Thanks, sweet friend. And I don’t think it’s ever too late to journal. What a wonderful gift that might be for your kids. I finally finished reading through one of my journals yesterday; it was so bittersweet to read about times when I was so happy mixed in with times that I had sorrows and worries. Such is life at every age, just different circumstances.

Yes, even though I knew that Nana really struggled at that time, I didn’t know the extent of it. I wish now that I could go back and come alongside her as a friend and not just as a daughter. But that’s not how life works, of course. I gave the journal back to Sandy if you ever want to read it someday! Nana said lots of nice things about your dad in there. 🙂

Actually your girls might really get a kick out of reading your journals one day! lol. But yeah, I don’t want that to happen with mine either. Some were definitely for my eyes only. 😉

Thanks, Harry. I am very glad to hear my mother’s fresh words at this point. I think there is a book somewhere out there that my dad filled in, answering questions about his life. He actually hated that sort of thing, so it might feel more jarring to read than my mother’s words, but I would like to try if it can be located.

Thanks, and I agree that it’s a personal choice on whether to read or not, to destroy or keep. I may not make it through rereading all of mine. I was sporadic when I wrote, so some years I have a lot and some years I have nothing. A lot are workbooks that I filled in the blanks. Those might be easier to just throw away than have to read through.

Thanks, Rena. I returned my mother’s journal pages to my older sister for safekeeping, and she asked me about our mother’s composition notebook also. What? There’s more? She said she’ll look for them, so tbd on more to come. 🙂

You always find such powerful one words (and phrases) that have a multitude of meanings, so I look forward to your 2026 choice too. I wish we could have a silent reading party together as we read through our journals. 😉 Although sometimes I do find myself laughing out loud at the things I wrote.

I’ll be honest that it’s been difficult to rip pages out of a journal…but it’s easier than throwing away the whole thing. 🙂

You’re exactly right, Jennifer. Even though the details are different, I see so many similarities now between my mom and me as we navigated the various struggles and joys in our lives in different times. It makes me wonder how she would live in the world if she had been born when I was and vice versa.

We writers do tend to leave behind a trail of our thoughts, don’t we? It’s been interesting to see my thought process when I was 30 compared to what it is now; some things are similar and some are vastly different. 🙂

That’s a beautiful practice, Liz. I keep a box for things like that–I just throw things in all year, and at the end of the year, put them in an envelope. It’s much less tidy than your book format. I do occasionally need to look something up and I find myself rummaging through the envelopes to find it, and spend quite a bit of time reminiscing through the memories. Your journals full of “Terrible Behavior” might be an interesting read for you someday! 🙂