Autobiographical Writing
I'm writing a companion book to the biography of my dad. It's called Journal of Grief, and it's about 2020. Primarily, it's about my parents and their deaths within weeks of each other. But it's also about me and my relationship with them, my siblings, and my husband. And about how COVID-19 affected us and the world. In other words, it's autobiographical.
I've read a lot of biographies and autobiographies. And I wrote a biography, Maverick for the Built Environment, as anyone who reads this blog likely knows. My first novel was largely based on a what-if of my real life, so it definitely had autobiographical elements. There have been other novels with autobiographical references.
But this time, the writing is truly autobiographical. And very personal. Vulnerable.
I'm trying to remember all that happened, too. It's been three years, and while some things are crystal clear memories, others are not. Fortunately, I have my email from those days, and texts, and there's Facebook, too.
In fact, Facebook is sort of the organizing principle of the journal, as I posted the journey we all took - meaning not only my family, but the world. I share my posts and other writings as milestones or subject matter.
Today, for example, I wrote about "Seed". After my father passed away, my office sent me a memorial seed to be planted in his honor. I dutifully planted it as instructed, though I have a "black thumb". And lo and behold, the plant was two plants. I wrote on Facebook that the plant "knew" I had lost two people, as I had lost my mother a couple of weeks earlier. Two memorial plants were needed. What I didn't write on Facebook was that Eric and I called the plant "Seed" and how the fact that the two plants were touching reminded me of my parents holding hands. And that it was fitting, and lovely, that the two plants were obviously not the same plant - not two offshoots of the same seed. Because my parents were two very different people, who grew next to each other. And yet, in time, one shoot became larger than the other, as some might say happened with my father overshadowing my mother, or at least being the one who made most of the "family" decisions.
It's interesting to use my posts as fodder for this journal and as an organizing principle for the story of my family in 2020.
I've read a lot of biographies and autobiographies. And I wrote a biography, Maverick for the Built Environment, as anyone who reads this blog likely knows. My first novel was largely based on a what-if of my real life, so it definitely had autobiographical elements. There have been other novels with autobiographical references.
But this time, the writing is truly autobiographical. And very personal. Vulnerable.
I'm trying to remember all that happened, too. It's been three years, and while some things are crystal clear memories, others are not. Fortunately, I have my email from those days, and texts, and there's Facebook, too.
In fact, Facebook is sort of the organizing principle of the journal, as I posted the journey we all took - meaning not only my family, but the world. I share my posts and other writings as milestones or subject matter.
Today, for example, I wrote about "Seed". After my father passed away, my office sent me a memorial seed to be planted in his honor. I dutifully planted it as instructed, though I have a "black thumb". And lo and behold, the plant was two plants. I wrote on Facebook that the plant "knew" I had lost two people, as I had lost my mother a couple of weeks earlier. Two memorial plants were needed. What I didn't write on Facebook was that Eric and I called the plant "Seed" and how the fact that the two plants were touching reminded me of my parents holding hands. And that it was fitting, and lovely, that the two plants were obviously not the same plant - not two offshoots of the same seed. Because my parents were two very different people, who grew next to each other. And yet, in time, one shoot became larger than the other, as some might say happened with my father overshadowing my mother, or at least being the one who made most of the "family" decisions.
It's interesting to use my posts as fodder for this journal and as an organizing principle for the story of my family in 2020.
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