I TRY to put deadlines on myself, I really do try! It rarely works. Yesterday I was entering newly received data into the genealogy program and found in the notes associated with the person I was entering data on that I had said in a cross-reference that a relevant book would be "privately printed in 2005." It is 2008, and I hope that this book will get done this year. Heavy sigh.
Sometimes, however, deadlines have more weight, and actually do help. In less than six weeks' time there is a family reunion (of the grandchildren of Katharina and Jacob Rempel, Katharina being a daughter of Elizabeth Niebuhr of the Aron line) and for that reunion I must have ready copies of the Rempel Cousin Stories. If I weren't having so much fun with this blog I would probably put in more work on that book.
The idea for the Rempel Cousins Stories came from an earlier book, Rempel Stories, 2002. And THAT book demanded to be prepared when I found that several of the Rempel aunts and uncles, and indeed Grandmother Katharina herself, had written stories of their lives. I collected and edited these stories and printed the book in two volumes. I will write more about it in a later entry. Meantime, the Rempel COUSINS book is on the boil and demanding to be fully cooked by the end of July.
Assembling stories already written by the cousins is one matter, and extracting stories from cousins who have not yet written is another matter entirely. For several years I have been reminding my cousins in the twice-yearly letters-to-all about writing stories; last November I gave them a deadline (April 30, 2008) for inclusion in the edition targeted for the reunion this summer. The deadline evoked a spate of new stories - thank you, cousins! - but there remain several whose stories will be absent from the book.
At least - absent from THIS edition of the book - that's the marvel of the computer. I print up very few copies at a time and bind them myself, so if I want to make changes, it is no big matter to do so and print up more copies.
And why do I want to collect cousin stories? a) they are interesting and worthwhile in themselves; b) everyone should be encouraged to write of their lives and the prospect of being published in a family book being published may constitute encouragement; and c) when I have found/acquired/been given stories written by older generations I have been moved, enthralled, in awe, and I have felt more closely CONNECTED to the writer.
The underlying purpose of my entire retirement passion is to become more closely connected to my extended family, past, present and future. Putting their words into books is one way of doing that.
I have two days off, starting tomorrow. WHAT? DAYS OFF? I am supposed to be retired. Yes, days off. Days when I have no commitments away from home, no duties at home which will occupy significant parts of the day. Those days are rare, and having two in a row is rarer still. I shall use them to complete, print and bind copies of the Rempel Cousins Book.