If you’re like me, you’ve written in a diary or journal since you were a kid. Back in the day—or at least back in my day—those diaries had just enough space to write a few lines. Because I still have a few of mine from childhood, I can share a couple of my favorite entries:

Saturday, March 9, 1968
We went to Savannah so Daddy could go to Washington DC for school.

I wrote this when my father left for the FBI Academy.

Here’s another:
Sunday, July 20, 1969
Today Margaret and I went to the pool. Man walked on the moon.

In the course of human events, the most important thing on that day, for me, was going to the pool with Margaret. Man walking on the moon was an afterthought. But one day my grandchildren may look at that entry and think Wow. She watched this.

Now I keep journals, filled with accounts of daily events, greeting cards from loved ones, memorials, newspaper clippings, photographs, etc. I have special pens for only my journaling. When I get to the end of a journal (usually a large book of lined paper), I retreat to somewhere quiet with a cuppa and then journey from beginning to end. There are things we forget.

I kept a journal during my brother’s last weeks as I cared for him. After he “ran to Jesus,” I went for Ireland where I was met by my friend, Clare Campbell. We stayed that first night in Bray along the eastern coastline. The next morning, I recorded that I’d slept well (notable after what I’d just gone through) except for one moment when, dreaming a man walked through the room carrying a flashlight, I screamed out.

I nearly scared Clare to death, I wrote.

Recently, I found and read through this journal. Coming to that line, I laughed out loud. I had forgotten the moment, but it was surely a bonding one. I had also forgotten that I went swimming as Neil Armstrong prepared to step on the lunar surface. I had forgotten that Daddy going to Washington DC meant flying out of Savannah—final hugs and kisses because we wouldn’t see him again for months.

Remembrances aside, I’m glad I journal because it keeps pen to paper, keeps my talent sharp. There are days when I cannot work on my WIP, but I can journal. If only a few words. A few memorable words to be enjoyed later.