Telling people's stories

A long time ago my Mom decided to help an old lady who lived down the street write down her life story. They would sit together, and she would tell Mom all sorts of things, and Mom would take down notes. I bet she wrote it in shorthand. She was one of the old school secretaries before dictation machines and the proliferation of word processors and computers who actually knew shorthand and used it for years. She would sign notes to Dad with shorthand. I am guessing it meant "I love you" but I'm not sure.

Once she had all her notes she went and typed up the story, made copies for the woman, and she distributed it to her family. I guess everyone loved it. So over the years Mom would find people who would let her "write their stories" as she called it. I remember Mom saying email made it easier because she got more detail from the people and it made the stories better. Of course, not all old ladies would use email. :) Mom seemed to really love doing it. But she never did write her own story. I don't know if she felt the need to do so. I don't know if she ever wrote in a journal either. She seemed to live so much in the present. She also had the mentality of not spending time worrying about yourself... I wish she had worried more about herself, but then that just wasn't her way.

My father, when he was out of high school but before the Air Force, went in with a couple friends and bought an old Model A Ford and drove from Iowa to California... stopping along the way to work and earn money to pay their way. Then they drove back and sold the car. At one point Dad bought several model cars like the one he had driven on that trip. He even bought an old atlas from the year of his trip that showed all the roads before the interstates. He talked about sitting down and mapping out the route he had taken. I wondered if maybe Mom would write his story too. But it wasn't to be.

I think Mom was a woman of many talents. I hope she knew she was talented. But I know if you tried to tell her she was talented she would have said "No, anybody can do this!"