Keeping busy and keeping the memory

Bernicky

Honestly the question of where to put this post was a month long preoccupation. It has been almost a year since I last posted on the boards here but as we approach the anniversary of Lynn's death (Dec 29 - 2 days before our 19th anniversary). I started a project soon after Lynn's death to collect stories about her from friends and family as well as write down my own memories. The stories and notes which have been collected are not all sweetness and light about what a wonderful person Lynn was, though she was a wonderful person, but the contain nuggets of truth and reflections of Lynn as a woman and a human being - contradictions, obsessions, passions. I wanted to put these stories together for our children. Our son (18) and our daughter (14) knew their mother as Mom but I wanted them to know her as a person as well and to never lose that memory. I wanted them to know that the accountant at work once had to stay and hour late after the last show had been put in (Lynn worked in the theatre) because Lynn would not leave until she had found a penny which did not reconcile with her accounts. I wanted them to know that she had a bawdy sense of humour, rarely drank but when she did you needed to watch out because singing would not be far behind, she could dance, draw, sew, could nurse a grudge with great care and then dismiss it out of hand if a moment presented itself which would allow her to do so. She loved me inspite of, or perhaps because of, my faults. She was smarter than me but less articulate so she would get frustrated when she was right but I could put together a better argument. She was something to see when she actually got mad. In short she was who she was and though these stories won't truly capture her I hope they make her more of a person than a fading memory to our children. Memories are meant to fade over time, but there is nothing to say that they cannot be occassionally revived with fondness.

Leah_S

Denis, it's good to hear from you again. I think the idea of putting together a collection of "Lynn Stories" is lovely and will be a wonderful gift to your children.

Will this be available to others, or is it planned as a private collection?

Sending good wishes to you and your children.

Leah

Bernicky

Hi Leah_S - yes they are publicly available on one of my blogs - www.bernicky.com entitled What I Remember. It started and eventually will continue in the vein of things I remember which are not necessarily related to Lynn but for the time being it is the home of The Book of Lynn Priest. As I collect the stories I put them on the blog and eventually I will, with the help of a Wordpress service that prints blogs, bind it all together in a book for the kids. I am going to add pictures of Lynn too. I have to say that right now, this past few weeks heading into Xmas when she passed my heart is torn asunder every time I see her picture. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dBX5htDMeKU

Christ I am being maudlin.

Leah_S

Denis, that's not maudlin, that's mourning.

May G-d send you comfort.

Leah

lwd

Denis,

I just saw this post.  What a wonderful thing you're doing for your family.

Lane