Grace recently gave each of her grandparents a Story of My Life book, and I knew we had to share the idea with you!
Growing old is a part of life. We can’t change it, and with each generation that dies facts and memories of an individual and their family are lost forever.
Some families sit around and share stories all the time. Those stories are often remembered and passed on to future generations. But how many of them are not. How many of them are forgotten never to be retold?
Do you remember all the stories that your grandparents and other family members have shared with you? I know I don’t remember a lot of what my grandmother shared with me. I wish I did.
In fact, I wish I had more information about my family. My family line is a bit challenging. I only really knew one of my grandparents. It was one of my grandmothers and during my teen years I got to know her quite well because she lived near us.
My other grandmother I only met a few times. I never met either of my grandfathers.
Thanks to several family members my dad’s side of the family can be traced back quite a few generations. But it is all facts on paper. There aren’t really any stories on paper. Just names and dates.
My husband’s side of the family are great story tellers. It is always fun to sit and listen to the stories that they can tell about themselves, their parents, and their grandparents. But none of them are writers. Those stories and words will be lost once they are gone.
I love history, and the older I get the more important I realize it is to document it. The more I realize how short life really is, the more I value the stories and history that we have lost.
I want to preserve what I can for future generations.
Which is why I loved the fact that Grace wanted to give each of her grandparents a Story of My Life book.
There are quite a few versions of books like this out there, but I really like The Story of My Life one.
The book is basically full of story prompts. It asks questions that will spark memories and specific events that most of us go through.
This books asks questions like what was your favorite foods from your childhood. It asks about siblings and school.
A few of the questions might be hard to remember. I am not sure I remember my first day of high school because it was probably uneventful, but I know many people will probably be able to share a lot about their first day of high school.
Even if you can’t remember your first day of high school, you could change the question or information slightly and share where you went to school or a memory from high school.
The idea is to prompt you to share a story or memory. It doesn’t have to follow the exact question.
I can’t wait to see what my parents and my in-laws write in their books. I am sure it will take time, and we may not get them back for a couple of years. But I am hoping that they will work to fill out at least a portion of the book.
Like most families our family has had some rough times. There are questions in the book that I know will be hard for at least one of Grace’s grandparents to answer. Probably more than that. But that is okay. Even a few facts saved for the next generation is better than no facts at all. I want to preserve what we can.
And I loved these books so much that I might actually get two more for my husband and I to fill out. We can probably remember some of these facts better now while we are in our forties than we will be able to in another twenty years. It might be fun and more interesting to fill out what we can now and add to them over the years.
Have you preserved any family memories on paper? If not I encourage you to. Buy a book like The Story of My Life and fill it out for future generations. Buy one for your parents and grandparents and have them share what they can remember about their life and family.
Work to preserve those memories before they are lost forever!