At church today, Pastor Sue told one of her wonderful stories about her grandparents’ farm in West Virginia. Sue is a great storyteller, so I could just see the big, plodding white horse, “Old Dick,” standing patiently while being harnessed to the hand-held plow, then working as a team with Sue’s grandfather who shouted “gee” and “haw” while steering his old friend through the fields. No reins were needed, the horse knew what was expected through years of work. The grandparents may have been poor subsistence farmers growing the “tobaccy” cash crop while keeping an acre or so planted for vegetables that would be put up to keep them through the winter, but they were rich in stories of the culture of that time and place. Obviously they made an impression on their granddaughter, and are now making an impression on the members of our church.
Still basking in the beauty of that story of old-time plowing, reminding us to hitch ourselves to Jesus and plow love, I asked Pastor Sue after the service when her memoir was going to be finished. And, like most people, she hadn’t really thought about actually writing down those stories about her grandparents. She even has quite a story about herself.
Start writing NOW! Most of us can use a computer to type, but even hand-writing the stories into a notebook or journal is more than fine. My stepmom has been typing her memories as they come to her, sending them out as emails to her family. Hopefully she will collect them into a book of essays, adding scanned photos and maybe a list of important family dates. How simple is this? No excuses, anyone can do it. So get going. Just write!
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