Thinking of my Grands– Passing It On

Photo by Tracy Soucy

My great Aunt Anna Bella Landry Bradley shared family stories with me.  Now it’s my turn to share her stories with my grand niece and nephew, Nora and Tommy.

Nora and Tommy, are young now, both being less than five years old.  They are in my thoughts with each word that I write about their Meme’s and my grandfather Joseph’s family.  Our great Aunt Anna Bella is one of his younger sisters. 

Many hours of transcribing my great aunt's and my visits, additional stories from my dad's and my generations, and research both in the United States and Canada are now coming together in a more coherent form.. As the words make their way onto the page its my desire to create a memoir that will captivate Nora and Tommy.  Hoping that it will be worthy of their passing it on to the next generation.  

The book is taking shape as I work to complete this draft by the end of the year with plans to self-publish later next year.

For a little about how this book came about and Aunt Anna Bella's Experience: A Picture on the Wall: the Halifax Explosion

Great Grandfather Michael Landry:  A Father's Love - Halifax Explosion

100th Anniversary of Halifax Explosion: 
A Walk in Fort Needham Memorial Park,
Hope and Survival Quilt

Creativity, Legacy, Empowerment - "The Gift of the Memoir"

This month's blog features a captivating poem called "The Gift of the Memoir" by Bill Farr about creativity, legacy, and empowerment..   As you read Bill's poem, may the writer/artist within you be empowered by his words

York Beach, Maine - Cal Shook

"The Gift of the Memoir" 

by Bill Farr

My mind is a kaleidoscope of paintings,

Colors swirling in all directions and

Caught in the ebb and flow of time.

I peer into the tube of the ages and

Gasp at all that is hidden inside...

There are so many people and places,

I cannot resist the urge to stop and 

Capture each one in words.

Yet, this legacy is bound by a boxed 

Frame of white and letters, caught on

Weightless pages.

There is no room for each story that

Would crowd into the space.

There is not enough 

Time to hold the past.

I write, driven by the belief

That all is not in vain.

Life has been and continues to be

A tale filled with wonder and magic.

The memoir is the gate to 

Resurrection.

My fingers slow as the words pour forth.

My mind races back to the moments

So long ago,

Yet so fresh and renewed today,

I cannot let these souvenirs from

The past escape.  I must

Capture them now,

Empowered by this day.

Writing a memoir is a sea surging 

Tide that cannot be caught in the 

Small bucket that is my mind.

I view the receding years from this 

Mountain peak of age. I must

Bring it forward and make it real.

Who will see the paintings in my head

If I do not preserve them?

Who will meet the characters in the

Pages of my life if I do not 

Bring them to the stage of now?

The memoir stores all and reveals

Time past and long lost life.

The years that have fled become

Presents for those about 

To embrace the future.

Such is the gift of

The Memoir.

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Thank you Bill Farr for giving me permission to use your poem in this month's blog.  Your words express and touch the heart of my experience. It is a reminder that, 

" I must Capture them now,

Empowered by this day."

if I am to leave a family legacy in the form of "The Memoir".