‘Have you started my story,’ I heard my mother ask.

She was phoning from heaven. I was astonished because I didn’t think she could phone me from heaven. I paused. I didn’t know what to say. I had been planning to start her story.

‘I haven’t …but I am planning to…’ my voice trailed off.

Then I asked a cheeky question: ‘Will it make a difference to you?’ I was thinking: how would I writing her story make a difference now that she is on the other side?

I awoke and realised I had been dreaming but it was a relevant question ‘have you started my story?’ and it was then that I knew that if there was one last thing I wanted to do it would be to write it.

Last Sunday I asked what is sprouting in my life or yours. This is what has been sprouting in my life for the last three or four months: I am writing her story. Normally I would be frightened off by such a vast project. My projects normally grow bigger and bigger as I go; and then I throw my hands in the air and give up. This time I have started with nurturing. Part of nurturing has been

1. to create a plan
2. start at the beginning
3. do the research
4. collate the research
5. decide on the message of the story
6. decide on a genre etc. etc.

For sure, there’s a part of me that says I don’t know enough about… this .. or .. that; and a whole lot of other sabotaging thoughts but I now think to myself ‘if I don’t try I will never know if I can do it.’ Up till now I have been researching my mother’s side of the family tree and getting acquainted with her and my ancestry. It was going to serve as a backdrop to her story but I don’t think she or I knew how much of the history matters to her story. The story really matters to me, more than I think she could ever know.

I have been working on it consistently every week, along with my daily chores, gardening, blogging and art. The process has been refreshing, exciting, challenging, astonishing and very rewarding. It’s going to be Narrative non-fiction. I have been tempted to share more, I’m almost excited to introduce you to my ancestors but I think less is best for now.

I hope you have a blessed and peaceful week

~Morag Noffke~