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Kendra’s Journal…
Phillip and Mat Cornwell are brothers who were raised by their single mom, Kendra, who at the age of 16 while pregnant Phillip, started a journal detailing her view of their life together.
Her goal when starting was simply to communicate who she truly was as a person, not just a parent, so that someday Phillip, and then later Mat, might understand her in a way that she felt she never understood her own parents.
Kendra had no idea what the journal would become or that she would continue writing in it for the next 37 years.
A Gift of Communication
In the fall of 2009 Kendra was diagnosed with stage 4 bladder cancer. Soon after her diagnosis she had a conversation with her boys about the journal and what she wanted them to do with it. She felt that it although it was written for them, it contained her life lessons from being a teen mother through marriages and divorces, to being a returning to college and going to law school.
During their conversation she told her boys that if they had a way to communicate her story to others she would want them to do it.
The Birth of a Podcast…An Audio Journal.
After her death in 2011 Phillip and Mat were left with over 3000 hand-written pages and no idea what to do with them.
Originally their idea was to edit the journal and pursue having it published. But with such a massive amount of content they knew the preparation alone would take years.
That’s when Mat came up with the idea of a podcast. Phillip had been an avid podcast listener and had recently gotten Mat into listening as well. They realized this was not only the easiest way to share their mom’s journal, but it also allowed them to do it in a way that projected their mom’s voice most accurately.
It’s still a massive undertaking but with their first year of financing secure and enough content to go beyond that they have begun recording and releasing weekly podcasts of their mom’s 37 years of love letters to her boys.
My Conversation
This is my conversation with Phill and Mat about their mom Kendra, her life-long communication in the form of a journal, and what they are experiencing from the process of producing a podcast. I hope you enjoy this compelling story and our discussion of the power of the written word.
Where to Find Phill and Mat:
Website: www.KBIradio.com
Facebook: www.facebook.com/kendrasjournal
Twitter: @Kendras_Journal
Pinterest: pinterest.com/kendrasjournal
Question of the Week: DO YOU JOURNAL?
If yes, let me know…I’d love to here of your experiences with the written form of communication. Leave me a voice message, leave a comment in the comment section below, or send an email.
Until next week,
Jenn
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