Tina Coleman Woods' goal in life was to preserve a piece of her family's history.

Not only did her goal come to life, but so did the diaries of her grandmother and letters from her mother during World War II.

After uncovering the letters her mother, Ruth Christianson Register Coleman, sent home while she was a Red Cross worker during the war and the diaries her grandmother, Edith Christianson, kept from 1943 to 1945; Woods decided to record those events into a book. "I transcribed all 79 of my mother's letters to have records of them," Woods said. "When I started reading them, I thought it was a great story. The letters made it an amazing way to get to know what my mother was like at that time."

Just as the letters home from her mother brought Woods closer to the events of the war abroad, so did her grandmother's diary. "Her diary showed what was happening in Bismarck during the war," she added.

Her book, "My War: From Bismarck to Britain & Back," was published in 2004, and after presenting the book to Ann Reay, a storyteller, the process began to turn the book into a play.

"The play idea came because we heard the stories these women were telling and we wanted others to hear the sound of the authentic story as it was being lived and told," Reay said in an e-mail.

Being a part of the Northstar Storytelling League in Minneapolis, Reay decided to take the book on one of her retreats. After reading through the letters and diary entries, according to Woods, Reay felt it should be turned into a play. So, with that the Northstar storytellers adapted the script. The play has been performed numerous times, but began as a presentation for "A Salute to Veterans" at Northstar Storytelling League's Tellebration! in November 2006.

The story is interpreted by three storytellers, Dorothy Cleveland, Ann Reay and Sara Boyle Trautner, who play Christianson, Coleman and Woods.

Most recently the play, "My War," was performed at the Minnesota Fringe Festival, which is an 11-day arts festival that ran from July 31 to Aug. 10, according to Robin C. Gillette, executive director.

"It was a delight to have the play included in the festival," Gillette said. "The women who performed were very happy to be a part of it."

The play was featured five times throughout the festival, and Coleman and Woods were able to make an appearance at the show, which was inspired by their words and thoughts.

"I was too close to the material to ever think of it as a dramatic presentation, but the experience of watching it was wonderful," Woods said.

Coleman, 91, who lives in Florida, was unavailable for comment, but Woods said she loved the play. "She can't get over all the fuss that's being made over the play," she said about her mother. "She's very appreciative."

Coleman's nephew, Jim Christianson, also was able to see the performance at the Fringe Festival. "It was very emotional for me because it emphasizes what they really went through," he said.

Woods, who runs a senior center in Texas, said the audience also appreciated the performance. "It's a contemporary telling of what it was like to be there," she said. "We don't think about the war the same way as when it's heard as it was written at that time."

The book can be purchased online at www.trafford.com/04-2243 and the video of the performace at the Minnesota Fringe Festival can be viewed at www.fringefestival.org/2008/show/?id=902.