Summit Place residents share life stories in The Days of Not So Long Ago
Tony was in tenth grade in 1944 when the Army took him out of school to serve in the war. Lucille was selected to dance with the Rockettes in New York City in 1947. Betty’s husband worked on the Manhattan Project in Tennessee, helping to create the atomic bomb that would eventually be dropped on Hiroshima (neither knew what he was actually working on at the time). Minnie graced many a Southern stage singing and playing the guitar while growing up in the 1940s.
These are just snippets from four of the 15 life stories shared in Crystal Klimavicz’s newly released book The Days of Not So Long Ago. Klimavicz, a Daniel Island resident, was inspired to write the book while spending time as a volunteer at Summit Place on Daniel Island, where each of her subjects now resides. One day, while playing a game of “Hangman” with several residents, she heard a few women talking about an event they all remembered from their youth. The residents, most of them in their 90s, lived through a time during World War II when families put darkening curtains on their windows so enemy planes would not see the lights from their homes. They had trouble recalling the vowels to use in the game that day, and yet their memories of this childhood experience were sharper than ever.
“They were talking about blackout curtains,” said Klimavicz. “All of sudden they started having this conversation and they kind of looked to the windows in the room. I could see that they were thinking and then this conversation ensued and it was just amazing! I walked out the door and I stood outside and thought ‘Oh my goodness! There are just so many stories to tell!’”
Klimavicz, who has published two other novels - Falling Through Trees and This Side of Perfect - decided she wanted to find a way to use her writing skills to give back, not only to the families of the residents she would feature, but also to those growing up in today’s world. Once she got the go ahead from Summit Place, and a list of names of residents who might be interested and willing to share their stories, she got to work. Over the next several months, she spent hours with each subject, learning about their lives, their experiences, their relationships, and more. Family members helped fill in additional details. The Daniel Island Historical Society also stepped up to partner with Klimavicz on the project.
“My main goal for the residents was to try to make sure that I captured the essence of how they felt about their lives,” she said. “My main goal for the reader was to try to teach people, particularly the children, the newer generation, that the world is so different from what it used to be, and it really wasn’t that long ago. So I was trying to balance both of those.”
“We’re excited that Crystal partnered with our community on this project,” added Sean Davis, executive director at Summit Place. “Summit Place of Daniel Island serves a diverse body of residents with unique life experiences; each resident contributes differently to this community. Crystal’s book captures many of these life experiences with dignity and relevant insight. Her storytelling rightfully serves as an important testament to their uniqueness and personal contributions.”
The collection of short stories offers poignant glimpses into 15 very different lives, but many have similar threads. As Klimavicz explains on the book’s back cover, they are “Southerners and Northerners, men and women, the well-to-do, and those who have struggled - all people who have lived 80 to 90 years, and have seen our world undergo amazing and radical changes.” They each grew up during the Great Depression, and for some it was sometimes a struggle to keep food on the table.
“They saw civil rights at its worst moments and lived during a time when children had to walk for miles to school (yes, just as some of our parents used to lament),” wrote Klimavicz in the book. “And…they spoke to adults only when spoken to. It was a simpler era when people had very little yet appreciated everything.”
In The Days of Not So Long Ago, Klimavicz worked tirelessly to weave in facts about the places her subjects lived and worked.
“What was so wonderful was when I went back and read them their stories, I taught them things they didn’t know!” said Klimavicz.
In the book’s forward, Klimavicz explains another more personal reason for wanting to see these special stories come to light. She recalls her own family gatherings as a young child, when she would sit captivated at her grandfather’s feet to hear stories from his past. When he passed away many years later, “all of those stories” went with him, never captured in writing, said Klimavicz. That memory, coupled with her experiences at Summit Place, ignited a passion to see that the stories of “the greatest generation” stay with us forever. Unfortunately, Lucille, one of her subjects in The Days of Not So Long Ago, passed away before the story was published. Thankfully, it is now preserved on the book’s pages for her family.
Klimavicz is hopeful that all of the stories contained in the book will inspire others to remember a special time in history that still can offer up valuable lessons today.
“Although our society and our culture certainly gains through technology and advances and scientific breakthroughs, we also lose,” she said. “And part of what I feel we’ve lost is…(back then) the respect that younger people gave elders was automatic. It was never questioned. The manners. The politeness. The customs of that era were based around family and respect…There are still such great qualities from our past that we need not to forget.”
The book was published last month and already is receiving positive reviews, she added. It is currently available at Island Expressions on Daniel Island, the Daniel Island Sales Center, and via amazon.com. A special community book launch reception is planned at Summit Place for Friday, November 6, from 4 to 5 p.m. (anyone interested in attending can do so by sending an RSVP to Klimavicz at crystalak16@gmail.com).
“I feel honored and grateful that I was able to capture these stories for the residents themselves and their families, and particularly for Lucille,” added Klimavicz. “For the general public…I would hope that people would be inspired to learn more about our history and our past.”
For additional information on The Days of Not So Long Ago, and Klimavicz’s other works, please visit www.crystalklimavicz.com.