I get by with a little help from my friends

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.