My grandma is 101 years old. She has stories, and if you’ve spent any amount of time with her over the years, you know a few of them.

Gran could tell the same story for twenty years, and every time it was just as interesting as the first time you heard it.

The stories start with the adventure on the ship on the way to America from Scotland in the early 1920s. Then to her childhood in New Jersey.

She worked several jobs in New York City as a young women, including a job in the advertising department at The Colgate Company.

She met boxer Max Baer when she bumped into him at a NYC hotel (Remember the crazy boxer in Cinderella man? Him.)

She saw walkways roped off to guard pedestrians from lifeless bodies laying on the sidewalks during The Great Depression.

Like I said, she has stories!

I’ll never forget those and many others that she told over the years, but my dad discovered a little treasure when her house sold a few years ago that I hope will encourage you to keep writing things down.

“How I Learned to Swim in 8 Easy Lessons”

The memo book is full of her experiences as an adult trying to learn to swim for the first time. From what I gather, she did not actually learn to swim. Nor did she think any part of the class was easy. It’s full of sarcasm and tales of woe. It’s in her handwriting, and I love it! I’m so glad she took the time to write it down…

So how about you? have you been keeping up with your journal?

If you haven’t written yet this week yet, do it now! Set a timer for five minutes and just write. Remember, don’t over-think it. Jot down what you’re thankful for, happy about or irritated by.

(New to Project WriteItDown? Learn more about Project WriteItDown and join us on Twitter using #WriteItDown2012.)