Dawn Phelps
Columnist
My dear sweet Aunt Helene was one of the most beautiful people I have ever known. When she died in her eighties, she was still strikingly beautiful, still as slim and trim as when she was teenager. She had dark hair, brown eyes, high cheek bones, and was a stylish dresser. She was also totally beautiful on the inside as well.
She took a genuine interest in each of her nieces (of which I am one) and nephews when we met for our Humphrey family reunions each June. She also took time to write us letters during the year—very newsy letters—and she called us often. She was proud of us; she encouraged us in whatever we were doing.
She knew I was interested in writing, so that was a topic that she and I generally discussed each year which included her dream of writing a book that she intended to call her Precious Memories.
I believe she had the intelligence, knowledge, and skill to write her book. She had historical documentation, a treasure trove of hundreds of letters from her siblings from years past. She had kept them all—letters that held many stories of adventures.
For instance, her oldest brother, my Uncle Ennis, left home when he was 15 and hitchhiked to Hollywood, California, with the intention of becoming an artist. And he did! He painted portraits of actors and actresses for billboards for movies before cameras were widely used. He later took up photography and sold some pictures to National Geographic Magazine along with his writing. Now that’s big in my book!
So, each year at our family reunion my conversation with my Aunt Helene went like this. I would ask, “Well, Aunt Helene, how is your book coming along?”
And she would answer. “Well, I have 15 pages done, but I keep revising them. I just can’t seem to get it right.”
And I would say, “Why don’t you forget about getting it right and just write—it can be edited later.”
Then the next family reunion, I would ask her, “How are you doing on your writing?” And she would tell me about her 15 pages and how she kept revising them, that she just could not get it right. I was concerned because time was passing, and Aunt Helene was getting older.
When she was in her eighties, she developed cancer and was admitted to hospice. While she was still very alert, I talked to her on the phone. I asked her about her Precious Memories, and she still had intentions of writing them.
So, I said to her, “Do you have a tape recorder? You could just dictate your book while you are resting in bed. But she did not, and she died with only 15 pages of her book written.
I believe it would have been an amazing story to leave behind, especially for her family. Her book would have been an accurate historical documentation of her siblings’ lives and stories that may now be forever lost.
My Aunt Helene is gone now, and only a small percent of her book was ever written. But she taught me a valuable lesson. She taught me to not put off those projects I want to get done before I die.
It is so easy to put things off and never accomplish what you meant to do. I understand that, because in my own busyness, the days, weeks, months, and years have flown by at warp speed. I am making progress on my writing goals, but I can’t seem to get them done quickly enough at 83—writing takes time and lots of editing!
So, if you have a story to tell, “just write” it or dictate it. Editing can be done later to get it “just right.” So, get busy and write while you can!
An African proverb says, “When an elderly person dies, a library is lost.” Time goes by like a blink! If you don’t get those computer keys clicking, you might be like my dear sweet Aunt Helene and leave this earth with your “greatest story never told.”
*NEW: The Miltonvale Writer’s Club will meet at 7:00 the 1st Wednesday of each month at Tootle Books. Pastor Sam Flick will lead the group. Everyone interested in writing (poetry, fiction, stories, books, or whatever) is welcome! Just come and write!
