Tuesday, January 12, 2010
Keeping a record of life.
Why am I writing this?
Why do I feel compelled to record my life and my reactions to the events of life?
It is not something I inherited from either parent - though my brother also has the same urge.
I don't know where it came from.
I cannot tell what makes my brother write, but maybe there is a hint of my own yearning to put things in words from my teenage years.
I read a diary which moved me greatly - it was Anne Frank's diary.
Anne became a friend to me as she shared with me thoughts and feelings that I could relate to about growing up and relationships.
I can hardly imagine the reality of what life was like in hiding.
I am glad I have visited the small rooms where they lived.
Anne died very shortly after I was born.
Yesterday one of the people who protected Anne's family, and the others, passed away.
Miep Gies had become known to me through Anne's diary.
Miep felt she had lived a very blessed life - a long life for sure. She was 100 years old.
She doesn't claim hero status, believing that she just did what was necessary for some friends.
But she risked a great deal for her friends.
It is so sad that all but Anne's father did not survive the camp they were taken to after a betrayal.
But Anne lives on. It is said that there is never one day when there is not a performance somewhere in the world of the stage play crafted from the diary.
Anne wrote the diary, but it was Miep who saved it for me to read.
She saved it on the assumption that she would return it to Anne when the war was over - but that was not to be.
But it was saved for me and the millions of others who also formed a friendship with the young girl.
Thank you Miep for all you did - I am happy that you felt your long life was blessed with much good fortune.
And now, just like Anne, my trivial doings must be recorded.
I enjoyed creating a blog posting for the shop. I had not had my camera with me yesterday, so I needed a completely different approach.
This afternoon I have felt busy and satisfied to have things selling on EBay - the first for a month.
There had been 25 things relisted - some of them for the 4th time.
Today more than half of them have sold.
There was not a great deal of money made - I had reduced things to as low as I possibly could so that I would not lose money.
All I wanted was my money back in my purse and some spaces on the shelves.
Bill's old AA keys - which had been part of his own collection for years - had no bidders before Christmas; but sold well today.
It is hard work - wrapping and dealing with invoices and payments - no, "time consuming" would describe it better.
But it has become an important part of my life.
The weather has been very much part of our lives for the last week.
The green grass is still covered with a thick layer of icy snow.
It is gradually diminishing as temperatures creep above freezing.
The big icicle that Bill photographed the other day came crashing down during the night.
Bill lifted icicles from the fence this afternoon.
Time for bed soon.
Tomorrow I have parcels to post and the computer doctor will call to see what Bill has done to his computer.
Labels: home and daily life, rambling thoughts
