A Reason To Write Family Stories

Regular readers here know I encourage--OK, a better word is nag---others to write family stories. I mention it often because I think it's important to leave as much of your family history as possible. The medical world has worked hard to make people realize the importance of knowing your family medical history, but the rest of it is worthwhile, as well.

The picture above is of my four grandchildren, taken last summer in Vail, Colorado. What a grand and glorious time we had with them and their parents. We ate breakfast in our condo but lunches and dinners were eaten in restaurants. The family stories moved around the table as one after another were told. The children, ages 4, 7, 12, and 15 paid close attention. Kids love stories, and what better ones to hear than about your grandparents and great-grandparents, or even farther back? 

It's for these four that I'm writing as many family stories as possible. I won't always be around to tell them so I'd like to leave them a written record. I want them to know that part of the people in their background worked hard in the coal mines, that others farmed the rich soil of central Illinois, that some came to America from Ireland while others immigrated here from Germany and French Canada. I want them to know that their great-great grandmother was a womn of independence in a time when it was unusual for a woman to begin her own business. All this and so much more.

Make time to write your family stories for those you love. 

Family Historian---Take It Seriously

My parents and me in 1942

Last Friday, Veronica Breen Hogle, wrote here about job descriptions. Hers is Family Historian. Veronica has a rich and colorful history which she brings to life so very well in her stories. I have taken on the role of Family Historian in my family and, I think, in my husband's, as well. 

Ken's Aunt Fannie played that role in her large, German immigrant family, and I eagerly anticipated the stories she told. Sadly, she didn't write them down, but I have written several of them. The one problem with that is that they may lose something as they are moved on from one person to another. Still, it is better than not having any written record at all. 

Do you have a Family Historian in your extended family? In the family of your spouse? If you don't, it's time to begin. Family history is true treasure. The funny stories, the joyful ones, and even the tragic episodes in a family's journey through life--they're all of importance. No other family has exactly the same history, yours is unique, and it deserves to be passed on to your children, grandchildren and future generations. 

Besides knowing what has happened within a family, these stories can sometimes be of importance in medical issues that pop up now and then. There have been a few times when my son has called and started a conversaton with "Who in our family had ______?"  And usually, I can come up with the answer.

Where do you begin this job of Family Historian? It's not necessary to begin at the beginning, whatever that might be. Write each story as it comes to you, when something or someone triggers a memory. Or when you attend a family reunion, jot down notes and write the story when you get home. A good trigger for these memories is to sit down and look through old photo albums. If you're lucky, your generations-back relatives noted dates and names on the backs or underneath. The photo with this posting is from an album my mother started when I was just an infant. This picture was taken in the back of my grandmother's apartment building in suburban Chicago when I was around 3. We're all dressed up. Maybe it was Easter Sunday.

I count myself as fortunate because my mother was a storyteller and so was my Aunt Vivienne, my dad's sister. I listened to countless stories from each of them, some repeated many times. It's possible some of these stories were a bit embellished, but the basic facts were there. Hearing so many stories, often told around the dinner table, left me with a tapestry of my family history. My father told family stories, too. If you come from a family that doesn't have a rich storytelling history, you'll have to use other means to delve back through the years. Do look up those photo albums, Interview older family members, even old neighbors who will remember many happenings. 

Don't say that you aren't very good at writing these kinds of stories. That's one excuse I find unacceptable. There's no doubt that some Family Historians will bring a story to life better than others, but the most important thing is to have a written record to pass on. Step up and take on the job. What better legacy could you leave?

An Exercise For FAmily Stories

This is a picture of my parents and me taken in around 1940, I believe. We were a family of three then, but by 1955, we w ere six. Whether your family is large or small, you have family stories. One of my passions is urging people to write their family stories so that they won't be lost in the wind tunnel of life. You can't depend on them being passed down through the generations orally.

This morning, I found an interesting writing exercise that will, I believe, be most helpful in drawing prose portraits of your family members. Writing a memoir is more than just reporting what happened. Oh, you could do that, but it will be far more interesting reading if you make your characters come alive on the page.

To do this, you need to find out your own thoughts about each family member. Make a list of your family members,--parents, siblingss, grandparents, aunts, uncles, cousins and maybe yourself. Next to each one, write a sentence or two that describes them physically. Then a sentence or two that reveals personality traits that you admire and also those you don't.

Doing this will bring out some things that may surprise you, if you are honest in what you write. Let it come quickly and from within. No one else is going to see this list, it's for you to use when writing those family stories, to give you a better understanding of who you are writing about and maybe why some things occurred as they did.

This is an easy and quick exercise and one I think will be most beneficial to those writing family stories, and maybe even to those who aren't!