, and grading...and the students will be tired, too. Then we will take a long breath and come back for a strong finish.