Working with Anna

Anna’s sons approached me to capture and preserve Anna’s legacy and to pass on her stories and memories, her values, beliefs and culture for her grandchildren who are grown up in a very different time and place to Anna.

Luckily Anna also wanted to write a book, which helps and she wrote;

“Since I had my grandchildren, they’ve been asking questions, they come here and they keep asking me, ‘Grandma, what did you do? Even before that, I had always wanted to write a book, because I have had, to me, a very interesting and challenging life.” Anna

Their Story Before

Anna has dedicated her life to caring for others and bringing up her sons, and judging by those sons and the lives they lead, she has done a pretty impressive job, and so they already have an amazing legacy, but this book also captures and preserves their origin story.

What They Wanted to Capture

Anna has lived quite a life, one of eight; her childhood was spent in the family compound in south-east Nigeria. Her beloved father, the village chief, was a kind, wise, courageous, and charitable man who died when Anna was only young

Anna is clearly her father's daughter. She became a nurse, she set up and ran clinics helping women in rural areas, before coming to England. Here, she worked as a nurse and a midwife before running an award-winning care home. After her husband's  early death, she became both mother and father to her four sons. Now, as well as being a doting grandmother, she devotes herself to helping in various charities and supporting her extended family.

The Process

We started with a few phone conversations where we discussed the process and I found out the shape of Anna's life; the main events, the important people, the values and topics she was looking to shares.

Then we start recording. I visited Anna in her home and recorded as she spoke about her life and her thoughts. I just ask gentle questions and use other prompts to help Anna share her stories and thoughts.

A few weeks later, after editing and structuring the stories, I sent Anna her draft book, which she and her sons reviewed. Once they were completely happy we sent the manuscript to my wonderful proofreader before we started designing Anna's book. A further PDF was sent to Anna, and with the help of her sons, we made a few more minor adjustments until we were ready to print.

“Alice you have done a wonderful job, and have engaged with my mother in a way that has got the story out that I know she wanted to tell.

— Mitch, 2024 (son)

Speaking to a storyteller and hearing their thoughts and memories are always wonderful, but often it is the little scenes that give me those spine-tingling golden moments and Anna's book is full of them. The one that really stuck was her earliest memory -

“I was with Mama in our compound and remember this lady who was in pain. She was moaning. I wasn’t sure what was going on but I went and stood behind her, rubbing her back. I found out later that she had a healthy, bouncing baby boy. This is something that I remember so clearly, this lady was in pain and I was able to help. I was three years old.”

I love this memory, as it is sums Anna up, so beautifully, as the title of her book says, she really was born a nurse.

Why did this story matter?

Anna has successfully navigated around the many challenges life has thrown at her. Her book tells not just her story, but it will also allow future generations to hear about their family identity, their origin story and I anticipate for some will help them to understand themselves and their own choices.