IT'S ABOUT TIME TO GET IT TOGETHER

 

 

 

The title of this autobiography has at least two meanings. At the end of Chapter 3, I quoted the late Thomas Merton, a Trappist Monk and prolific author. He said, "We do not want to be beginners. But let us be convinced of the fact that we will never be anything else but beginners, all our life!" Reflecting on my own life as I wrote this, I realized how true this was for me. I have done much, but I have left much undone. So, as I said after quoting Merton, "Of course, I am a beginner in almost every aspect of my life, a sobering thought, since I am now almost 90 years old. I think it's about time that I should really try to get it together." I thought that was a suitable title for my autobiography.

 

But the title has another meaning: I've been methodical in letting family and friends know what I've been up to. I've written over 100 brief memoirs, independently published 88 of them, and have sent out end-of-year updates about my year for most of my adult life. I've done all this so that family and friends might know who I am and what's been happening to me. However, nobody can hold all of that writing in their heads, not even I. In this autobiography, I have tried to get it all together. I'm integrating all those writings into what I hope is a coherent and interesting summary of my life.

 

I initially intended to self-publish this as a paper book, as I did with my collection of memoirs and fiction, but I decided to put it on my website instead.  Winston Churchill famously said, regarding an Allied victory in 1942, "Now this is not the end. It's not even the beginning of the end. But it is, perhaps, the end of the beginning." Even though I am approaching 90, it feels to me as if I still have a lot more living to do.  I hope that is true. If it is, having this document on my website makes it modifiable. If I do anything I consider of interest to others in whatever months and years I have remaining, I will be able to include that content, and if I find that it or any other part of this document no longer holds true, I can delete it. My life isn't over, and neither is my autobiography.

 

So, here for your consideration, and, I hope, enjoyment, is my unfinished story.