Greetings!
I know that my maternal grandfather grew up in Delaware, but I don't know much else about his life before he was my grandfather. Delving deeper into family history, I often ask people what they know about their great-grandparents. It is usually very little beyond names and faint impressions - my one great-grandmother wore a green eye shade that I associate with pictures of bankers.
My mother-in-law is a committed geneologist. I haven't caught the bug. Sometimes I think it is an issue of age, sometimes of personality, other times I just don't know. But recently when we were visiting her home she pulled out two tattered books that had been given to her and my father-in-law. They were used to record their childhood memories and had lots of "prompting" questions that they had answered. My father-in-law died before our children were born and so this book was a glimpse into his world - one of the few still available to my children and the only window constructed by him.
I know you are bogged down with e-mail flyers promising the lowest prices of the season (evidently there are 52 seasons at Kohls) and letters from long-lost friends - at least for those of us who don't keep up via Facebook. Anyway, I'm keeping this update brief and to the point.
Starting with the oldest generation of living relatives and then working your way down, you need to have each complete a memory book that can be read and enjoyed by subsequent generations. I wish I had these for my grandparents.
The book that my wife's parents used is no longer in print. I've checked online and one promising option is To Our Children's Children: Journal of Family Memories (click on the title for a link to Amazon). I have not made my own purchase yet, but think this is a good place to start. You can click on the "Look Inside" feature to see several of its pages. They are plain text, but there are a number of questions that should prompt interesting anecdotes.
This Christmas, begin giving the gift of family memories to your children's children! |
