Anyone who reads this blog on a regular basis knows that I frequently raise the banner high to urge writers and non-writers to make and save a written record of their family stories. Telling them around the dining room table is entertaining but not lasting.
Take a good look at the woman whose shadow shows in the photo above. She's visiting a grave in a cemetery somewhere in the world. Who is the person she visits? Was there a family bond? Does she have stories to tell about this person. Has she written them somewhere? Or are they bundled nicely in her heart tied with a red ribbon where only she knows them?
What if the person she visits is a beloved family member? What if she knows myriad stories about the person? Stories that help paint a picture of his/her personality? Of deeds done in kindness? Or what if the person was a convicted felon? These stories need to be saved for the family, as well.
When the woman, whose shadow we see, passes through life and is in her own grave, the stories she knows about her family members will most likely be buried with her. Future generations of her family will be cheated, even though they will not know what they are missing.
Write your family stories about the good times and the bad to create a family history for those that are future members of your family and others already here.
When I see news stories about people who had been adopted at an early age and never knew their birth family but suddenly find one another, I think about the family stories the adopted children had missed. Yes, they have their own set of family stories during all the growing up years with the people whom they love and consider their Mom and Dad. In some respects, adopted people are pretty fortunate as they have two sets of family stories. A dear friend had been adopted as an infant. She found a brother late in her life. When they met, they had so much to tell one another about both adopted families and what they'd learned about their birth parents. Two siblings with three sets of family stories.
The best way to begin a Family Stories project is to write one. Note that I said 'one' because it's easier than a dozen at a time. Write one, save it, then write another one later. Build the Family Stories Book with a story, then another, and then another.
One of my husband's aunts had a lot of insight. She made a photo album of pictures of my husband's extended family. I'm sure she spent many hours gathering and sorting and labeling. When the album was finished, she didn't give it to my husband. Instead, she wanted our oldest grandchild to have it. That grandchild is now 22 and has a history of her grandfather's family. This same aunt told me many family stories and I have written some of them for her.
You can do the same for your family members. The week-end is here, so why not write the first one now?
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