Who will remember that shortly after midnight on January 1, 2011, it poured down rain and it was hard to distinguish the sounds of thunder from the sounds of fireworks being shot off by people in the next neighborhood south of here, across the creek?
Who will remember that though December 2010 was one of the snowiest Decembers in a long time, by January 1, 2011, all the snow was gone?
Who will remember when I got those starts of an orange-blooming Christmas cactus from a co-worker and rooted them?
Who will remember that on January 1, 1926, my grandmother started her diary by writing,
“Of course this is the day for resolutions so will try to make this diary less a chronicle of work done and more of the development of the children and also will try to keep it up to date and not let it slide a week or then fill in forgetting some of the most interesting things. But it really is a task, this keeping a diary. I have so many tasks that have to be done that if I am not in the mood for writing, or get too tired, it is so easy to let this slide as no one is going to make me keep it. However Gilbert gave me this little book for my birthday and I want to keep it to read over in my old age and recall these days when my family is young and so interesting and pesky!”
Who will remember my entry in my brand new 10 year garden journal for January 1, 2011?
“Rained around midnight. Hard to tell thunder from fireworks shot of by people south of here across the creek. All the snow of December is gone. The orange blooming Christmas cactus has buds on it, will be the first time to bloom for me.”
Who will remember?
what a great sentiment…wish I could read a diary of my mother or grandmother…I will remember 🙂
We will remember and others like us who journal. Thanks Carol.
If I don't write it down, then it's as if I haven't lived it.
Best wishes for 2011 and all your writing!
Nothing like an actual paper diary to help you read, remember and enjoy. We still have some snow cover after the brief warm spell and rain. Now it's so cold that I am worried for my exposed flowering shrubs. Always something! Happy 2011 to you.
We remember every time we write something down….But what an interesting way to think about things.
I added a garden diary page to my blog and have tried to update it weekly. I fell behind over the holidays when there wasn't much garden activity, but I hope to do better. I also keep a daily sentence journal (http://theblessingbowl.blogspot.com/2010/10/days-are-long-but-years-are-short.html) and a holiday journal (http://theblessingbowl.blogspot.com/2011/01/journal-to-be-shared.html). How wonderful that you have finished a 10 year garden journal!
That really is the beauty of blogging as the new way of journaling to capture the memories for our families, our friends and ourselves. I suppose it's also why I love scrapbooking so much. I love reading about your grandmother's diary – I know you treasure it. Happy New Year.
You will remember, Carol, because you've taken the time to write it all down as did your sweet grandmother before you. A birth certificate is proof that we entered this world. A death certificate tells the we have left. But a journal… a journal gives proof that we lived while we were here. Have a wonderous New Year!
I love your grandmother's first entry. I wish I had chronicled my children's lives more. I started with the first one, but as your grandmother said, no one made me, and it just slipped by.
What you leave behind…..I read yesterday about this online. Your writing is forever on the internet highway. So that is the literal answer….but for the deeper meaning of the question, it's what we teach our kids, it's what we do around others, and it's the mark we leave behind in our gardens(for many of us)….and eventually our names are erased from memories and just the mark is left…a headstone, a surviving tree, a random pic that makes it into a historical text for a future generation that will also ask the question, "Who will remember?"
How wonderful that you have the treasured words of your grandmother, Carol. We love the writing in the journal, and January always has many entries. It seems to lessen as gardening can be done once again, but those written passages are precious. For the future…
Frances
I have the EXACT same 10-yr journal. It was a gift from a friend of mine who has since passed away, so it is even more special. I make notes about what's blooming, what I did that day, and sometimes just what the temps are or if it sunny, warm or cold. I have to admit, though, that since I started blogging last fall I have not been as diligent about making entries. This is my last year for the journal, so I will need to get another one next year! It is fun to look back to REMEMBER what worked, what didn't, when the blooms start, when the birds come back, when the Monarchs come through, record rainfall/snowfall, record heat, record drought — just whatever seemed important on the day I wrote it.
A journal is like reliving the experiences and remembering is just a matter of turning the page, or post so to speak. Meredehuit said it best though.
How cool to have a journal written by your grandmother! I enjoyed your post.