Journal or Diary

5 November 2008 by Libbi.

I’ve talked before about the value of finding an ancestor’s diary. My great-grandmother kept a diary when they homesteaded from Indiana to Oregon. Later they had to move back east to care for an elderly relative, but she regaled my mother with tales of how beautiful Oregon is, second only to heaven from her descriptions. Later, as an adult, when Mother read that diary, it was much more alive to her for having heard her grandmother’s stories.

So. Here you are in the middle of an historic moment. Maybe you are giddy with the thought that America has elected a Black President. Maybe you admire both candidates, but feel the best man won. Maybe, like one of my friends, you are filled with dread that Obama will drag us down the path of Godless Socialism and the end of the American experiment is near. Maybe  you feel it was an election like all elections and now we just have to wait and see whether the new administration can handle the problems facing it.

Whatever your thoughts, opinions, and feelings, you should be writing them down somewhere, for your great-great-grandchildren to find  in 100 years. Describe what voting was like for you: did you vote early? Did you stand in the rain for hours? Were there issues on the ballot that you felt you had no business voting on (which is how I feel about some of the Florida initiatives)? And what else was going on in your life?

Your descendants for generations will be glad you did!

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