I loved that little book. It had a place to write on four lines for each date...enough for five years! I wrote in it faithfully. One sentence every day for the first three years...then as I got older I would squeeze in five or six sentences on those short four lines. It was the beginning of a collection of many full size journals and notebooks.
Writing was calming after a stressful school day. It was a place to write my secrets, my hopes and dreams...and the very back cover I recorded the crushes I had... the love of my (ahem)...month was written in many different colors. That back page was full of names surrounded by hearts. It is a very fun memory now!
So many important moments were recorded, many sad ones too. It was a wonderful friend who listened to me when I didn't think anyone else would listen. It was that comfort of knowing I could tell my secrets and no one would laugh.
Journaling became a great part of my life. From the age of ten to about 19, I wrote every single day! After I was married it shifted to two or three times a week, then when the kids came. It shifted again. I wrote once a week- every Sunday- for a long time...now I catch up every other month or so.
One journaling idea that was very precious was when each of my children were born I began a journal about them. I wrote for them and about all the fun little cute things they did as babies. As they begin to crawl, walk or talk, I recorded it for them. Until they were about eight years old. Then I bought them their own and tried to help them to remember to write. Off and on, I would let them help me write in their baby journals. We have some pretty humorous little additions in their own handwriting. From squiggles to their first spelled words. Another Treasured memory!
"A Journal" is my creation of a blank, lined journal. I LOVE journals and I just had fun creating one for me...and I am sharing it with you. If you aren't a journal keeper....begin today! What you have to write is worth reading in the future by your own grandchildren and their children. It will help them realize someday that you understand anything they will also be going through someday. It is a great part of Family History! So start writing today!
