IT'S ABOUT TIME TO GET IT TOGETHER

 

 

 

The title of this autobiography has multiple 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, 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." 

 

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. However, nobody can coherently keep in mind all of that writing, not even I. Therefore, in this autobiography, I have tried to integrate all those writings into what I hope is a coherent and interesting summary of my life. I'm trying to get it all together.

 

I initially intended to self-publish this as a physical book, as I did with my collection of memoirs and fiction, but I decided to put it on my website instead.  As I mentioned, I'm almost 90 years old and have imagined this document as an end-of-life reflection. In thinking about that, however, I recalled what 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." It feels to me as if I still have some more living to do.  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 it in these pages. 

 

You will note that all of the chapters in this document are to be accessed separately. You can't scroll down to the next chapter but must come back to the menu. I have done this to keep what you are reading relatively short so it's easy to get back to where you left off. Going back to a particular location of a long document can be difficult. 

 

Anyway, here, for your consideration, and I hope, enjoyment, is my as yet unfinished attempt to finally get it all together.