A Life Story

We all have a story to tell. Of course, some people are famous enough for their life stories to appear in the books we have on our shelves at home. But for most of us, our own life story is rarely told as a whole, instead it often unfolds in unconnected narratives as part of conversations with family or friends. We might relate a childhood memory or reminisce about a particular time in our lives but we don’t often get to tell our story from the beginning.

A few years ago my dad developed Parkinson’s Disease, a condition where parts of the brain become progressively damaged over many years. Despite the limitations the disease has put on him, he manages extremely well, possibly helped by the fact that he has always been physically active, as a keen hiker and runner. He also has a very positive mindset and is lucky to have my mum who is unstinting in her care for him. Although Parkinson’s causes slow movements and stiffness, medication and taking regular exercise such as walking (which he does every day), seems to help.

Because Parkinsons’ often worsens over time, I have become more mindful of how precious time is with my parents. So, a couple of years ago, I began sitting down with my dad and talking to him about his childhood and early life. As his story unfolded, I typed it up. I listened to him talk about his own parents and his childhood, meeting my mum; family life with me and my brothers; his career as an engineer for British Rail; his voluntary work and the carers’ group he founded with my mum; running the London Marathon (twice); studying for a Spanish A level in his 70s; his world travels and the village history book he wrote a few years ago.

By the time we were in lockdown this year, I’d pretty much written up his life story. Along with the thousands of words I’d written, I also had a box of old photographs from his childhood. Not only this, but amongst them were his old school reports and other mementos like his mother’s wartime ration book.

What to do with all this memorabilia? I’d put together photo books previously but this time I also had thousands of words to include. I began looking online at companies who published memoirs when I came across Blurb which offers Bookwright as its free book publishing software to design books and magazines. Just as you upload your photos for a photo book, with Bookwright you can also upload a full page of text as well as images. I found Blurb to be the best option for my project and once I got into the swing of it, it was fairly straightforward to use and was a reasonable price. I would definitely recommend it if you’re thinking of doing a similar project.

Once I’d designed the book, adding in some more recent photographs, the old black and white photographs and school reports I’d scanned, I clicked ‘order’. A few days later the book arrived. I held my breath as I flicked through it, hoping I wouldn’t spot any obvious typos or page layout issues as the project had been a one (wo)man job! But I was delighted with it. The book looked beautiful.

I toyed with giving it to my dad for Christmas or for his 80th birthday in January. But as its publication coincided with the second national lockdown, I thought perhaps this was as good a time as any as he would have plenty of time to read it and enjoy it. So I drove over to my parents’ house and handed the wrapped book to my dad over the garden gate. He was absolutely delighted with it and has been reading it ever since, dipping in and out of chapters and reminiscing over stories from his early life.

I realise I am fortunate that my parents are still with us which means I was able to sit and listen to my dad telling his story first hand. It has made me reflect on the importance of documenting our lives and that of our parents and close relatives. Writing down the memoirs of our loved ones is the chance to create a time capsule; an opportunity to reach across the boundaries of time and to celebrate the journey they have taken in their lives.