My Nana was a great storyteller. Not that I was particularly interested in her stories. At least not at 10 or 20 or 30 years of age. Then by the time I realized what a fascinating life she had led and the many, many questions I wanted to ask her – she had died.
Enter Jennifer Nelson of “Your Stories Too,” a company she founded to help people “turn their memories into memoirs,” using her more than 20 years of writing experience at magazines, newspapers, and literary journals.
Jennifer’s own life has been rich and varied. She is the daughter of a diplomat and spent much of her life abroad in such countries as Morocco, Egypt, and the Philippines. She graduated from the American School in England.
She earned a master’s degree in journalism from Columbia University.
Right after college, she joined the Peace Corps to teach English in Niger, West Africa, where she had few resources, no books, technology, or audio devices. “A pencil and a notebook,” she says, “and that was it!”
After that, Jennifer worked as a journalist for various publications in New Brunswick and Princeton, N.J., as well as New York City.
By then, she had three children and was getting a divorce. She felt that teaching would be a profession more conducive to being a mother with young children.
Over the years, she taught middle and high school students at Villa Victoria Academy, a private school in Trenton, N.J., then moved to public schools in Mercer County.
A friend encouraged her to write down the stories she had accumulated about teaching. Last year, her book, “Teaching With Heart: Lessons Learned in a Classroom,” came out. Jennifer says it is more of an advice book than a memoir and includes sidebars about teacher salaries, top classroom management techniques, the process for certification, and differences between public and private schools.
I ask what brought her to memoir writing. “My mom passed away at the age of 94. No one had written her story — and she had a fascinating life being the wife of a diplomat and raising six kids abroad. My siblings and I decided we needed to create a book so that her legacy would never be forgotten.”
Jennifer took charge of the project. “I asked my siblings to contribute their memories of Mom. I used my father’s recollections of his marriage to his beautiful bride, Patsy, for some chapters, and I penned my own recollections of her in retirement. My two brothers scanned thousands of old photos, sending the best ones to me.”
She says writing the book helped her through the grief of losing her mother. “In the end, we were all pleased with the book, ‘Six Kids, Five Continents.’ She felt writing the book made her mom come alive for her once again and helped her be able to say goodbye.
It occurred to Jennifer she could help others this way and she started assisting people in writing their memoirs professionally.
“I like to find out what makes people tick, no matter the person’s age. It’s rewarding to discover what life was like for them, living for decades, and what they hold dear. Clients find joy in recollecting people, places and events that brought them happiness. And for challenging times, how they overcame obstacles. I enjoy being the one who helps them reminisce about the past and reflect about the richness of their lives.”
I can’t keep myself from interrupting to ask if one must include everything that happened. I mean when I write my memoir, I don’t know if I want to include that one time when I — Never mind.
Jennifer says, “I recommend people think about their audience before deciding what to leave out or include. They should think about what legacy they want to leave behind and how they want to be remembered.”
Her goal is to “help people record their stories, before it’s too late and the memories are forgotten forever and pen those recollections in a book that family members will treasure.”
The website for her book, “Teaching With Heart,” is jenniewrites.com and for her business, it is yourstoriestoo.com.
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