My Grandma Wrote a Sentence a Day

They added up

I hit a milestone this week: 100 days of keeping an awe diary without missing a single day.

[AND I started this in the winter. AND it’s been the Winter of 2025. So I will accept ALL the pats on the back for this milestone.]

When I write these entries, I often think of my grandmother. Lela Willett Clark kept a daily diary for 50 years. She received a diary as a Christmas gift in 1932, began writing in January 1933, and wrote until her death in 1983.

These were ledgers that only allocated four lines per day — enough for a sentence or two. What does a sentence a day add up to over 50 years?

A 3-pound, 510-page tome.

This is one of her very first entries from January 9, 1933:

Saw my first robin this new year. It appeared so happy — could we all be more like the robin?

A week later, she mentioned the robin again:

A brave robin was seen from my window; a beautiful snowstorm, church, a letter and the day was almost done.

In early February she wrote:

A beautiful clear day after much storm — Robins assure us that Spring will soon be here.

And on February 27, 1933:

Tulips are peeping up almost out of the snow; many robins around.

Look, we all know what what happening in the world in the winter of 1933.

On March 4, FDR would be sworn in and tell the country that in these “dark days” the “only thing we have to fear is fear itself.”

Later that same year, Leila married a widower with two small boys and moved to his ranch in a tiny Idaho town. They later had five more children. So so so many entries detail the number of bread loaves baked or peach jars canned or who Lela (a trained nurse) visited during an illness.

Grandma wrestled with her own physical and mental health challenges throughout her life. Also she kept an eye out for robins.

March 8: We saw our first robin today; made my first angel food cake — splendid success.

Grandma was an awe-seeker, too.

Cheers,

Deborah

P.S.

Awe Diary: Week 14

“Raising Awe-Seekers: How the Science of Wonder Helps Our Kids Thrive” comes out in five weeks! Pre-orders make authors super super happy (hint hint).

Day 99:

My neighbor's daffodils in the rain. (His bloom two weeks before mine -- I need to know his secret!)

Day 100:

Shoutout to the tech who did my mammogram this morning. She greeted me like I was an old friend.

Every time she had me to look a certain direction, there were magnets and beautiful objects she had clearly placed to humanize the exam room.

As I left, she told me she was so glad I came in — and to do something today to treat myself. She was very specific about when I could expect the results.

What a heroic combo of skilled, funny, and compassionate.

Day 101:

I sent a teacher an email with a small, procedural question.

She answered the question — but *also* wrote something really kind about my kid.

And then I got to share that lovely message with my kid.

Day 102:

Every time I take my son to the barbershop, his barber shows me pictures of his kids and fills me in on how they are doing.

I often bring him books for his two youngest kids, and we chat about parenting and milestones and two-year-old tantrums.

He cuts hair 12 hours a day, six days a week to provide for his kids, and he always greets my child (and every customer) with a huge smile and a handshake.

I'm so lucky to know him.

Day 103:

I took my dog on a walk near a high school at dismissal time.

One student waved me over to ask if she could pet him (he *is* the fluffiest fluffinator).

She stroked Cupid gently for a couple of minutes and then smiled at me and said "Thanks, I needed that."

Day 104:

My youngest hit the height/weight guidelines for sitting in the front. His reaction on the drive to school was priceless:

"There are so many windows! I can see everything! Objects in the mirror are closer than they appear -- is that true? WAZE is much cooler to watch from up close! Can I be in charge of the music? I finally have a seat warmer! THIS IS THE LIFE!"

Day 105:

I just finished a zoom author visit -- at my former elementary school 2000 miles away! I attended Canyon Crest the first year it opened (so 40+ years ago).

One of the Kindergartners asked me if there school had any trees when I was there.

"Not really," I said, "We planted a bunch those first few years, but they were still really small when I left. Do you have big trees now?" Every head nodded.

Plant trees and kindnesses. You never know how big they will grow.