So, was this effort worth it? Well, I guess that is up to you folks – I hope at least you got a little chuckle out of all this.
And as for me, yes – definitely: it took longer than I thought it would, but I had a blast taking this stroll down memory lane. The need to “fact-check” through seven decades of memories led to me to a number of pleasant conversations with people from the past. And most of it was easy – probably the toughest thing was to decide when I was done tinkering, er, I mean completing my final edits, and actually get it out.
Perhaps this modest collection of anecdotes will inspire others to undertake similar projects – I humbly suggest you don’t leave it to others to produce a narration of your life that is as explanative as what you believe it to be. At the least, it may trigger pleasant memories of days gone by and encourage you to get in contact with old friends.
Conversely, maybe you have considered jotting down your own memoirs, and consider my effort as just some self-serving dreck. In which case, you could use this narrative as a great lesson of what not to do.
But now it’s done and I can turn my attention elsewhere.
And yes Carolynn, OK – I’ll take out the trash now.
And remember, please make all checks payable to “Cash”.
Oh, and [attempting my best Clark Gable imitation]: frankly my dear, the Butler did it1.
1 Which, you may remember, was the question posed in the Forward.