August 29, 2025
Modoc, US 76 F
Breaking News, Latest News, and Videos

THE EMOTIONS AND CATHARSIS OF TELLING OUR TALES

By Alan D. Bergman

Joan, far right, with her nanny, in 1938.

Not unlike a plumber unclogging a stuffed pipe, recalling our past and telling or writing our stories can release a floodgate of emotions that have long been blocked within us. As a professional biographer/personal historian, I have witnessed how summoning the details of our lives from our memory banks, or even learning missing information about our own or our forefathers’ and foremothers’ life stories, can bring us both joy and pain.

One biography client was Joan, a 90-year-old Holocaust survivor who hired me to

capture and preserve her life story. During a discussion, she mentioned to me how

during her childhood in Prague, the family’s beloved live-in nanny, Ida, one day

announced that she could no longer work for the family because they were Jewish. Ida showed the Nazi swastika pin attached to her shirt collar and disappeared from their lives forever. Thinking back to the enormity of that heart-wrenching moment, Joan let out a soft wail and wept for the next several moments.

The laughter was so hard that it turned to tears when I interviewed one client about his 1950s youth in Cleveland. He was describing his high school fraternity and the age- appropriate hi-jinx he and his buddies pulled as frat members. Unlocking that piece of his past was an unexpectedly joyous experience. His endorphins obviously flowed freely, as the neuroscience of laughter has taught us.

I somewhat nonchalantly mentioned to another client, Anthony, what I had learned

about his dad’s immigration to the U.S. His father had arrived on these shores in a

journey from Naples to Ellis Island in July of 1922. I was shocked when the response

was an audible gasp followed by sobbing. The revelation about his father’s journey must have been like finding a missing piece of himself. All his adult life, he had wondered how, when, and exactly from where his dad came to this country.

During an interview with one client, I asked about her three adult children, having no idea she was completely estranged from them all. As she talked about the

circumstances leading to each estrangement, the anguish on her face became

increasingly apparent. It was a cold February day in New York, yet sweat appeared on her brow. Her insistence on including this aspect of her life in her biography speaks volumes to her commitment to honesty and authenticity in capturing her whole story.

Moments like these highlight the profound trust and connection that can develop

between a biographer and a client. Together, we take a path to create a legacy that

reflects the entirety of their life, both the joys and the struggles. Bringing the past to the forefront can be a richly gratifying and rewarding experience. It is often a huge relief. In fact, this was labeled by Sigmund Freud as Cathartic Emotional Release (CER). Perhaps best of all, preserving these life stories for the next generations prevents them from being lost to history forever.

—————————————-

Alan D. Bergman, a Baby Boomer, is a personal historian and the founder of Life Stories Preserved LLC ( https://LifeStoriesPreserved.net ). He can be reached by email at: ab@LifeStoriesPreserved.net.

Previous Article

Modoc County Record E-edition: Aug 29, 2024

Next Article

8th Annual Modoc Heritage Foundation 

You might be interested in …

Concert Draws a Crowd in Cedarville

Americana singer-songwriter Cruz Contreras packed The 610 on Main Street on Tuesday night, drawing what organizers called the venue’s largest crowd to date. Contreras, best known as the founder and former front man of Knoxville-based […]

Surprise Valley 4-H Communications

By: Cory EvansStudent Reporter There were ten members of the Surprise Valley 4-H club that participated in the communications group. Members worked on Google slide presentations\ on ”How To Do”, animals, tractors, winter activities, and […]

Suspect Sought in Pages Market Burglary

The Modoc County Sheriff’s Office is seeking the public’s assistance in identifying a suspect involved in a recent burglary at Pages Market in Cedarville. The incident occurred on Thursday, December 26, 2024, at approximately 10:45 […]

Hadassah Places Fifth in Country

Surprise Valley Wrestler, Hadassah Almanza, of Fort Bidwell, CA attended the 2025 Reno World Championships of Wrestling on April 3-6 at the Reno Events Center. Hadassah faced tough competition wrestling girls from New York, Oklahoma, […]

Nicholas Karrasch: Prints and Photographs

By Lawrence Rinder Nicholas Karrasch is well-known in Surprise Valley and vicinity for his paintings inspired by the geography and spirit of the local landscape. Karrasch’s mural-size chalk drawing of the Warner Mountains which hangs […]