Barbara J. Hamby

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Memoir Madness

In spite of the fact that I’ve never kept a journal as such, I am suddenly overwhelmed by the plethora of material I have for writing memoirs.

My computer contains hundreds of letters I wrote before email, as well as saved emails from relatives and friends. I also have Holiday letters that summarize each year’s events, and go back almost twenty years. In addition to all those letters, I have others my sisters have saved for me over the years. For quite a few years, I saved calendars that have engagements written on them. Those hit highlights of my life here and there.

It’s a mixed blessing to have all this material. On the one hand, it can stimulate my aging brain to remember many things long forgotten. Conversely, I may not live long enough to read it all, much less write down the parts I want to share.

There is one advantage, however, to the material that’s in the computer. I can skim through it, pick out excerpts I want to use, and copy them into my manuscript.

Let the sorting begin!