That memoir about the time I spent with my paternal grandmother is now in the works. However, when I reached out to my aunts and uncles in Iran to ask them for old photos of my grandparents, they referred me to their children, specifically their younger children, because they themselves lacked the skills to scan these photos and send them to me. When I talked to my younger cousins, I realized some of them have never met our grandfather and many don't remember much of our grandmother.
Consequently, that book idea has now become two different projects. I'm still working on my memoir in English, but I'm also putting together a kind of family album in Persian with the collaboration of almost my entire family in Iran. Some are sending memorable photos; others are sending anecdotes; and a few are sending recipes, and I'm organizing everything. I hope to live long enough and have the ability to complete this project and leave this family album for the future generations of our rather large family in Iran.
I'm doing my best and trying to move this huge project forward a little every day. Once I'm done with the English memoir, I may have to learn to type in Persian, a skill I've never taken the time to learn because I haven't had much use for it. My father did suggest that I handwrite the book because he believes my Persian handwriting is clear, but I'm not convinced and haven't made my final decision about that aspect of our family album yet. Who knows?
All I know is that when it comes to writing, things don't always go according to plan.
