Our children signed us up for a STORYWORTH project with the goal of telling our life stories by answering questions posed by them.  Each one of us answered 52+ questions over the period of Dec 25, 2020, through Dec 24, 2021, on a weekly cadence.  The end result is a hard bound book of these stories (one each for the two of us).  The questions covered all phases of our lives – from birth to present.  Answering the questions required us to take a stock of our lives and “bare” our souls.  The emotions covered the whole gamut, joy/sorrow, comfort/discomfort, hits/misses, etc.  If you are interested in knowing more about the project, please visit the STORYWORTH.COM website.
–  Geeta and Ashok Gupta

This rhyming prose piece is an attempt to summarize my discoveries as I documented my life.

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Going down the memory lane
Felt bit of joy mixed with pain

Stories of seventy-three years
Hopes, wishes regrets and fears

Life story unfolded in stop motion
Regret and joy in good proportion

Could haves, should haves abound
Many forks in the road, I found

Missteps and steps missed
Sound advice often dissed

Successes and failures
Nemesis and saviors

Life lived, not a bed of roses
Always running, few reposes

Childhood’s Innocence
Adulthood’s defiance

Doubts of middle age
Melancholy of late stage

Leaving home for far away land
Much pain in wake to withstand

Marriage, not a panacea
Love? – not a fantasia

Gift of children, hard to match
Not much free time to snatch

Kids left coop to be on their own
Concern for them, not overblown

Empty nesters; the two of us
More time to argue amid ruckus

Will my kids be better off?
Concern is real, don’t scoff

Civil society’s breakdown
Enmity towards Black & Brown

Reality of racial hate and diatribe
Poison of prejudice, hard to imbibe

Climate out of control
Damaging planet’s soul

We All share the blame
Lofty rhetoric sans shame

Where did the time go?
Lost shine and glow!

Where did the time go?
Just started moments ago!

Strengths and weaknesses’ tussle
Coping daily life’s hustle & bustle

What golden years?
Old age curse and fears

Aching muscles, joints in pain
Lot to lose, not much to gain

Live to work or work to live?
Stressed, no more to give

Unafraid; can see the end
Grim reaper around the bend

End is not negotiable
Want to go while able

What’s ahead, I wonder?
Peace & quiet go asunder?

Overall, had a good run,
Blend of sorrow and fun

Those I hurt, please forgive
My goal now, live and let live.

Wish everyone only the best
Enjoy & savor, life is not a quest.

May peace with you now and forever.