I've toyed with the idea of assembling a memoir, mainly for the benefit of my two sons. My understanding of my own father is pretty sketchy since he passed away when I was in my mid-teens.
At that point in life, it wasn't a matter of curiosity, he was just "Pop." Yet I know from vague references, he was in the Navy sometime between his own teen years (b. 1901) and prior to World War II, even, I think, serving on a Navy sailing ship. Very frustrating.
Just bits and pieces of his life, but nothing that could be assembled into a clear "uncropped" picture.
Same way with me, yet when I look back, there are many instances of "shining times," and others of "shitty times." Still, not enough to form a cohesive picture without it looking like a random hodge-podge of incidents.... which are probably common to most of us.
I knew a guy who wrote "at least a page," in his diary every day, and I saw his collection of half-handwritten and half-typed daily entries and it was a quite large stack of unbound paper in an accordian-file. He mentioned that he had left most of it back home in Pennsylvania.
I guess if you have time to do it and you're of a disciplined mind, you can do it. But I'm neither disciplined enough, nor do I have time to do it.
Nor do I want to be posthumously accused of killing anyone with boredom.
So, it goes.
Terry, 230RN