COLLECTING MEMORIES…..

 

 by Rosemary Lord

            Well, it was good to get away and take a break from all the Hollywood goings-on.

I’ve just returned from visiting my family in England – some sunshine, some rain!

            It was a special trip that my siblings and I made to a little village deep in the Wiltshire countryside to picturesque 16^th-century village church, where we gave our eldest brother and his wife a final ‘send-off’, surrounded by those who loved them – us siblings, their four grown-up children and grandchildren.  It was another occasion for remembrances of childhood escapades – lots of tears and giggles. Followed by lots of tea and cake in the church hall.

        

    After a long, happy marriage, my brother Peter and his wife Margaret – still as much in love as ever – had both caught pneumonia during the bitter winter, and had died within 48 hours of each other. Never to be separated. We remembered the tales Peter had told about various relatives, and especially our Mum and Dad.           

            That started our quest to find out more about our family. As the eldest, our brother Peter had more memories and information about Mum and Dad, grandparents and assorted relatives and life during World War Two. He’d written down things he’d heard about Dad’s time during active service in the Royal Navy in WWII – and Mum’s own life.  I realized that each of us had different tales, different family stories.

            Mum would talk to me about her love of Hollywood, planting the seeds of inspiration for the life I have led. How she would send away for Hollywood Movie magazines, follow the American movie stars, from Clara Bow to Joan Bennett. She’d copy their hairstyles and fashions, send away for little pots of ‘eye-black’ or face-creams – guaranteed to give you a’ Hollywood Movie Star complexion’ advertised in the magazines.

            I squirreled away these nuggets of information to later be used in my writing. I used a lot of Mum’s details in my Lottie Topaz novels and colored with information I gleaned from Mum and her love of Hollywood. I know she was thrilled when I chose to live here, even though she missed me. She lived vicariously through me.

            My brother Peter knew more about Dad’s time during WWII. About the time he was Paymaster on the famous Ark Royal Aircraft Carrier when it was sunk in the Mediterranean, by a German torpedo in 1941. After orders to abandon ship, men scurried to find the life-boats as the ship was sinking. But our quiet, shy Dad pushed past the escaping men, clambering down into the bowels of the ship to retrieve the ship’s code-books and the money from the safe – so he could pay the men. Peter shared tales he’d learned of Dad’s life in the Navy or living in an orphanage after Grandpa Lord died.  Dad was in the same kindergarten class as Archibald Leach – later known as Cary Grant. More about that another time….

            Children often overhear their elders’ conversations. Thankfully, our family’s young brains retained fragments of tales and characters. Especially me! So we’re now sharing these snippets in order to make one whole cloth of a family story.

            Brother Peter met his wife Margaret at a Writers’ workshop.  He had stories published in magazines and had written a spec script for “The Avengers” television series. But that writing life got lost along the way after he and Margaret married and the children came along. Life takes us in different directions. So he was delighted when I began to make a living (of sorts) from my writing and published books.

            Like our parents, we were voracious readers, discussions about books were frequent. We remaining four siblings have different information about various relatives. Our brother-in-law Peter, skilled at deep research, bringing us dates and facts and lineage, pulling it all together, recently found a photo of our paternal grandpa, Detective Ernest Lord of the Bristol Constabulary.

            Now, bringing us all together during this tragic episode in our lives, we’ve been pooling these tales to write our family history. I’d asked my brother Peter to make notes for me, whenever he remembered something. Notes I treasure. Our writer’s minds works continuously, mentally jotting down words, sentences overheard, characters imprinted on our literary brains. I’ve squirreled these away to turn into another engrossing novel.

            As I return to my hurried, sometimes seemingly senseless, Hollywood life, I reflect on the time spent with my family. Reflecting on my lovely big brother, Peter, and his devoted, super-smart wife Margaret, who had taken the time to give me feedback and notes on my first draft of my Lottie Topaz novel.

            Memories of our childhood, our relatives, families and friends are often invaluable fodder for our stories. Gayle Bartos Pool uses her family history in her profusion of books. Miko wrote of her family’s dramatic history in her Petal In The Wind series. We have so many tales inside us that should be told. Stories to be shared.

Now is the time, I tell myself, I will finally turn them into stories that I can breathe life into for readers to discover. And this is what we do as writers, isn’t it? Tell stories.

Know what I mean?