This is great, the transition between memories in the journal and current day was perfect to span decades with a single word snap and both sections written so well there is no loss of continuity.
This was a difficult thing to accomplish and you executed flawlessly!
!PIZZA
(you are totally right, there is a whole world of stories here)
Oh my - I don't know what to say... I'll say it anyway... thank you sooo much. You know I am not a writer, more of a visual artist, so your words really mean the world to me. I appreciate them a lot! Thank you. Unfortunately, my humble writings are only good enough for shorts, not for longer works.
Well you could definitely turn your talents in that direction if you wanted to. Perhaps you could write accompanying pieces that tell the story behind your art, or inspired by it?
Regardless this was a good one!