Barges, Books & Pivotal Moments

For every one of us there are those “pivotal moments”. The moments that perhaps are unexpected that can literally change your life. The moment may be good, such as falling in love, the birth of a child, surviving a storm or something like that. Or? The moment may start out being catastrophic, such as an unexpected death. The pivotal moment for me, was the latter.

For people who write, you can usually trace your path back and discover what your pivotal moment was. The event that happened that you decided you “just had to write about”. Whether it was directly after the event or not, this was the catalyst to propel you toward that great endeavor of writing. Writing a book. My pivotal moment was all about my Grandad. It is the reason for my passion for writing, it is the reason I have been “Polley93” for years, and it’s the event that would change my life.

I grew up in England, as my father was Military and my mum is a Brit. I had the luxury of having a sort of “bipolar” heritage but for the most part the first part of my life was in England, in a town called Ipswich. I remember fondly many things and the house pictured above was indeed one of them. 23 Halifax Rd, the home of my Nanna and beloved Grandad. I spent the majority of my childhood here as I recall, or perhaps this is where my memories lie, I’m not sure.  I won’t go into too much detail here or this blog post would go on for days. Without a doubt however, some of my fondest memories were of my Grandad and traveling on the majestic barges that he made his living on and had done for his entire life. The barge trade went on in our family line for generations. I didn’t realize it when it was happening, but those times would help create the person I am today.

The barges were majestic vessels as you can see. Grandad would sail up and down the River Orwell, the River Thames over to Felixstowe and Harwich and London. Memories flood my mind when I think of it. Being held captive on the North Sea due to storms, (Yes I thought I would die), believing I traveled with pirates, sitting at the head of the ship for hours waving to all the sheep farmers out with their herds. As  child I had no idea that these images would be the subject matter of a literary effort.

And then. The moment. That pivotal moment that changed your life. A simple phone call and two words from my mothers shaking voice.

“Grandad drowned”.

The world stop spinning for me that day. We were in London the next day. I learned many things and can honestly say that this changed my life. I learned that we don’t always have tomorrow and started living that way. In the moment. I started writing, because my Grandad always told me that a story deserved to be told. I decided I would write his story and have researched, interviewed and photographed ever since slowly saving up what I would need to do his story justice. I have learned far more than I had expected to, and this legacy of my family goes back for generations.

It was February 19, 1993 when the phone call came.

His name was William Polley.

Hence; Polley93

So? It is time to really begin to write this book. I have plans to go home to England next year for 2-3 months to do that very thing. I know every time I go there that writing about this is easy and flows very well. But coming back here to write it is a struggle. Go figure. So I have started planning now and will be there late next summer or early fall.

My point here is this; pivotal moments. We all have one. The moments that cause us to stop and reroute our direction. They are stories worth telling and do not have an expiration date.

Until next time……..be kind, no matter what.

Cheers,

Polley93