I have great friends - loyal, loving, constant and smart. Two very brave ladies offered to read my Aggie's Dash story and provide corrections and feedback. Thank you Laurie and Pat. You are wonderful for doing this.
The idea behind writing about Agnes McGrath Sunderland, my grandmother, was to preserve her story for the family. My goal was to include genealogy-worthy data in a flowing narrative. Once this story is complete the plan is to choose another ancestor and keep the process going. With the help of these ladies I feel like I'm getting there.
Once I've settled in Bunclody in January I hope to join a local writers' group for motivation and feedback. I'll be looking for a group that meets in a pub. So far they seem to prefer the library but I'm sure there's a suitable pub instead.
The process of writing must be unique to each writer - or at least that's how I feel at the moment. I don't have an established routine or process, having not considered myself to be a writer up to now. Yes I wrote instruction manuals and plenty of letters, but not a non-fiction work about someone I knew and loved.
I feel like I'm getting to know my grandmother better too. She lived with us until her passing in 1969 and I saw her every single day I was at home. But each of us had a unique relationship with her and some of the stories I've received from siblings and cousins have broadened my picture of Nanny. I'll try to do her justice.
A couple of seminars offered at the Ottawa library in branches from one end of town to the other, have also helped. Listening to Denise Chong the writer talk about how she goes about her research and writing, a presentation on making a photo book, and a drop-in genealogy session have all added to my knowledge.
Every time I think I've finished the story something else comes to mind. The photos I've assembled for inclusion have provoked more remembrances that turned into more paragraphs of the narrative. At some point I will just have to say "enough" and I'm done.
For now I'll try to catch some sleep so that maybe tomorrow I will reach that point. If not, maybe the tomorrow after that.
Tuesday, November 15, 2016
Wednesday, November 9, 2016
The sun came up this morning
Well I was rather shell-shocked with the US election results yesterday. I will try to recover quickly and hope that maybe he can at the very least, put on the back burner the most horrible of his plans and somehow entirely forget about a couple.
I have just the faintest glimmer of hope that he will manage to leave a bit of Obama's legacy intact. He won't be able to tarnish the grace, integrity and leading by example of the outgoing President. That is unlikely to be matched. Is it even possible for Trump to consider Obama's lifestyle as an example of how to behave?
I'm cleaning the apartment, including washing the windows and vacuuming in corners, to make my world bright and clean. It feels a bit sullied by all the election coverage that has flowed out of my TV for the last many months. Although a bit of a train wreck I couldn't look away as I was at the same time completely unable to do anything about it.
The narrative I've been writing of my grandmother's life is now in the hands of a friend. I'm making no attempt to produce a volume of interest to a general audience. This is for and about the family. The next phase is to collect and arrange and edit as needed, the photographs I have available as illustrations. Subsequently I will use some sort of online publishing tools to make it available for any who wish a copy.
My flight to and from Ireland is booked. Embarkation on the adventure will be 5 January and my return is scheduled for 13 April. I will be home for Easter yet not in time to be the main provider of dinner. Yay! Actually, now that Janet has such a wonderful large home in an idyllic setting she's ended up the default host. Yay again. There are so many benefits from having a condo apartment rather than a house. For one thing - no garden to put to bed, nor leaves to rake.
Tom and Susan are supposed to come to Ottawa - well Pakenham - the weekend of Dec 9 to celebrate the Burns Christmas a bit early. It's unlikely that Mark will make it but Heather should be here. I have my fingers crossed that she is able to come a few days early to help me with the "photo project". By Christmas I'd like to have all of the relevant family pictures organized, scanned, duplicated for safe-keeping, and originals given to whomever among us wants them. The very old irreplaceable ones will stay in the firesafe. Copies can be made for any who desire them. From what I've recently learned, the hard copies will outlast the digital images and I have to make sure that all are properly preserved.
So - back to my cleaning now. It does feel good to get this done - even though I've only finished the living and dining rooms so far. Where is that mop?
I have just the faintest glimmer of hope that he will manage to leave a bit of Obama's legacy intact. He won't be able to tarnish the grace, integrity and leading by example of the outgoing President. That is unlikely to be matched. Is it even possible for Trump to consider Obama's lifestyle as an example of how to behave?
I'm cleaning the apartment, including washing the windows and vacuuming in corners, to make my world bright and clean. It feels a bit sullied by all the election coverage that has flowed out of my TV for the last many months. Although a bit of a train wreck I couldn't look away as I was at the same time completely unable to do anything about it.
The narrative I've been writing of my grandmother's life is now in the hands of a friend. I'm making no attempt to produce a volume of interest to a general audience. This is for and about the family. The next phase is to collect and arrange and edit as needed, the photographs I have available as illustrations. Subsequently I will use some sort of online publishing tools to make it available for any who wish a copy.
My flight to and from Ireland is booked. Embarkation on the adventure will be 5 January and my return is scheduled for 13 April. I will be home for Easter yet not in time to be the main provider of dinner. Yay! Actually, now that Janet has such a wonderful large home in an idyllic setting she's ended up the default host. Yay again. There are so many benefits from having a condo apartment rather than a house. For one thing - no garden to put to bed, nor leaves to rake.
Tom and Susan are supposed to come to Ottawa - well Pakenham - the weekend of Dec 9 to celebrate the Burns Christmas a bit early. It's unlikely that Mark will make it but Heather should be here. I have my fingers crossed that she is able to come a few days early to help me with the "photo project". By Christmas I'd like to have all of the relevant family pictures organized, scanned, duplicated for safe-keeping, and originals given to whomever among us wants them. The very old irreplaceable ones will stay in the firesafe. Copies can be made for any who desire them. From what I've recently learned, the hard copies will outlast the digital images and I have to make sure that all are properly preserved.
So - back to my cleaning now. It does feel good to get this done - even though I've only finished the living and dining rooms so far. Where is that mop?
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