Today, I picked up my 89 year old uncle and took him shopping. Just the two of us, with a small list each out and enjoying each other’s company.
With my health issues of recent times and recovering from yet another operation, I have only recently begun driving again. Prior to my recommencing driving, my poor long-suffering husband has had to do everything around the house as well as having to take me wherever I needed to go. Now, my husband as lovely as he is, is not a great fan of shopping. So, if we took my uncle out, it might be for a coffee and – if we were lucky – one Op Shop. He has never been one for getting in and out of a car and going from place to place. He (my husband) is very much, a one stop shopper. In, out and home in the shortest time possible if it is in his power to do so. I am the exact opposite. I love going from place to place looking for bargains, fuelled with coffee along the way.
So, the first thing I did when I started driving again and both my husband and I regained our independence, was to arrange to pick my uncle up and go out for coffee and an outing. This can take several hours and we both enjoy spending time together. During our outings, just the two of us talk quite a bit. Well, my uncle talks even more than I do, in fact I called him ‘Jabber Jaws’ today and he laughed at me! During our outings I often get him to talk about his life, how he met my aunt – through her cousin as it happens – and some of the stories of their early years. I love hearing about their history. I remember too, coming to Christchurch and my uncle and aunt must have been in their 30’s. He had Brylcream in his hair and was a very attractive man. So, I thought at age 16! Hearing about his motorbikes he had when he was younger and remembering his slicked back hair I can imagine him like James Dean, the cool guy on his motorbike!
Every time we get together he shares a bit more about his life – with just some gentle encouragement from me – and it is part of why I enjoy taking him out. I love to hear his stories and he seems to like sharing them.
Now, I am 64 and in a heartbeat I will be the old person with my stories and I wonder if anyone will ask me to tell them?
Will my descendants know:
- That I wrote poetry from the age of 5.
- That I wrote poetry all my life and will they want to see them or hear them?
- That I sold the following – Tupperware, Avon and Amway.
- That I worked as a co-host on a radio breakfast show for a while.
- That I went to the Broadcasting School in Christchurch to gain a degree in Broadcasting, but wasn’t able to quite complete my course, but still gained an Advanced Certificate in Broadcasting Communications. See next bullet point below for the reason I didn’t complete.
- That I am a survivor of Domestic Violence, which lead me to take up Social Work.
- That at the age of 40 I went to University to study Social Work.
- That I got a degree in Social Work and worked for 20 years in a variety of roles as a consequence, mostly as a health Social Worker.
- That I married three times. Third time was the charm!
- That I write/wrote a Blog.
- That I have/had a podcast.
- So many other facets of my life that I could go on about for hours!
The point is, if we don’t tell our children or their children about our lives our stories will be lost. While we might think our stories are normal and maybe even a bit boring, they are likely to still have value to our decedents. Our stories tell those that come after us how they come to be who and where and what they are. Perhaps in the future we will have someone who is an author selling their books, my Mum and myself have always been good at writing. Perhaps our decendents will be more than we have ever been with a skill of writing. My Mum used to paint and I have several of her paintings. Perhaps someone will become a great painter? My Dad and several members of the family played bowls and were very good at it I’m told. Perhaps we have a world class bowler in our future.
Whatever our decendents become, it may be in part because of an innate talent that they got from us.
Wouldn’t that be a great story to tell in the future!
My journey with Parkinsons 
I have kept all of my journals since I began writing them. I have not organized them into a story. I like that idea though.
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I enjoy writing my blog and doing my podcasts. I hope that my children read them and maybe find in them a way of understanding me. I always think that sometimes people don’t think about wanting to know about their parents’ history until they themselves reach about their 40’s and for some it may be too late. I think recording our thoughts and feelings especially in relation to our diagnosis is important. I know that when I look back at my early blog posts and now my podcasts, I can see me growing in confidence and ability to express myself. Thank you for continuing to follow me, it is very much appreciated.
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