This Letter from Sally also could be called my big reset. The good thing is Josie takes care of choosing the title. It’ s taken me many months to write you this letter. Maybe you’ ll be able to relate to what’ s in it.

Being overwhelmed is one thing. Realizing only you can do something about it is the important part. Speaking of“ important,” there’ s been my version of that word, and God’ s version. My version got tangled up with being“ nice” to do and doing things because it appeared nobody else wanted to do them.

God has been ever patient with me. It has taken me a while to eliminate four giant to-dos from my life. My relief has been immense, once I realized nobody else put them on me or made the piles on our couch.

The first three were stories to compose, using pages in a notepad and“ cold” shorthand, as well as pictures.

There was the article about Coshocton Historical

Club’ s October 2023 meeting at the old Walnut Street Fire Station. You would have enjoyed reading about the stories Steve Mercer and Steve Clark told us because Steve M. has collected memorabilia and stories while Steve C. worked in that building for 23 years, or maybe it was 26. We enjoyed seeing the short video of an old fire house receiving the alarm and getting out the door with the horses all hooked up and the firemen dressed.

Among the 33 pictures I took are ones of Lula Williams pointing to the old red fire alarm box as she told about the one near her house as a child. Dianne Wallace Peffer was in pictures, telling stories of being at that fire house when her dad was fire captain. That project is going to be placed in a hanging file for some day

in the future, once I get‘ round to it.

On April 16 Glenn and I joined members of Church Women United, which had a wonderful tour of Missionary Maintenance up at our airport. The people at MMS are celebrating 50 years of existence. My title was going to be“ Did you know that we have a whole nest of missionaries right here in Coshocton?” There’ s a whole wad of Post-it Notes to accompany the 42 pictures I took that are stuffed into another file folder.

My third file folder holds notes I took at the May 6 gathering and dinner of former GE employees at the Moose Lodge. There are 18 pictures to accompany all the things that could be written about that evening. Instead, a future Letter from Sally will be titled“ My memories of working at GE, part one.”

Here’ s my big realization: There are many people who could write these three articles, after making many phone calls to check

the facts and dates that would be involved in being a newspaper reporter or feature writer. But I’ m the only person who can write a Letter from Sally.

The fourth project that took me the longest to relinquish is my journal. It still calls to me, to reach a neat conclusion from

A quote from a childhood story about a red caboose was,“ I think I can. I think I can.”

What is your real reason you put off projects you know you need to do? How long will this accomplishment actually take? Ask for help.

Set a goal, a timeline. You will be pleased when it is finished. Some things take more energy but are so worth it when you’ ve reached what you’ ve set out to do.

How many“ some days” have already

April 27, my last day half recorded, and May 11, the day I decided to not do it any more. There are special notes about what happened on both of those days, but all my notes are stuffed into a bag, along with the fairly new journal I started in April. You’ ll understand the importance

of my struggle to make this decision when I tell you I’ ve been writing a journal since Jan. 1, 1976, the year of America’ s bicentennial. That’ s 49 1 / 3 years.

Wait’ ll you read my next Letter from Sally. Write-On Writers Guild members clapped after I read it to them.

passed? Do it for yourself and also your family. Be like the red caboose and say,“ I know I can, I know I can,” and be proud.

> edwardjones. com Member | SIPC