Dear Diary: Daily record kept for 72 years
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The small 5-year diary is tattered, the lock missing, the binding broken, but the memories inside the worn pages tell a life history that has continued to be recorded daily for more than 72 years.
Cleia Schow Barrett, of the Capital Hill 1st Ward, Salt Lake Stake, has kept a daily diary, since Jan. 1, 1939, her 14th birthday. The writing may begin like many entries — her name, her parent's names, and music lessons — but unlike many personal histories, the entries continue each day. Her small neat, handwriting, which began in her first green journal with gold accents, continues today in a red, yearly journal that is special ordered.
In the December 1980 Ensign, President Spencer W. Kimball encouraged the Saints to keep personal journals and family records.
"We may think there is little of interest or importance in what we personally say or do," President Kimball said, "but it is remarkable how many of our families, as we pass on down the line, are interested in all that we do and all that we say."
Generations will know Sister Barrett because of her diaries. She was born in 1925 and grew up during the Great Depression. At the start of World War II, a happy 14-year old wrote that she had practiced piano and gone to her lessons. For the next several years Sister Barrett wrote of daily events and continued to record her history when she attended LDS Business College. Now, she likes to read through her earlier entries and reminisce.
"The other day I got out one of the little, little ones," Sister Barrett said. She keeps her smaller, earlier journals in a leather bag. She reviewed the 1946 entry when she dated her future husband, J. Richard Barrett. She recalled that they walked everywhere and held hands. They were known as the "love birds," a name that sticks today. Names of places are noted, some still in existence, some now torn down. One building was the Rainbow Rendezvous, later called the Terrace Ballroom in Salt Lake City. The Barretts would often go there and Brother Barrett's band would provide music for some of the dances. As part of her record keeping, the Barretts have kept photographs of the band.
Sister Barrett said that keeping a journal is important for her family and also for herself.
"I think that I cared enough about my own life that I was in charge of my own life," she said. She took charge of her life as she continued her education and worked for Utah Gov. Herbert Maw. She shared some of those entries with her husband.
"She has read some of it to me and she has a lot of boyfriends in there," joked Brother Barrett about the diaries. "Cleia does a great job and it keeps her busy. I think it is great for her."
"Today I am 86 years old," she wrote as her first journal entry this year. Sister Barrett recorded the birthday celebration with family and the calls she received. She also wrote the final score of the New Year's game between the Utah Jazz and the Memphis Grizzlies.
Even though some events may seem of little importance now, President Kimball said that as posterity reads of their ancestors' experiences, they "will come to know and love us. And in that glorious day when our families are together in the eternities, we will already be acquainted."
"What could you do better for your children and your children's children than to record the story of your life, your triumphs over adversity, your recovery after a fall, your progress when all seems black, your rejoicing when you had finally achieved?" President Kimball asked. "Some of what you write may be humdrum dates and places, but there will also be rich passages that will be quoted by your posterity."
Collette Judd of the Skyline Ward, Tacoma Washington Stake, can always count on her mom to record important dates such as births, baptisms, graduations, missions and marriages. She said that her mother's diligent diary writing has influenced her to keep a journal.
"When we read back, it kind of reminds you that time passes and there are good things to remember about it and there are those times when you have to work really hard to hold on," said Sister Judd. "I think it is good to know where you came from. It doesn't seem like you are progressing day to day but when you look back you really have."
Sister Judd is grateful her mother has kept a diary and recorded events that provide insight into her life.
"She must have cared about posterity because she cared enough to write something down," Sister Judd said. "I think by doing that you are thinking about the people that come after you."
President Kimball counseled: "If you have not already commenced this important duty in your lives, get a good notebook, a good book that will last through time and into eternity for the angels to look upon. Begin today and write in it your goings and your comings, your deeper thoughts, your achievements, and your failures, your associations and your triumphs, your impressions and your testimonies. We hope you will do this, our brothers and sisters, for this is what the Lord has commanded, and those who keep a personal journal are more likely to keep the Lord in remembrance in their daily lives."
