A year ago, shortly after moving to Glenbrooke Senior Living, I established a writing group for seniors called You Are Unique. As My husband and I met residents and their families, I discovered there were life stories that many residents’ families had never had an opportunity to hear about. Precious legacies are lost if they are not written down.
Our first meeting in January 24, I introduced a picture of a tiny plant growing in a cracked sidewalk. I asked the writers to tell me about that plant and what it represented. Their answers to that request were the first few pages of our first anthology. Most were one or two words; some were a sentence talking about persistence and not giving up, and only two were short paragraphs. It was a beginning. Our first published book was called Monday Memoir Moments, sold for $5.00, the the beginning of our adventure. It was followed by four-month interval publications: Monday Memoirs: You Are Unique, and recently, our third anthology, Remember the Time. . .? To date, we have sold 240 copies of our books and were featured in Senior Life newspaper.
Yesterday, we began our second year. I gave the group a similar picture, a tiny daisy growing in a cracked road. Their writing pieces are amazing, and there is much enthusiasm in tackling the theme Back, Forth, and Future. Our next publication is planned for March, 2025.
Each time we have published a book, our Life Enrichment Director, Wendy Hoover, has arranged a Book Signing Event with refreshments, photos, and lots of encouragement. These first-time authors have been feted, residents and their families have learned much wisdom from their writing pieces, and I was invited by the Space Coast Writers’ Guild to sit on a panel presentation of the benefits of Memoir Writing. Because I have earned First Prize for a Memoir I wrote in 2014 in the Readers’ Digest Memoir Contest, and have written four other memoirs since, we encouraged other writers to explore this genre of writing.
I am convinced that our stories matter. A few examples: an account of a Marine’s Honor Flight to Washington, a resident’s encounter with the Secret Service at the Membourne Airport when President Bush visited, a visit to forty practices and “ways of life” topics that our seniors remember but their grandchildren have never experienced. What a legacy these talented seniors, average group aged eighty-eight, can offer to readers.
All three books are available on Amazon under my name as editor: Betty Whitaker Jackson. I urge readers to discover stories about foster care and adoption, living in various parts of the country and the world, overcoming difficulties, dreams for the future, how inventions have changed our lives, and wisdom lessons recorded for posterity. What we have learned is that we are indeed unique and have stories to tell.
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