My list of pet-peeves grows by the year; sometimes by the
hour.
One peeve is Hypocrites.
Another is when I speak and act like one of my peeves, even
unintentionally.
When I started this tome, my intent was to record for
posterity who I am and why. Not because I want to add my name to the historical
greats, but because I don’t want to be forgotten by my son or Nik’s future
children – and so on, and so on, and so on.
I am fortunate to be able to remember all four of my
grandparents and two of my great-grandmothers. Nik’s maternal grandfather
passed away when Nik was 8, and he tells me he doesn’t remember this
grandfather, what he said, or how he made sacrifices on Nik’s behalf.
Though I have many fond memories of my grandparents, my ability
to recall what they said and remember their positions on important issues are
fading. I’ve been reading a biography of Thomas Jefferson for more than a year
now. Because of the large numbers of letters the writer of the Declaration of
Independence and America’s third president wrote, the author, Jon Meacham, was
able to intricately document Jefferson’s life. In many ways, I know more about
an 18th century and 19th century historical figure than I
know members of my own family.
Such is the case of my maternal great-grandfather William
Francis Boyer. Great-granddad William was a singer in a traveling minstrel
show, and was in San Francisco the day the Earth shook in 1906. I have held and
read the letter he wrote to his mother describing that event, how he sought
safety and how he assisted others. Through his “voice,” a man who died more
than a century ago taught me more about that moment than what I learned in
school.
So why do I recognize the importance and value of getting my
thoughts and experiences recorded and I don’t do it? Here lies the hypocrisy.
During my 20-year journalism career, I received numerous
praises and a couple of awards for my editorials and columns. I’ve written on
many topics – some serious, some funny, some on news and issues, some on
sports. One commonality is I thought ahead about each article.
A majority of the hundreds of thousands of articles I’ve
authored were stories about the event or meeting or game that I was covering. I
thought ahead about how I was going to construct the article, but the “meat” of
the story was given to me. But an editorial or column is my creation – my
“voice.” I want you, the reader, to enjoy what I write. In some cases, I want
to influence your opinion and lead you to question reality and yourself.
I don’t want you to read 500 to 1,000 words and think “Really?”,
“Why?”, “There’s five minutes I’ll never get back.”
But the reality is I am not that deep. I am not overly
scholarly or learned on all topics. Often, something quirky will cross my mind
and make me think about reality and myself. By the way, “quirky” is one of my
favorite words. So is “plethora.”
I don’t have a problem with future generations thinking “that
guy was quirky” because that is what I am, along with sometimes serious, often
comical, and occasionally irrelevant.
Shortly after beginning my research into my ancestry, I
realized that, over time, entire lives get reduced to statistics, a few
unidentified photos, and a tombstone. I want my life to mean more. I don’t want
future generations to wonder why I did something or not do something. And if I
happen to be in the right place at the right time for something historic, I
think it will be really cool for someone to say “My great-granddad Scott was
there, and I know he was because he wrote about it.”
So I am going to try to write more on this blog in honor of
the future. I may not always share what I write on Facebook or some other
media, but it will be here.
And if you end up thinking “Really?”, “Why?” justremember I’m quirky.
