My wife had Nazi nightmares last night after reading Diary of A Young Girl, the powerful account of Anne Frank attic escape  I’m  currently reading the biography Grant, whose story might never have been known without numerous diaries, letters to his wife, and his own personal memoirs. I’m also watching the Ken Burn’s documentary, Lewis & Clark, whose accounts were nearly lost in the Missouri River rapids. Such history would long be forgotten without written diaries. Think how much history was obliterated when the ancient Library of Alexandria was destroyed by fire.

Tomorrow’s history of what happens today is “securely” stored in the “Cloud,” as less and less paper is used to record our past. We also have audio  recordings, photographs, and video to protect, that have been unique to only the last few centuries. Diaries have evolved from stone tablets to accurate digital records. Now, just a key stroke can delete the past, while ink is no longer used by the barrel.

A diary almost cost me my current wife. I found and read her private diaries, without her permission. It was very embarrassing for both of us, and became a trust issue before we were married. That was nineteen years ago, and I regret my intervention into her privacy. As a result. she rarely writes any more, while concerned that I put too much of our privacy out there for anyone to read through this blog.

If I ever become famous, these records of my retirement years might someday be valuable. Otherwise, they will have  only have been of value to me as personal therapy. I’m afraid I have cost my wife this emotional outlet that she used effectively until early in our relationship. I have always believed in writing down lists and goals. As I once learned in a Daytimer seminar, “if  you write it down, you do it.” Your words become a personal contract that guides achievement. I also believe in writing down what I’ve done in life, just in case someone else can learn from it. I give you permission to read this!