The laughter from the back room made me stop and open the door.
Micah and her friend, Miriam, were on the bed, backs against the wall, looking at a red book.
It was my wife’s journal, and they were going through it page by page, reading about old boyfriends, crushes, goals and other chapters in her life.
One entry from October 1988 especially caught their eye.
“Salt Lake and the Temple Square were pretty interesting. Oh yeah, and the waffles were good to. And Mike proposed.”
Funny mom. She’s talking about me, the afterthought, of course.
Yeah, that’s real funny girls. That’s a good one. I soon closed the door so I could go lock up my journal away from any prying eyes. I can’t let them see what a loser I was.
Two things you should know about my journal. No. 1. My entries always seemed to consist of something like this.
Dear Journal:
Life stinks.
Mom hates me.
Girls are stupid.
The end.
That entry, at times, comes with a slight variation.
Dear Journal.
She glanced at me.
It must be true love.
The end.
No. 2 My writing is still looked like a cross between an ancient Mayan text and drunk Cyrillic penmanship. Here’s an entry from 1982 to judge for yourself.
A testament to the power of positive thinking.
So back to my wife’s journal. She’s been gone for a few days so what my daughter was doing. But watching my daughter’s face light up and laugh, I don’t think she would mind.
Maybe people won’t pour over our journals when we’re famous. Scintillating items from school dances won’t be included in our biographies.
But at least our kids will read them. And in between the laughs and the snickers, they might just learn something.
5 comments
sahansSteph says:
Jul 8, 2009
Possibly why I never kept a journal. And I never had a daughter. My secrets are safe.
Laure_A says:
Jul 8, 2009
I used to keep a journal until it was violated and used against me. Private thoughts and feelings are just that: Private.
I wouldn't want anyone, including my kids, reading my journal without my permission. Unless I were dead and couldn't grant that permission.
kathrynskaggs says:
Jul 8, 2009
How sweet. Journals should be uplifting.
tDMg
Cory_Frye says:
Jul 9, 2009
June 9, 1982. Ah, brings back a lot of memories. Of the fourth grade.
CateHahn says:
Jul 9, 2009
Shame on you, Mike! You hide your journal and let the kids read Barb's? That should be her decision to make. How can we encourage our children to write in journals when they can't trust them to be kept sacred? Now put your 'Dad's in charge' hat back on and make those children behave! After all, Barb will only be gone 2 more days. BTW, say her at camp when I picked Candra up today – Barb was looking very relaxed and laughing. Hope you are, too1