The Sage-ing^® Guild

Flathouse, Pat, with Catherine Cogburn & Susan Wittig Albert. Your Life, Your Story: A Book to Help you Capture Your Memories. Older Women's Legacy Circle of Story Circle Network, P.O. Box 500127, Austin TX 78750-0127. Reviewed by Judith Helburn.

A few years ago, after my granddaughter was born, my daughter gave my husband and me one of those grandparent memory books that many greeting card shops handle. I did my duty and tried to remember my first prom dress and other very important events in my life, but I finally gave up and went to my own personal writings from my Story Circle Writing Circle. I copied a dozen or so pages and stuffed them in the back of the grandmother book, and gave the book back to Robin.

If I had received Your Life, Your Story instead, I would have created stories from my life for my grandchildren which were more meaningful than pretty dresses and birthday parties. Those could be very important in my life, but they also could not.

Here is a map, one that helps us begin our stories about what is important in our lives, and also gives us hints and suggestions about going way beyond the covers of this short [62 pages] book. However, even if you only follow the major suggestions in Your Life, Your Story, you will find, when you have finished, that before you are the highlights of your life—so far.

The idea for this book, as Susan Wittig Albert says in her introduction, began with the Older Women's Legacy Circle Project in 1998 which was funded by a grant from the Sisters of Charity of The Incarnate Word of Houston Texas. After Story Circle Network conducted 48 free guided memoir-writing workshops, many women did not want to stop; however, some were not able to continue in our groups. These women and numerous others from across the country requested help to continue on their own. And here it is.

After reading Susan's Introduction which includes the history of the project, suggestions for how and when to write and cautions about those gremlins who seem to hang around, it is time to write about "The People Around You." What are your strengths, and what are your family stories? Onward to "Memories", and memorable times and treasures. Here, there is a suggestion to check your memory with others who share it. You might even want to check the Internet for what was happening at that time. Chapter three is "Love and Work", with suggestions to list all those you have loved and love you, then write. How many different kinds of work have you been involved with? And, what was your passion then? How about now?

Our stories are not only about what we have done, but also about how we feel. "Sad Times, Happy Times" comes next with suggestions for writing about the difficult and the wondrous. There is a suggestion to tell a tale on yourself—what funny or awkward situation did you get yourself into? One of the nice results of aging is that we can laugh at or be sympathetic towards the young woman we once were. We have perspective. Chapter five covers "Your Accomplishments and Your Legacy" along with a note from Susan Wittig Albert's book Writing from Life called "So You Want to Keep Writing."

The last chapter, "Other Aspects of Storytelling", includes short essays about self-publishing, writing about and interviewing others in your life, scrapbooking, and other ways to tell your stories. Although this book is aimed at women with a certain amount of life experience, any woman could use it. One story often leads to another, and before you know it, you may have over 50 pages of funny, poignant, descriptive vignettes. There is no such thing as a boring ordinary life. Use Your Life, Your Story and find out.