90s52 Time For A Break

This is the 52nd installment of the 1990s. It is 260th installment in five years, overall. I wrote 52 for each decade from the 1950s though the 1990s. I have posted a few extra ones that are included that I am not counting. All but the first 30 or so are posted on the Got Harmonica website. A few have been published in one place or another.

For years my wife and other family members have encouraged me to write down the stories I often tell. I set out to do that one-decade at a time starting with the 50s the first year and working my way through each consecutive decade. The intended audience has always been my family but sometimes I wrote the piece just for me.

Initially, I wasn’t sure I could think of 52 things to write about a decade but quickly realized that was not a problem. The more I wrote the more I remembered and the problem became deciding which ones to include. I left many things out!

I have used my father’s journal, my mother’s recollections and notes, and my own journals and notes from over the years. There is a wealth of information, much yet untold, in these resources.

I found it much easier to tell the stories of the early years, the first 30 or so, of my life. The more recent the event the harder it was to tell and the more I worried about accuracy and not offending anyone. I fully expected that relatives and friends would take issue with some of the stories I told or the accuracy of the details I included. It never happened! What did happen was that I think I inspired a few to write stories from their own lives.

My most recent ones, the decade of the 90s, includes a lot of journal entries from that decade. Sometimes I commented on them and sometimes I just let them stand on their own. I did alter them enough to make sure the characters weren’t recognizable. At some point I will return to many of them and tell more of the stories. It just seems very hard for me to do that when it all happened relatively recently.

I still have many stories to tell and someday will take on the rest of the decades of my life. For now, I am going to take a respite from the weekly deadline of completing and posting a piece. I will continue to write and am looking forward to going back and telling some of the stories I skipped over.

The entire time my wife, Becky, has been my faithful editor. I am grateful for her willingness and critical eye. I am grateful, too, for those who encouraged me all along. I have a tendency to set impossible expectations for myself and then burn myself out trying to live up to them. Sometimes I am just too stubborn for my own good.

Anyway, check in once in awhile to see if there is anything new. In the meantime, never underestimate yourself or anyone else.