something special in hand

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My mother has been talking about writing her biography for a LONG time. I was a little weary of the idea when she first mentioned it five years ago. Mum is unceremonious, audacious and straight up crazy at the best of times. Her biography seemed to me, at the time, like the fastest way to be exposed to enough overshare to necessitate intense psychological treatment and ongoing mental health care.

But that was five years ago. 

Only a month ago I suggested to mum that we work on her biography together. I figured that I'd probably notch up enough reasons to need the afore mentioned treatment anyway - may as well get on with it. Also, I'd been thinking a lot about mum's childhood and all the stories that I'd always loved - truthfully, I couldn't think of anything I'd rather to work on!

Mum grew up in South Africa during Apartheid. The historical, social and political context of her stories alone are facinating. Add to that a bevy of crazy relatives, four displaced siblings, poverty, daily injustices and the challenges of being a "Coloured" but looking like a "White". Oh and also that fact that mother dear has a habit of talking herself into and out of the most bizarre and hilarious situations.

So we met at the library the following Saturday morning to plan the basic framework and chapter breakdown. And well, we laughed so hard that even the high school students attempting to study around us gave us dirty looks. At our next meeting (in a coffee shop) we began writing a chapter from her early childhood, living in an orphanage with her sister. Again we laughed a lot, but then there were these moments where we found ourselves overwhelmed by the sadness of those experiences and suddenly tears would spring up out of no where.

I started this journey with mum because I wanted to help her get these incredible stories out. I also thought it would be great to have another project to get my mind off my WIP novel, when it gave me grief. But in less than a month this exercise has come to mean so much more to me. To hear my mother talk about herself as a little girl, her feelings at climactic points of her life or in South Africa's history. To see the links forming between all the stories I grew up hearing. To talk about my father (who was murdered a long time ago). To talk about the history of my country and my family. It's a really beautiful thing and I feel incredibly lucky to be sharing it all with this wild, determined woman.

I'll keep you updated with our progress!

Do you have a writing project that means a lot to you? Have you written a biography? Do you think you'll ever give it a try?