Mountain Clams

What did you write?

My oldest daughter is 21 now and living with me while she is in college, but when she was younger - between 3 and 5, she and her mother lived with my mother (who is 78 now) while I was in the Army. During that time, I wrote to my daughter to tell her I missed her and tell her about all the stuff that was going on in the Army.

Over the past few years, my mom has been going through her things and sending stuff out to her children and grandchildren. She recently sent my daughter the letters and cards that I sent to her during that time. That gave me a chance to read some of the things I had written during that time, which brings up the reason I am writing.

If I had known that those letters and cards were going to be around 16 years later, I don't think I would have written some of the things I wrote! I'm not saying it is a bad thing. I think it is an honest glimpse into my life way back when. I also think that if you consider how long things that you write hang around while you are writing them, it really alters the way in which you write.

Thinking back to things I read that my father and grandfather wrote, though, I have to say that they didn't write enough. At least, not enough survived of what they wrote to give any sort of indication what they were like. And when they wrote what they did, they were clearly not thinking of these letters surviving over time.

I think I'll stop writing now. This clearly isn't important enough to turn into some kind of permanent record.

Labels: philosophy

posted by Brett @ 7:22 AM