Now is the Time To Write Stories About Dads

I noticed a lot of tributes and family stories told on facebook this past weekend as we in the USA honored our fathers. Both Mother's Day and Father's Day serve as great inspiration for telling or writing a family story. 

Author, Sue Monk Kidd, is a little dramatic in this quote but it hits home for lots of us, nevertheless. 

She says stories have to be 'told' but I will go one step farther and say they must also be 'written.' If only verbal, the stories will eventually become lost. You don't want that to happen.

My mother told the story of her elopement during the Depression years. It's a wonderful story involving a Justice of the Peace who stopped the ceremony to take a phone call and plan a fishing trip, a red linen dress the bride wore, my dad having only enough coins in his pocket to buy one plate of spaghetti when they went to dinner after the ceremony, the bride and groom each going to their separate residences on their wedding night, and my grandmother confronting Mom about being married a full six weeks later. Not only was it a good story to tell but one I loved writing. 

I was relating the story to a friend one day when it hit me that I needed to be sure to write it so that my children and grandchildren and on down the line will know what happened, what the times were like then and more. It was the next day that I made some time and wrote the story. I have it in my Family Stories section of the book of hard copies of everything I've written. I might consider submitting it to the editor of a magazine like Reminisce or Good Old Days.

This past weekend honoring our fathers and grandfathers probably brought back some memories for you. Bringing the memory to the forefront of your mind is fine but not enough. While it is still fresh, write the first draft of that great tale about a place you and your dad went for special times together or the time you fooled your dad and didn't get in trouble because all he could do was laugh. How about the first time any of you women danced with your dad as a young girl? I sold the story to Good Old Days about doing exactly that several years ago and also have it posted at Our Echo.

You can benefit in two ways if you take the time to write your family stories. They will be preserved for your family and you might even be able to sell some of them to magazines. Memoir stories and memories never seem to go out of style. The trend remains strong. Have you jumped on the bandwagon yet? Maybe now is the time to do so. Write a story about your dad--not a tribute--but a story that has a beginning, a middle and an end. Be sure it's true but write it using fiction techniques to bring it to life. If you've never tried it, this could be your first piece of creative nonfiction.