In a previous post I got my scanner set up. In a previous post I wrote about journaling. Today I'll put them together.
I kept a daily journal until 1982. I know , I know! Most of you weren't born by then. I have commented about my journal before and wished that I hadn't been so brief. I also wish that I had continued with it. However, there's no sense crying about that now. I'll enjoy what I've got.
I also commented before how it was cool that a few brief sentences could bring back a whole day , so I thought. Somebody posted a few days ago about our memory and how it works. apparently we fill in the blanks quite liberally. So many of the things I think I can remember probably didn't happen that way.
I like scanning because you get a fairly decent image , except if you are scanning from an old exercise book. So enlarge this so you can red it. I still have a thing or two to learn about sizes.
So I took one page of my journal at random. This is Dec. 16 to Dec 20 1980. I can't believe how much as a family we did in a day. We were busy. I look at this now and cannot think of how we did so much. Now I know this was about fifty years ago. Things were different back then . So was I!
On Dec. 18 I went to a meeting after school and was back to the school before 7:00 PM to supervise a student dance. the dance would have been over by 10:00 Pm and then I would finally get home after getting to school about 7:00 AM
My kids delivered papers twice a week . they were both involved in activity that required parental attendance My son played hockey . At that time my daughter was still in girl guides.
At that time my kids were old enough to go to the movie matinee by themselves . So I would have to take them to the movie and pick them up.
I was around in 1982, but haven't a clue what I was doing then; I rather wish I'd kept track of the days like that too. I did have a friend back then (still have though he now lives on the other side of the world) who kept detailed diaries going right back to our teenage years. He would often appear on my doorstep - "We've got to go out and celebrate; it was exactly twelve years ago when...." and there usually followed some trivial event that I'd long forgotten. Good excuse to go down the pub though!
ReplyDeleteI rarely look at these. Maybe I should and find some excuse to celebrate.
DeleteHello,
ReplyDeleteThe children do keep the parents busy, with so many activities. It is a nice idea to keep a journal, just for the memories. Take care, enjoy your day!
When I look at this I can't believe we did it all.
DeleteI smiled reading the journal. You well chronicled the busy lives of two people raising two children. Life was busy and not for the faint of heart! It must make you smile to see it too.
ReplyDeleteIt always brings back good memories.
DeleteInteresting peek at the past. I wonder if the weather is still about the same for the time of year or if it's now warmer. :-)
ReplyDeleteGood question but it's probably better to look at official weather stats.
DeleteI have kept a journal since the early 90's but I write more in long form, probably writing that amount on the page above for each daily entry. Like you, I enjoy going back and reliving what we were doing from time to time.
ReplyDeleteI don't remember why I decided to write such short entries.
DeleteThe journals of my grandfather and the early ones of my father are also short and to the point, mostly the weather and tasks done for that day on the farm. I was the odd ball in writing more about thoughts and feelings.
DeleteWe forget how busy we were when our kids were young! You are lucky to have this nice journal to remind you! I had a huge calendar in the kitchen where I kept track of the schedules for my 5 kids. It was a lot of driving to get everyone where they were supposed to be each day - besides regular school, they had church school, lots of sports, play dates, appointments to keep, etc., etc. It was a wonderful time, tho, and I miss it sometimes.
ReplyDeleteYou would be very busy with five kids but it's all worth it.
DeleteIt's such a wonderful thing to look back all those years and have daily written account of the times.
ReplyDeleteIt brings back some good memories.
DeleteIt's pretty cool to look back on all those activities! Probably better to not have to sit through a matinee of "Popeye" again, though. (Even if you only provided the transportation!)
ReplyDeletePopeye was a hit at that time.
DeleteI kept a proper diary for a few years at some time in my childhood but I can't remember when although I can recall the diary make that I used. Strange. I have kept every address book I ever has since childhood and I've got all my appointment diaries going back for decades to help dating photos etc (holidays and trips etc). I'm sure my memories are nowhere near as accurate as I think they are.
ReplyDeleteIf someone wants to do research on you, they'll have lots of information.
DeleteHow wonderful that you can look back and fill in the blanks! :)
ReplyDeleteI wonder how accurately the blanks are filled in?
DeleteIt's nice to look back and see what we were doing. Glad you still have your journals, they are priceless.
ReplyDeleteYes, they are things I will not get rid of.
DeleteI will bet that those little notes jog a lot of memories, and that must be awfully nice.
ReplyDelete'An Arctic Man' arrived while I was gone, and it looks very good at first glance. I'm afraid to get too caught up in it. I've got a lot of catching up to do at my house.
I hope you enjoy Ernie's story. He dictated it on tape and someone typed it but you'll find that in the book.
DeleteSounds like a journal I might have kept, back in the seventies.
ReplyDeleteWe certainly lived similar lives.
DeleteYes those were busy days with kids and careers. And I was renovating an old house on the side. I also kept a journal, but I don't know where they are now.
ReplyDeleteSometimes journals get lost during the moves.
DeleteUnderstandably brief given all on your plate.
ReplyDeleteI must have had a routine to keep it up.
ReplyDeleteYeah, as far as I understand, none of our memories are totally accurate. I do wonder about that though because some are pretty vivid. Often the traumatic ones.
ReplyDeleteI have never been very faithful about journaling. Always had good intentions though. I often told myself that someday I would write a book about my life, then realized that was never going to happen. Although I have a new approach. I am recording short stories, memories of events when I was a child. I try to take 30 mins every day to do this. I just jot them down by hand in a notebook. I am surprised at how quickly it is filling up. Not sure anyone will ever read these when they come across them, but maybe someone will and appreciate them.
ReplyDelete