I turn every page eagerly yet extremely cautiously, looking for what happens next. The cover has a tendency to shed tiny painful black flecks whenever handled in anything but a tender way. The blue bleeding ink, written in cursive, is consistent for as many pages as I had read or peaked ahead to and it is not always easy to decipher. I widen my eyes and look closer searching for answers to questions: Did she finish her story and what did her teacher think of it? Did she get a part in the senior play? Will anything ever happen between her and D? In fact, has something already happened? Is A.J. to become an antagonist? This is the best high school melodrama I have ever read. It has never been a genre I had much interest in before, yet, in this one, I know the characters, some of them, and being as it was written in 1935 and so firmly rooted in history, in actual events, I am drawn into the research. The Poli movie theater, is it where the Rivoli used to be in my childhood? Is the short play “Three Strikes-You’re Out” still in print? Could I find a copy? Where is the Starzyk building? When I find out it still stands downtown I then want to know where they danced in that building that one Saturday night in 1935?
I am holding an actual diary; “Diary and Daily Reminder” to be exact, from 1935 and it was written by my grandmother. With her permission, I am reading them, transcribing them, and writing about the process. I am not yet through January of the first book we were able to find and I am delighted. She is, in fact, my husband’s grandmother, is almost 98, and my husband and I are her caretakers. We live on the second floor of her two family home and have listened to many of her stories over the years and have fallen in love with the people she loved that are now long gone. These diaries hold endless surprises yet I search for the familiar, the connection, verification, that such a long life really existed, every moment of it. Someday she wont be with us any longer and I wish to preserve her life, to pay homage to it. For now, she is here and the experience of sharing this with her will without a doubt be bonding.
I am so excited for you. I felt similar feelings when I started reading my grandfather’s novel!
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I am so impressed!
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Beautiful.
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Aww thanks so much!
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Hello! Thank you for dropping by and writing those kind words for my latest post 🙂 I’m looking forward to your posts as well! This is a very interesting thing you’re doing and it goes to show how important it is to record your life.
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This is one of the most interesting blogs I have come across! LOVE this -what a treasure!
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Oh. My. Goodness. Thank you so much! Yours is wonderful, too. I love your writing style.
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This is such a wonderful concept. I love your website, and the way you write. Thank you for sharing your families memories with the world 🙂
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Thank you so much!!
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Hey, thanks for coming by my site! This diary is exciting. I went to Prologue to find out the beginning and have a feeling I’m going to be reading through regularly! Wow, what a nice piece of history to have.
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I am much appreciative of it for sure! Thank you for your kind words and for stopping by.
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What a wonderful opportunity to get to know your grandmother as a young woman! I look forward to learning more about her and her life!
Best,
Tanja
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Thank you very much! And yes, I agree. I’m blessed!
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