I began to write and doodle a lot when my cousin died in a car crash in 1956

 This likely was the beginning of my realizing that I could self comfort myself even if I had no one else to talk to about my problems right then. It's true I could have talked to my Mother and Grandmother and even my father when he wasn't working or running a church with my mother. But, I often wasn't getting the communication level I needed and often you can only get that from yourself.

I found that when I wrote things and read them later it was like talking to a friend. There is a term "invisible friend" but this could also be true for writers who need someone to talk to also. And that "invisible Friend" is yourself in another time. So, you are writing now for your future self (and others potentially too) so that you can survive what is going on in your life now and you are writing to your future self to encourage your future self also to be able to survive "Whatever Comes" in life.

So, as God gives you strength to write, you write that down and later when you most need it God comes to you through your own writings and helps you to continue surviving on into the future (hopefully to old age).

So, in this sense parenting your future self with the help of God you increase your lifespans over and over by letting God write through you now!

By God's Grace