We hear a lot about journals. In an age when we bang away at keys on a computer rather than sending handwritten notes and letters, the idea of keeping a journal seems painstaking.

You mean, write down our thoughts and memories, by long hand? I perceive it that way, but there's no reason you can't use a typewriter, if desired, or a computer … or a pen or pencil.

As Nike might advise -- just do it.

Just remember, this is for keeping. This will, hopefully, go from one generation to another.

Why? So that we can learn from our ancestors what it was like back then -- and also learn about ourselves .

Every day, for example, I wish I had asked my parents more questions while they were still here. How did they or their parents meet? What did they like as children? Where did they go to school?

A couple of weeks ago, I went to the post office to pick up a certified envelope , for which I had to sign, having no idea what was contained in the large envelope.

It looked important. I looked at the return address and it still didn't ring a bell, but then I opened it and a piece of paper fell out of the loose-leaf book called "Grandma's Memoirs."

No, it wasn't my grandma, although I wished that it had been. And it was important. It was from Elizabeth Moran, of Banksville . We have corresponded from time to time, usually when something I have written reminds her of something -- or someone. We are both sentimental souls .

Mrs. Moran explained in her note she, too, had watched "The War" series on PBS, as I had, and she thought I might like to read about what it was like at that time "over the pond," where it all began.

"I'm sending you the copy of my memories written in 2000 and also some earlier ones from 1960. It was printed this year for family and friends, and I consider you a friend, reading your column every week on the Internet and writing to you in the past."

How fortunate her family is to have such a documented and human, touching story about her youth, growing up in Blyth, Northumberland, England, then meeting and marrying Polish husband, Steve, and the war years and their growing family.

"It's kinda' personal, kinda' corny, with many mistakes, but it tells it like it was back then," she writes.

I sat reading it, wishing it was my family she was telling me about. It is just delightful, with many pictures, including one of the family of four (Elizabeth, Steve, and children Tony and Barbara) dining on the USS United States in January of 1957 when they sailed here to begin their life in this country.

As Elizabeth, now 82, recalls, "Soon we were walking up that gang plank of the fastest ship in the world, embarking on an incredible journey that would change our lives forever. But that's another story to be told later."

She wrote her memories longhand, then had them typed into a computer and printed for her notebooks. She says she has been keeping a diary for the past 10 years, so there will be even more for her family to learn about her life.

She also wrote a very long poem in 1960, describing what she felt when they left England. It's timely for the season.

"We were introduced to Pittsburgh's fair city at the pleasant time of yule-tide gaiety, streets bedecked so pretty, Christmas bulbs shining, bright colors enhanced by lights intertwining.

"There wasn't much time for forming impressions, because of the urgency of secession to meet at last this new home-town of ours, a meeting we'd been contemplating for hours.

"A few moments later all our dreams came true as this adorable city came into view.

"At first sight we knew we would adore it. This city was ours from the moment we saw it."

Dates, times, places and people. They are all there from Elizabeth Isabel Moran's memories from 50 years ago. Nobody else could have told this story with its detail and personal expression.

If it is considered corny (her words), so be it.

It's a love story … for a man, for her children, grandchildren, for a new country and for a city she would call home.

We all have a story.

Make it a resolution for 2008 to begin to write down your family history, the personal, the sad, the drama or lack of it … the corny parts particularly because they are yours and yours alone.

Just do it … and Happy New Year.