Family Reunion, New Book, Food For Thought – Difference between a Memoir and a Novel

l-r, back-Judy, John, Mark, Rob, Marc; front- Tanya, Bradley, Evelyn, Julia, AJ (June)

They say time flies over the years. What was once a future that seemed out of reach, becomes our present, in the blink of an eye. It is said also that time speeds up when one gets older. My Uncle Newt told me this many years ago when I was still a child of eleven or twelve, and I laughed at him out of child naivety, knowing I had no idea what he meant- how can time speed up?

But, guess what? It does! This crossed my mind as I packed the sandwiches and drinks that Sunday morning of June 30th of last. I swore I said my goodbyes to my niece Tanya just yesterday, well, maybe three or four years ago, in Charlottetown, PEI, at their summer cottage by the ocean. (It was seven)! And Uncle John and Judy were, I admit, a little harder to remember, but saying goodbye all those years ago on a cold winter morning in Calgary was still fresh in my mind. Was it ten years, or twelve? ( It turned out to be 2008, 16 years)!

I see my niece Julia and her family every year in Canada, and my son Marc, two or three times a year. And the other family members visit each other more often, especially Julia and Tanya. But, on the whole, it’s been a ‘few’ years for most of us. A drop in the bucket, right?

*************************Reunion**********************

After picking up Marc, John and Judy at Faro International Airport in Portugal, we met up with Julia, her husband Rob, son Mark, fifteen, and daughter Evelyn, twelve, Tanya, and her son, Bradley, six.

There were happy bear hugs all around! Our little family was reunited again. To clarify who is who, Julia and Tanya are sisters, with Julia and family living in Ottawa, Tanya and Bradley in Charlottetown, P. E.I; John and Judy are the Aunt and Uncle to Julia and Tanya and live in Wistow, Leicestershire, England; Marc, my son, is first cousin to Tanya and Julia and lives in Winterthur, Switzerland, but no relation to John. My sister Joan, Tanya and Julia’s mom, couldn’t make it due to a hip operation, and lives in Ottawa also. My grandson, Marc’s son, Rafael, who also lives in Switzerland, couldn’t make it also. Our family has grown small over the years. And we are spread out over four countries, and two continents, making it all the more difficult.

We spent nine glorious days together in Alvor, Algarve, southern Portugal. Some days we collected shells along the beach, or swam in the Atlantic ocean, others, we went sightseeing to St. Vincent, the most western part of Portugal and Europe; Boat trips to Lagos to the west – cave hopping and shopping at the markets; Sunset Cruise along the coast to Portimao; drives to Carvoeiro and Ferragudo; watching the world cup football (soccer to us) at Jolly’s; dining in many restaurants and cafes, eating typical Portuguese food, sushi, pastas, pizza, English breakfasts; drinking beer and vino verde, a typical sightly bubbly wine that us girls especially loved, sangria and creamy coffees.

We caught up on each other’s lives, shared stories and photos of the past, and reminisced about the old days and family members who were no longer with us. One beloved person was John’s brother Bob, father to Tanya and Julia, who died in 2008. ( I saw them last at his funeral). They all, of course, knew my parents, Ruth and Bruce, from Lethbridge, Alberta, who passed away in 2010-11, laughing over the many wonderful barbeques and Christmas’s together at Joan and Bob’s house in Okotoks, Alberta in the nineties and early 2,000’s.

Sharing these special moments reintegrated the importance of family. As happens with families, we always had a strong connection to see each other, but many factors stood in the way, one being, COVID. Marc and I had planned to visit to John and Judy in 2020, then COVID took over our lives. There is also the universal dilemma of age playing on the minds of some of us, plus the kids growing up fast – time does fly! Our happy faces told of our joy that we did it, and it has sparked other reunions! Our next one, a yearly event, will be in the UK- John and Judy’s home, Wistow, Leicestershire, and in Scotland. (the birth mother’s family history, the McDonald’s, dates back to our ancestors living there before they immigrated to Canada in the 1700s). There are also sub-trips planned to France and Ireland. We’re all very excited about seeing each other again in 2025, and we know it will be as memorable and fun as our summer reunion in Portugal!

My Books:

My books are going through minor changes. My first book, I Heard the Alps Call His Name, is having it’s cover updated and a few minor changes to the text. It is still available on Amazon, Good Reads, Kindle, and others, so don’t worry. My latest book, Across the Pond, Torn Between Two Worlds, also went through a revised cover, some text changes and photo changes, minor overall. It is still available at: books 2 read/across the pond, Barnes & Noble, Goodreads, plus many more. The book is still pending on Amazon. A special is offered on: Smashwords.com code: WBUCK for US $1.99 until August 15th.

What’s Up Next?

My next book is spinning in a very different direction and genre. The initial draft and ideas are being written as we speak – a thriller, with a twist of a mystery, novel. I’m not spilling the beans on it, want to keep you guessing! The plot is still in its infant stage and the characters are coming to life in a most audacious way! Stay tuned!

What is a Novel, a Memoir, an Autobiography?

My first two books were memoirs. I wrote them to tell my story because a good memoir needs to take the reader on a journey with them – good plotting, characterization, dialogue and thematic resonance. This is similar to a good novelist. It can include a short period in the writer’s life, a few years, or decades. It is an intimate moment in time, a period that defined or influenced the writer in some way. My first memoir spanned eleven years during an extremely crucial time in my life. It defined who I became in later years. 

In retrospect, an autobiography tends to be more concerned with a person’s life from cradle to the grave in chronological order. It is more fact based, telling the story of someone’s life. In each case, a writer must stay true to the story, in other words, they need to write it as best as they can remember. Although a memoir, in particular, might make certain liberties with chronology, conflate characters, reimagine dialogue, with the aim of creating a vivid and arresting picture for the reader, it can’t stray from the truth.

A novel can deviate away from the truth, but a good novelist needs to be true to it’s characters, and also captivate an audience and indulge the reader.

It was important for me to write my stories as the past was eating away at me and screaming to get out. I needed to make sense of what happened, especially in the first book, and I needed to heal, emotionally and spiritually. Did I accomplish this? Yes, more than I can say. It was all worth it.

The sequel,or second book, is about how two poor little orphans who found a better life after a rough beginning. And to talk about my heritage and ancestry. It also continued with our lives after the first book, up to the present. The journey is over. For me, my memoir-writing days are done. If there are other stories to be told about my life, they will intertwined into the juicy parts of my novels, fictional short stories, poems, even in my artwork.

Over the years, I have binders full of fiction and non-fiction stories. My favorite genre is short stories, which I have binders full, with many files tucked away in my Google Docs. Some have found a home in magazines and essays and writing competitions, others are waiting their turns.

I’m looking forward going down this path of fiction writing. I find it exciting because I can make up my characters any way that I want. They can live lives as I see fit to give them, adventures I will take them on, and plots and twists along the way that will make Agatha Christie roll over in her grave! I am humble enough to know I will never be as gifted as her, but I will have fun trying! And I think there just might be a little piece of me in each story, as is true for most authors. Stay tuned!